Thesis (M.A. (English))--University of Pretoria, 2003.

Thesis (M.A. (Sociology)) - Rhodes University, 2009.

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Anthony van Dyck's contemporary vision of sovereignty and knighthood made him the principal image-maker in England during the 1630s. His portraits of Charles I exemplified the Arcadian realm and philosophies held at court, as well as complying with the artistic and historical traditions of English painting. As a celebration of Monarchy by Divine Right, Van Dyck's portrayals of the Sovereign summarize the philosophical concepts of knighthood expressed in the Platonic Love theory and the Order of the Garter. Charles I was Defensor Fides, Pater Patriae, the suitor to his lady, and the courtly gentleman--all roles of the knight. Beyond his stylistic influence, Van Dyck's foremost contribution was the endowment of maiestas to the royal image, followed by divine apotheosis for posterity. A better understanding of Van Dyck's Charles as the Garter Sovereign leads us to modify our perception of the artist, since he became the painter of contemporary British history.

Environmentally-concerned parents and educators today are asking, “How do we co-create learning environments that will foster environmental citizenry?” This reflects David Orr's claim: “More of the same kind of education that enabled us to industrialize the earth can only make things worse.” Using autoethnography to explore my decision to deschool my children, I'm placed in the position of a reflexive practitioner, as I serve as both the primary researcher and subject of that research. Upon arriving at the decision to forgo the compulsory education system I discovered the interconnectedness between deschooling, autoethnography, and 21st century theories of environmental education. I examine the rationales of environmental educators such as Orr, Weston and Jickling who call for new systems of environmental education. I expose underlying assumptions and beliefs that shape my decisions to deschool my daughters and create context for broader community discussion about how to educate for an environmentally engaged citizenry.

Early in her Prime Ministership, Margaret Thatcher fought an unlikely diversionary war far from home for the ownership of the Falkland Islands. The Islands lie off of Argentina’s coast about 8,000 miles from London, but have been subject to Britain’s rule since 1836. In April 1982, hoping to distract from domestic political and economic turmoil, Argentina’s military dictatorship ordered a surprise invasion of the Islands. Thatcher, Britain’s first female Prime Minister, responded in full force. By early May, a British fleet reached the Islands. By June, despite American efforts to stop a war between its allies, Britain launched an assault on the Islands and took them back by force. Thatcher’s victory propelled her to immense popularity in late-1982 and 1983, and the Argentine dictatorship’s defeat gave life to a people’s revolt that quickly ended the regime and decades of military leadership. This thesis examines Thatcher’s leadership in April 1982, before Britain launched its retaliatory invasion of the Islands. It seeks to answer how Thatcher managed to make the war possible and popular in three key arenas: with her own cabinet and government, with the United States and the United Nations, and ultimately with the British public. This study operates on the idea that the war served as an intentional diversion for Thatcher, who had struggled domestically as Prime Minister up until the Falklands Crisis. Utilizing newly released archival documents from the Thatcher government, this study shows the Prime Minister never had any interest in avoiding war, undermining any potential for peace as it emerged.

Three sets of experiments were designed to test Marcel's (1983ab) claim that backward pattern masked word primes are processed automatically and without awareness to a level of representation where the meaning of the word is identified. In the first set of experiments, Marcel's critical SOA procedure for determining an awareness threshold was found to be unsatisfactory. There was no evidence for semantic priming effects when more trials were used to determine the critical SOA. In the second and third sets of experiments, awareness of backward pattern masked primes was determined by subject's report of the prime. Conconscious priming effects from prior presentation of the target word in a lexical decision task, and the solution in an anagram solving task, were substantial and robust. Nonconscious semantic priming effects were small but were significant in both tasks when presentation was dichoptic. Nonconscious semantic priming effects in the anagram solving task were obtained under some conditions of binocular presentation. Priming effects are discussed with reference to word perception, reading, and theories of consciousness. One conclusion is that nonconscious automatic priming effects are "selective" and are far from being ubiquitous. This view of heterogeneous nonconscious selective priming does not support Marcel's (1983b) claim that nonconscious processing produces homogeneous activation to the highest level in all representations connected with the stimulus event.

