<p>In this thesis, I examine the pneumatology of Cyril of Alexandria ( d. 444). Cyril was one of the foremost exegetes and theologians of the patristic period, and so was a figure of considerable importance in the history of the development of Christian theology. Of central concern for Cyril throughout his writings was the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, a fact that is unsurprising given that the archbishop came to prominence shortly after pneumatological controversies in the late fourth century were addressed through the calling of the council of Constantinople in 381.</p> <p> I demonstrate in this study that Cyril's understanding of the Holy Spirit revolves primarily around his identity as the Spirit of the Son and the soteriological ramifications of the unity of the Spirit with the Son. Although Cyril is insistent that the Spirit is the Spirit of both the Father and the Son, it is his relationship with the latter that receives particular attention. This accentuation on the unity that exists between the Spirit and the Son influences Cyril's interpretation of potentially problematic passages of scripture, particularly those that refer to the work of the Holy Spirit in relation to Jesus Christ. His emphasis on the unity of the Spirit and the Son also profoundly shapes his perception of the Spirit's person and his role in the salvation of humanity. He portrays the Spirit largely with respect to his likeness to the Son, and ties the Spirit's soteriological operations directly to this likeness. Cyril does not engage in the kind of trinitarian speculation regarding eternal relations as is found in Augustine's De Trinitate. He focuses rather on the interaction of God with the created order and what this interaction tells us about God as triune. Cyril's emphasis on the Spirit as the Spirit of the Son is borne out of his perception that the mystery of God has been revealed to us concretely in the person of Christ, and therefore that our understanding of the Holy Spirit is inextricable from the revelation of the incarnate Word and the soteriological possibilities Christ extended to all humanity. I argue that Cyril constructs a pneumatology wherein the far-reaching soteriological role of the Holy Spirit in relation to Jesus Christ is delineated, and in the process provides a conception of the Holy Spirit that is nuanced and vigorous.</p> <p> My examination of Cyril's pneumatology involves analysis of his understanding of the identity and divinity of the Holy Spirit vis-a-vis the Father and the Son, the role of the Spirit in the incarnation and life of the Son, and the particular soteriological work of the Spirit in the individual believer as well as in the formation, structure, and unity of the church. Primary attention is given to three works: De Trinitate Dialogi (Dialogues on the Trinity), written 423-25; In Joannem (Commentary on the Gospel of John), written 425- 28; and In Lucam (Commentary on the Gospel of Luke), written c. 430. In addition to these writings, I draw on various other commentaries written by the archbishop, as well as on his anti-Nestorian compositions.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In recent years, there has been a growing recognition regarding the importance of walkability in urban design. Walking, as the most common form of physical activity, has gained recognition for its numerous benefits. While walkability has been extensively studied by urban designers, there is a gap in understanding how to promote and enhance walkability in suburban areas. The United States has historically prioritized car-centric transportation systems, resulting in less developed infrastructure for walking and cycling. Although efforts have been made in recent years to improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, there is still much progress needed to elevate the country's standing. The City of Alexandria, Virginia, boasts a diverse population and is known for its unique neighborhood called Old Town. Old Town is widely recognized for its high level of walkability, characterized by streets that are designed to prioritize pedestrians, creating a welcoming environment that encourages social interaction and a strong sense of community. However, in the suburban areas surrounding Old Town, there is a notable lack of walkability. This study look at challenges and opportunities in promoting walkability in a suburban area of Alexandria. By examining the specific context of Alexandria, This thesis aims to create a more walkable environment in an area that currently focuses on cars. The goal is to create more livable and pedestrian-friendly suburban environments that encourage walking and bicycling, and support the well-being of residents. / Master of Science / In recent times, there has been a growing acknowledgment of the value in designing cities that prioritize walkability and placing pedestrians' needs. Walking, which is the most popular way to stay active, has been recognized for its numerous benefits for our health and well-being. However, when it comes to making suburban areas more walkable, there is still a lot we don't fully understand. In the past, many urban designs in the United States have focused on cars, making it challenging for people to walk or cycle comfortably. While efforts have been made to improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, European countries are still ahead in terms of walking and cycling rates. The City of Alexandria, located in Virginia, is characterized by its diverse population and renowned for its distinctive neighborhood known as Old Town. Old Town is celebrated for its walkability, with streets that prioritize people over vehicles. IN contrast, the surrounding suburban areas don't enjoy the same level of walkability. This study aims to explore the obstacles and opportunities in making suburban areas more walkable, focusing on Alexandria's context. By implementing design solutions, aim to transform suburban areas into vibrant, pedestrian-friendly communities that promote walking and biking, contributing to the overall well-being of residents.

