In this thesis, I explore the following question: what is the relationship between representations of Puerto Rican identity and representations of Puerto Rican social roles in the United States and Puerto Rico? I use articles from the New York Times to analyze the discursive structure of this relationship. Drawing from a systematic random sample of 683 articles from the NYT archives from two time periods before and after the ratification of the Puerto Rican Constitution (1948 to 1952 and 1952 to 1958), I find nuanced accounts that promote a representation of Puerto Ricans as a perpetually “foreign” immigrant group, a form of “American Exceptionalism” that simultaneously criticizes U.S. colonialism and perpetuates U.S. supremacy to ultimately frame Puerto Ricans as U.S. citizens but not as authentically belonging “Americans,” and an ongoing racialization of Puerto Ricans as a group that does not fit within the traditional black/white color-line of the U.S.

Fibre plants favour different growth conditions and require different levels of husbandry. However, the fibres share some physical and material properties, which make them difficult to distinguish in the archaeological record. This thesis evaluates the effectiveness of methods for characterising bast fibres including; fibre chemical analysis, mechanical testing and fibre morphology, to propose that longitudinal microfibrillar angle (MFA) and cross-sectional circularity (Ct) used in a two-step procedure to analyse selected modern fibres of nettle (Urtica dioica L.), flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) and hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) could offer an alternative approach. The reliability of MFA and Ct, as diagnostic features, was evaluated under a temperature accelerated degradation 48week trial with eight fibre types from three deposition soils Post deposition, surviving fibres were subjected to evaluation of changes in MFA and Ct. An additional check on the diagnostic efficacy was conducted within a blind-test protocol. Finally, the research programme employs MFA and Ct in the diagnosis of a range of archaeological textile fibres from museum collections and fibres from the Kasr el Yahud mass burial. The thesis includes recommendations to address future post thesis research programmes.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

För många kan film vara deras första kontakt med en blind person och därför är det väsentligt att blinda representeras på ett rättvist sätt. 36 internationella filmer analyserades för att se vilka hjälpmedel som användes i filmerna och hur detta relaterar till hur det ser ut i Sverige. Av de 36 filmerna valdes fyra ut där huvudkaraktärerna analyserades utefter teorier från Eder och Schweintz. Resultatet av karaktärsanalysen visar att de blinda karaktärerna gestaltas på olika sätt och har olika stereotyper. Den vanligaste stereotypen är att den blinda karaktären saknar sin syn och vill ha tillbaka den. En stereotyp som däremot inte var vanlig i dessa filmer var annorlunda ögon eller användandet av solglasögon. Majoriteten av de blinda karaktärerna såg ut som de seende karaktärerna förutom när de använde hjälpmedel som en vit käpp eller ledarhund. Statistiken från filmerna visar inte en lika jämställd bild som statistiken från Synskadades riksförbund. Det är fler filmer med blinda män än blinda kvinnor vilket syns tydligast i statistiken om vit käpp. Ledarhundsstatistiken stämmer bättre överens med statistiken från Synskadades riksförbund som visar att det är några fler kvinnor än män som använder ledarhund. Slutsatsen blir därför att många av filmerna visar upp en blind karaktär som någon kan känna igen sig i, även fast karaktären visar upp en stereotyp. Representationen av blinda karaktärer visar nu en större bild av vad de kan göra än vad som visades innan 2000-talet.

<p>In recent years, many studies have reported that the tactile spatial acuity of blind participants is enhanced relative to that of sighted participants, but it is unclear what factors drive this enhancement. In the series of three psychophysics studies (of tactile spatial acuity) presented in this thesis, we attempted to tease apart two hypotheses explaining tactile spatial acuity enhancement in the blind: visual deprivation and tactile experience. To measure tactile spatial acuity in these studies, we used a grating orientation task. In the first study (Chapter 2), we found that blind participants outperformed sighted participants, but only on body parts where tactile experience is presumably greater in blind than in sighted participants (i.e., fingertips, not lips); we found additionally that blind participants’ tactile acuity correlated with their Braille reading behaviour (e.g., style, frequency of reading). In the second study (Chapter 3), we found that visual deprivation of sighted participants for periods up to 110 minutes did not enhance their sense of touch. In the third study (Chapter 4), we found that extensive training on a tactile task can substantially improve sighted participants’ sense of touch. The findings from our three studies thus provide consistent support for the hypothesis that tactile experience, but not visual deprivation, drives tactile spatial acuity enhancement in the blind.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)