This thesis is about global catastrophic risks and the conscious effect of such risks at the level of everyday life. Utilising R. D. Laing's concept of "ontological security", this thesis questions the extent to which risks that loom in the global environment cause a sense of ontological insecurity amongst individuals at the local-level. In addressing this question, this thesis responds to the theories of Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens who maintain that the contemporary age is marked both by the emergence of global risks that exist as the unintended consequences of modernisation and a greater sense of risk owing to how information about such risks is disseminated by the media. While no objection is made to the argument that the global environment has become more objectively threatening, this thesis questions whether individuals in fact perceive such threat in their daily lives. This argument rests on the view that global risks, in the main, lack a tangible dimension needed to elicit a sense of urgency. Seeking to ground the risk literature from the level of theoretical abstraction to that of lived experience, this thesis presents a case study of how risk is perceived in the tourist-dependent township of Akaroa. Despite the fact that New Zealand is generally seen as "safe" and "secure" and removed from the vicissitudes of global events, its economic reliance on international tourism ensures a susceptibility to external forces that disrupt global tourism flows. Given the recent publicity as to how such risks as climate change and peak oil may undermine international tourism in New Zealand, it is clear that areas that are particularly reliant on the international visitor market, like Akaroa, are significantly exposed to global events. This not only makes Akaroa an ideal case study in which to establish the extent to which global risks undermine ontological security in daily life, it also helps measure how seriously individuals in tourist-dependent areas consider the possibility of a substantial tourist decline.

The use of Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) in schools continues to increase, as it is a useful brief assessment of students’ basic academic skills. CBM measures are used for multiple tasks such as identifying students at-risk, creating local norms, monitoring students’ progress during interventions, and assisting with special education eligibility determinations. Much of the research has focused on CBM in the areas of math and reading. Relatively few studies have examined the area of CBMWritten Expression. Even fewer studies exist exploring the reliability among alternate writing forms. This study determined alternate form reliability coefficients for written expression probes at the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth grade levels using productiondependent, production-independent, and accurate-production scoring methods. When all grade levels are combined, alternate forms reliability coefficients are at a sufficiently high level. However, some scoring methods resulted in much higher correlations at younger grade levels than older grade levels. In general, the correlations were lower at the eighth grade level. Implications of the results for school personnel are discussed.

This thesis examined the news coverage and editorial coverage the New York Times gave Susan B. Anthony’s participation in the women’s suffrage movement from the time Miss Anthony joined the movement in September 1852 until her death in March 1906. Using various books on Miss Anthony as well as the New York Times index, a chronological list of events and activities involving Miss Anthony’s participation in the woman’s suffrage movement was complied. Pages of the New York Times then were examined on the dates and near the dates of Miss Anthony’s activities to learn what coverage the newspaper had given her or the movement.The study showed that when the woman’s suffrage movement began in the early 1800s, women had few of the rights they enjoy today. Society of the time believed a woman’s place was in the home and that only man, as head of the household and chief breadwinner, should enjoy the right of suffrage. However, people who supported the woman’s suffrage movement believed women should enjoy the same employment opportunities and wages men of that day enjoyed and saw the ballot as the women could achieve those opportunities.Having shown the society of the early 1800s as well as the reasons for the woman's suffrage movement, the thesis focused on Miss Anthony's activities in the movement to show the coverage the New York Times gave her and the movement both news-wise and editorially throughout her life. The thesis found the New York Times covered her activities and those of the movement factually, based on the historical books written about her life and activities. However, the study found the newspaper's editorial opposition to the movement lacked the facts to support its emotional, and often illogical, feelings against the movement. Only when Miss Anthony was found guilty of voting did the New York Times stand on firm ground in opposition to her actions because it presented facts based on the United States Constitution to support its statements.The thesis concluded the New York Times reported its news stories factually and accurately, but used emotional appeals which lacked facts to support its opposition to the woman's suffrage movement. The thesis also concluded the New York Times reflected the society it served, a society that believed woman belonged in the home instead of out in a man's world, demanding the ballot in order to achieve equal rights with man.