In this thesis I argue, against much recent scholarship on early Christian exegesis, that the traditional distinction between the two exegetical schools of Alexandria and Antioch, the allegorists and the literalists respectively, ought to be maintained. Despite much overlap in terms of the school members’ training in grammar and rhetoric (one of the major arguments put forward by those who wish to do away with the two schools), a critical distinction lies in the ways the exegetes of the two early Christian centres used Scripture for the spiritual development of their audiences. This I demonstrate through a close analysis of the exegetical treatments of five passages from the Gospel of John by four authors, two Alexandrians, Origen and Cyril, and two Antiochenes, John Chrysostom and Theodore of Mopsuestia. I attend to my authors’ use of a shared exegetical principle that Scripture is inherently “beneficial” or “useful,” and therefore it is the exegete’s duty to draw out Scripture’s benefits, whether from the literal narrative or by moving beyond the letter to the non-literal plane. Examination of this principle allows us to understand these authors’ rationale—namely, the spiritual development of their audiences—for providing either a literal or a non-literal reading, rather than simplistically designating Alexandrians as “allegorists” and Antiochenes as “literalists.” I demonstrate that other than one brief instance, the Antiochenes remain at the literal level of the text to draw out Scripture’s benefits, whereas in every case the Alexandrians draw out benefit from the literal and the non-literal levels of the text. Moreover, I argue that one of the distinctive features of Alexandrian exegesis was that one of the most important benefits provided by the biblical text was its direct application to these authors’ contemporary church settings, situations, and even to the individual Christian souls. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / In this thesis I seek to provide an answer to the question of whether there were two distinct schools of scriptural interpretation in the two major centres of Alexandria and Antioch in the church of late antiquity. Traditionally scholars have characterized the Alexandrian exegesis as allegorical or spiritual and Antiochene as historical or literal. In recent decades, scholars have sought to do away with the distinction, tending to focus on the school members’ shared training in rhetoric and grammar. I argue that the traditional distinction ought to be maintained, but I draw attention to a critical distinction between the two schools, namely, the ways in which the exegetes of the two centres apply Scripture to their respective church settings. I demonstrate this by comparing the interpretations of five passages from the Gospel of John by two Alexandrian authors, Origen and Cyril, and two Antiochenes, John Chrysostom and Theodore of Mopsuestia.

In today's society urban liveliness has moved from the center of city to its periphery in a diluted manner. There exists the continuation of monotonous cityscape as by-product and leftover of architecture and urbanism. Herein lies the question: how to build a meaningful 'place' in a site where the sense of place is lost. This book is a record of the challenge in my belief that architecture is generous spatial entity which has both elaborated condition and quality orchestrated by the relationship to its site, structure, and material to enhance the quality of life through the human senses. / Master of Architecture

Understanding architecture through a contemporary context of the transformations of art and technology was the springboard for this thesis. Identifying folding as a basic transformation became the focus for developing an Old town, Alexandria, Virginia law firm building. Folding is conceptually used in the spatial and inhabitable forms of the building as well as the materials, textures, and finishes of the walls, ceilings, and floors. Folding is structurally investigated by taking once planer and flimsy elements and creating folded, rigid, and load-bearing elements. Architectural concepts of day lighting, shading, rain runoff, partitioning, vertical circulation, horizontal circulation, library stacks, file storage, solar energy collection, gardening, building services, furnishings, reading, and inhabitation are all thought of in terms of folding. Designing a law firm for Old town, Alexandria, Virginia was chosen from a random number generating process cross referenced with the Alexandria, Virginia phone book. I interviewed a local law firm and based the programmatic spaces on their office needs and relationships. / Master of Architecture

Time is an ever-present entity that is an incredibly complex yet constant force in the life of each and every one of us. Since earliest history, humanity has attempted to recognize and use the evaluation of time to an advantage, eventually developing time into measurable commodity with determinable value. Beyond the obvious respect of time measurement, the larger concept of 'time' and its applications is of value to nearly every discipline. In the case of architecture, we have the ability to manipulate and use time to serve a purpose, whether that be creating a sundial to celebrate time passing or creating a black box to shield us from time's presence. In most cases though, time is merely a variable to work with to achieve a higher goal. This thesis looks to reverse this concept and use time and its varying manifestations as the main parameter to drive and develop architecture. In this case, the architecture will take the form of a school; a perfect example of a program in need of the recognition of time not only for its fluctuating yet ordered schedules and calendars, but also for the conservation and expedient use of this valuable commodity. Most importantly though, a school provides a significant opportunity to showcase the educational capability that results from the experience in, and the observance of, time itself. This thesis will produce a design for a Pre-K-through-8th grade school to be located on the site of the existing Jefferson-Houston School in Alexandria, VA. / Master of Architecture

This thesis is concerned with architecture and its changes through four seasons. It is about drawing new images of a building in different seasons. Like trees change their leaves in seasons and like people change their clothes in seasons, this project is about architecture changing its architectural elements in four seasons. It all began with an imagination of how a building would respond differently in each of the four seasons. The project, located at the waterfront of Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia, is an Aquatic Center with swimming pools, changing areas, saunas, fitness area, and massage areas. The Aquatic Center creates different images to its visitors through surrounding natures and their changes, architectural elements and their movements, visitors and their activities. The goal was to provide people unique and different experiences every time they visit. / Master of Architecture

