The digital copy is rapidly becoming the dominant form in which researchers encounter cultural heritage. In this situation, the relation between the original and the digital reproduction has become a crucial, yet too little discussed problem. This thesis investigates this relation through two questions: (1) Which is the ontological status of the reproduction in relation to the original, and (2) How is the original mediated to its digital format? Question (1) is answered in dialogue with previous research: The reproduction is a new artefact, but with a relation (of similiarity) to the original. It is the understanding of this relation that the remaining part of the thesis tries to deepen and around which the second question revolves. This more empirical question (2)is examined through a comparative analysis of a physical original—the 17th century album amicorum of Gottfried Schröer—and its digitisation in the platform Alvin.The informative dimensions “context”, “materiality”, “textbased information”, and the category “aura” are investigated in the original and in the digital reproduction. For this purpose, Walter Benjamin’s concept “aura” is critically discussed and redefined as an analytical concept, and the research question is rephrased in terms of (a) which qualities are transfered, (b) not transfered, and (c) if/how they are transformed during the transfer to the digital format. It is also asked which consequences this might have for the artefact as a source of information. The analysis is positioned in a materiality discourse, adopting perspectives from, i.a., Actor-Network Theory and Material Philology. In this context, a widened concept of materiality is also developed, allowing the inclusion of the “virtual”. The thesis identifies aspects in which the reproduction differs from the original, depending, among other things, on its own materiality. This strengthens the call for users’ information competency when interacting with digital reproductions. This is a two years masters's thesis in library and information science.

According to the dominant tradition in Christianity and many other religions, human beings are both knowers and actors: beings with conscious beliefs about the world who sometimes act intentionally guided by these beliefs. According to philosopher of mind Robert Cummins the “received view” among philosophers of mind is epiphenomenalism, according to which mental causation does not exist: neural events are the underlying causes of both behavior and belief which explains the correlation (not causation) between belief and behavior. Beliefs do not, in virtue of their semantic content, enter the causal chain leading to action, beliefs are always the endpoint of a causal chain. If that is true the theological anthropology of many religious traditions is false. JP Moreland draws attention to two different ways of doing metaphysics: serious metaphysics and shopping-list metaphysics. The difference is that the former involves not only the attempt to describe  the phenomena one encounter, it also involves the attempt of locating them, that is explaining how the phenomena is possible and came to be given the constraints of a certain worldview. For a physicalist these constraints include the atomic theory of matter and the theories of physical, chemical and biological evolution.   Mental properties are challenging phenomena to locate within a physicalist worldview, and some physicalists involved in “serious metaphysics” have therefore eliminated them from their worldview. Most however accept them, advocating “non-reductive physicalism” according to which mental properties supervene on physical processes. Even if one allow mental properties to supervene on physical processes, the problem of mental causation remains. If mental properties are irreducible to and therefore distinct from physical properties, as the non-reductive physicalists claim, they cannot exert causal powers if one accepts the causal closure of the physical domain – which one must, if one is a “serious physicalist” according to physicalist philosopher of mind Jaegwon Kim.   Alvin Plantinga, in his Evolutionary Argument against Naturalism, shows that if mental properties, such as the propositional content of beliefs, are causally inefficacious, then evolution has not been selecting cognitive faculties that are reliable, in the sense of being conducive to true beliefs. If the content of our beliefs does not affect our behavior, the content of our belief is irrelevant from an evolutionary standpoint, and so the content-producing part of our cognitive faculties are irrelevant from an evolutionary standpoint. The “reliability” – truth-conduciveness – of our cognitive faculties can therefore not be explained by evolution, and therefore not located within the physicalist worldview. The only way in which the reliability of our cognitive faculties can be located is if propositional content is relevant for behavior.   If we however eliminate or deny the reliability of our cognitive faculties, then we have abandoned any chance of making a rational case for our position, as that would presuppose the reliability that we are denying. But if propositional content is causally efficacious, then that either – if we are non-reductive physicalists and mental properties are taken to be irreducible to physical properties – implies that the causal closure of the physical domain is false or - if we are reductive physicalists and not eliminativists regarding mental properties - it shows that matter qua matter can govern itself by rational argumentation, in which we have a pan-/localpsychistic view of matter. Either way, we have essentially abandoned physicalism in the process of locating the reliability of our cognitive faculties within a physicalist worldview. We have also affirmed the theological anthropology of Christianity, in so far as the capacity for knowledge and rational action is concerned. Keywords: Philosophy of mind, mental causation, reductionism, physicalism, the evolutionary argument against naturalism, the myth of nonreductive materialism, Alvin Plantinga, Jaegwon Kim

Theatre is not a thermometer of society; it is the fever. The archive is the aftermath that recalls that fever. In this thesis I theorize about the status of audiovisual documentation, its functionality, and its ontological relation with the performance. I argue that the film of a performance does not constitute evidence per se, but it acquires such status through the concurrence of other documents and archival artifacts existentially related to the theatrical production. I also propose that the audiovisual document becomes a substitute for the performance when it has disappeared from the historical world, becoming the new referent for other documents that also speak of the original performance. In the body of my thesis I introduce the trope of the Model Performance (MP), defined as the epitome of all the shows performed throughout the cycle of a theatrical production, in order to problematize the assumed stable nature of the performance as rather an evolvable entity impossible to document in its whole process. The MP, as a construct, allows me to formulate five orientations the archivist could take into account when deciding which, among the successive shows a production performs, should be audiovisually documented. It is through all these ruminations that finally I arrive to the conclusion of creating a holistic archival model using the new digital technologies, that I think are the best present media to recall and to assess the fever.

The project examines, in an experimental way, how differences in massing, aperture, and sectioning are affecting the natural resonant frequency of an architectural space. An investigation of boxes with these different qualities resulted in more than 200 minutes of sound material. By creating visual representations of the sounds, a catalogue and scheme for amassment of the boxes, could be organized. With the knowledge of how resonant frequency in prehistoric megalithic structures could have been used to support ritual chanting and the parallel to historic and contemporary religious buildings, a chapel was designed. Each room of the chapel has its own reign of resonant frequencies, with the third node being generated from my own voice and a monologue. Since the sound is a big part of the project, the main representation of the project is a series of soundscapes of each room of the chapel. This illustrates that architecture should not always only be looked at, but also listened to.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, a trailblazing cohort of African American choreographers, dancers, and teachers innovated the aesthetics of their art while also using dance performance as a tool for civic education and community engagement. This group, which included figures like Alvin Ailey, Eleo Pomare, Rod Rodgers, Carole Johnson, and Mozel Spriggs, harnessed the creative potential of the ongoing “dance boom” to intervene in cultural, political, and social debates in American life. They advanced a multistylistic definition of “Black dance,” embracing both Western and Africanist artistic elements. By translating their ideas about pressing sociopolitical topics into the embodied language of movement, they used their choreography to offer explicit commentary on the world around them. Placing a particular emphasis on community engagement, they brought this work to new spaces and contexts, performing in public parks, city streets, college auditoriums, and on broadcast television. Supported by an institutional infrastructure of publications and administrative alliances dedicated to Black dance, they built a national, multiracial audience for their art. Together, these dancemakers functioned as a cohort of public intellectuals, contributing to broader discourse on race, cultural identity, citizenship, and activism within the context of the ongoing Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements. This dissertation marks the first comprehensive study of this innovative generation of Black dance artists. Combining methods from intellectual history, cultural history, and dance studies, it examines their intervention in American life during a period of urban unrest, cultural revolution, and political transformation. Drawing on a wide range of archival materials, including government and foundation records, lesson plans, choreographic notes, personal papers, critical reviews, programs, correspondence, oral histories, video, and photography, this analysis reconstructs choreographers’ embodied ideas and contextualizes audience reception. In their choreography, creative practice, and pedagogy, these dancemakers elevated the beauty and strength of the Black body in motion and emphasized the universality of African American stories. This dissertation likewise argues that Black modern dance offers a new way of thinking about art and its real-world implications, advancing our understanding of the body’s capacity to communicate ideas, educate audiences, and intervene in public life.

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This thesis is a development of the theories presented by Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Bruno Bettelheim concerning archetypes, the anima/animus concept, the Hero Cycle, and identity development through fairy tales. I argue that there are vital rites of passage missing in Anglo-Saxon culture, and while bibliotherapy cannot replace them, it can help adolescents synthesize their experiences. The theories of Jung, Campbell, and Bettelheim demonstrate this concept by defining segments of the story and how they apply to the reader. Because of the applicability, readers, despite their age, can use the examples in the book to help reconcile their own experiences and understand life as it relates to them. The works I examine include J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy, and David Eddings' Belgariad. Though it is impossible to test the effects of reading such works on readers, the possibility of those effects exists. Bettelheim's work, The Uses of Enchantment, discusses similar themes and he provides scientific support through his use of anecdotal evidence. Following his example, I have tried to include evidence from my own life that exemplifies the effect reading epic fantasy has had on me. The aspects of epic fantasy in relation to going through adolescence I examine include the concept of responsibility and its relation to progress and maturity; gaining a social identity; and reconciling oneself to the dark side within and without, in society. These aspects are found within the superstructure of the Hero Cycle and the actions and motivations of the characters—archetypes—within the cycle. They are also present in real life and necessary concepts to understand to be accepted into society as a mature contributor.

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