This study set out with the premise that many urban alleys have the potential to become city open space assets. The project was designed to develop a process by which alley characteristics may be evaluated for their effect on alley open space potential. The alleys of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia were the inspiration for this study. Old Town is an 18th century city which was established as a settlement on the Potomac River in 1749. For nearly 100 years it flourished as a seaport town. As the town grew, property owners created alleys through the blocks providing rear access to their homes and businesses. The alleys bustled with activity, and became a circulation subsystem to the street and sidewalk circulation. This paper follows the process used to discover alley open space potential in Old Town. However, it is not the findings for Old Town that are most important. It is the process which is the true result of this study. This process can be used as a model by any city or town where there is a desire to better use alley spaces. The four tasks which were found to be important in discovering this open space potential are outlined below. Task One: Evolution of Alley Spaces The purpose of this task is to understand the part the alleys play in the city's circulation system. To know the history of their development and the way they have been used in the past is to learn what makes them important and distinct from other circulation systems in the city. Task Two: Evaluate the Alley Paths The elements that create the"floor, ceiling, and walls" of the alley paths are defined and evaluated for their potentially positive or negative impact on the alley as it is refurbished for pedestrian open space use. Task Three: Alley Potential Use Task three looks at the way different land uses use their alleys. Knowing present alley use allows the development of an alley typology from which decisions concerning potential use can be made. Task Four: Design Proposals Finally, the first three tasks are brought together in the form of design proposals. The proposals become a pallet with which to refurbish the alleys in a way that is sensitive to their history, their character, and their particular open space potential. The project teaches that all urban alleyways are not the same. Each has its own story, and its own particular combination of characteristics. In knowing the alleys as individual, their design as viable open spaces becomes more imaginative. / Master of Landscape Architecture

Any study of The Alexandria Quartet would be incomplete without a discussion of Durrell's concept of time. His spacetime relativity proposition is central to the work and, therefore, must be fully understood if The Alexandria quartet is to be appreciated. This investigation proposes to examine Durrell's relativity proposition as it is presented in The Alexandria Quartet. The study will begin with a general discussion of time from both a scientific and philosophical point of view. This introduction will focus on the modern cyclic view of time, or mind-time, as opposed to the more traditional linear concept of time. After the introductory presentation, the study will deal with the view of time as presented by Durrell in The Alexandria Quartet and will concentrate on time and setting, on time and modern love, on time and reality as seen from the varying points of view of the many characters, and finally on time and the artist.

Além de Roma, nenhuma cidade no Alto Império Romano foi mais analisada, caracterizada e criticada a partir de perspectivas externas do que Alexandria no Egito. As imagens produzidas pela literatura ajudaram a elaborar a representação da cidade que a historiografia contemporânea perpetuou: uma cidade enorme, linda, rica, turbulenta e polêmica. O objetivo desta tese de doutorado é discutir as diversas representações sobre Alexandria, reforçadas e divulgadas por autores antigos entre o século I a.C. e III d.C.. Acreditamos que tais representações, associadas à grandeza e prosperidade de Alexandria que a assemelhavam à capital do Império, ilustram uma percepção da cidade como um espelho de Roma e, também, uma ameaça à sua hegemonia. Todas as ênfases nas qualidades e realizações de Alexandria por um lado, e nos seus problemas e tendência à rebelião, por outro, não eram inocentes e são indicativas de uma mentalidade que vislumbrava a cidade como um local que demandava a atenção contínua por parte dos representantes do poder romano. A intenção desta pesquisa é analisar os motivos que geraram essa dualidade nas narrativas, por meio do mapeamento das temáticas e contextos mais tratados pela tradição clássica. / Apart from Rome, no city in the early Roman Empire was more analyzed, characterized and criticized by external perspectives than Alexandria in Egypt. The images produced by the literature helped create the representation of the city that the contemporary historiography has perpetuated: an enormous, beautiful, rich, turbulent and polemic city. The aim of this doctorate thesis is to discuss the several representations about Alexandria reinforced and divulged by ancient authors between the first century BC and third century AD. We believe that theses representations associated to Alexandrias greatness and prosperity that made it similar to the capital of the Empire illustrate a perception of the city as a mirror to Rome and a threat to its hegemony. All the emphasis on Alexandrias qualities and achievements on the one hand, and on its problems and rebellious tendency on the other, were not innocent, and indicate a mentality that understood the city as a place that demanded continuous attention by the representatives of Roman power. The objective of this research is to analyze the reasons that led to this duality in the narratives by means of listing the themes and contexts mostly dealt with by the classical tradition.