Over the last six decades, the Eurovision Song Contest has tried to embody the voice of European unification and international corporation. Previous scholars have depicted Eurovision as something highly influential and beneficial for all participating parties, whether that relates to the opportunity for commercial profit, outspoken Europeanist aspirations, or desired political progress– the song contest is utilized by multiple actors for varying reasons. In this study, I aim to demonstrate how it functions as an alternative cultural battlefield, a unifying apparatus, a signifier of projections, and a vehicle for soft power politics in warfare. It is an essay about political storytelling– the dichotomies between collaboration and resistance, Europeanist aspirations versus nationalistic objectives, the democratic against the totalitarian, the good and the bad. The Eurovision rationale aims to encourage certain rules of behavior and regulate conduct towards those nations that have failed to adhere to these rules. When these assumptions gain terrain in the public discourse, epistemological hegemonies are maintained, power relations sustained and public opinion affected. The study uses a methodological framework of qualitative research, and the empirical data consists of seven interviews followed by a visual analysis of the performances and context surrounding entries from Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia over the years. Three main narratives emanated from this study. The Eurovision Song Contest can be understood as an imagined community created by language and imagined through symbols of meaning. The governing body of Eurovision is the sovereign player who gets to control the political discourse by managing the selection of songs and participating countries. With impression management, the participating nations try and regulate how they are perceived in a public setting. It is communicated through carefully curated performances and acted out by constructed characters. When one fails to adhere to the rules set by the ESC organizers, disturbances occur, and the competition's core values are threatened.

El propósito de la presente investigación es analizar las creencias de los docentes contratados de Nivel Primaria de la provincia de Tarma (Junín) sobre la preparación previa para afrontar el Concurso de Ingreso a la Carrera Pública Magisterial (CPM). Para ello, se planteó un diseño de indagación de enfoque cualitativo con perspectiva mixta, ya que los datos se abordaron con una aproximación fenomenológica, para la que también se usaron algunas herramientas de la teoría fundamentada. Para recoger la información, se realizaron 5 entrevistas semiestructuradas a docentes de dos instituciones públicas de la provincia de Tarma. Se encontró que algunos docentes creen que es necesario contar con experiencia pedagógica en todos los grados de Nivel Primaria para poder responder las preguntas del Concurso de Nombramiento, pues plantean que los conocimientos que adquirieron en la universidad o instituto pedagógico no son suficientes. Asimismo, se halló que algunos docentes creen que las preguntas de la subprueba de Conocimientos pedagógicos de la especialidad del concurso no se encuentran vinculadas al Currículo Nacional. / The purpose of this research is to analyze the beliefs of hired teachers from Primary Level of the province of Tarma (Junín) about the previous preparation to face the Entrance Assessment to the Teaching Public Career. To this end, a qualitative approach inquiry design with a mixed perspective was proposed, since the data was approached with a phenomenological approach, for which some tools of the grounded theory were also used. To collect the information, 5 semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers from two public institutions in the province of Tarma. It was found that some teachers believe that it is necessary to have pedagogical experience in all grades of Primary Level to be able to answer the questions of the Entrance Assessment, because they state that the knowledge they acquired in the university or pedagogical institute is not sufficient. Likewise, it was found that some teachers believe that the questions of the subtest of Pedagogical Knowledge of the Specialty of the assessment are not linked to the National Curriculum. / Trabajo de investigación

El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo explorar las creencias de un grupo de docentes de dos escuelas rurales de Áncash (Perú) sobre los instrumentos y los encargados de la aplicación de la Evaluación Desempeño Docente (EDD). Esta indagación se realizó desde un enfoque cualitativo con una aproximación fenomenológica y se utilizaron algunas herramientas de la teoría fundamentada. Sobre la base de estos presupuestos metodológicos, se llevaron a cabo cinco entrevistas semiestructuradas. Luego del análisis, se identificó que algunas de las creencias de los docentes se agrupan en las siguientes categorías: descontextualización, y evaluadores y especialistas. Los resultados evidenciaron que, a pesar de la aceptación de la EDD, los docentes cuestionan la pertinencia de sus cuatro instrumentos (componentes), ya que consideran que estos no están contextualizados a la realidad de escuelas rurales quechuahablantes. Por otro lado, existe cierto nivel de desconfianza en cuanto a la preparación de los encargados de la implementación de la EDD, ya que consideran que estos deberían conocer la realidad sociocultural de la escuela y las características de los estudiantes y docentes, pues asumen que estos factores afectan su desempeño. / The aim of this study was to explore the beliefs of a group of teachers from two rural schools located in Ancash (Peru), about instruments (components) Teaching Performance Assessment, and those responsible for the implementation of it. This inquiry was carried out using a qualitative approach with a phenomenological approach and some tools of the grounded theory were used. Based on these methodological assumptions, five semi-structured interviews were conducted. After the analysis, it was identified that some of the teachers' beliefs are grouped into the following categories: decontextualization, and evaluators and specialists. The results showed that, despite the acceptance of Teacher Performance Assessment, teachers dispute the relevance of its four components, since they consider that these are not contextualized to the reality of Quechua-speaking rural schools. On the other hand, there is a level of mistrust regarding the level of instruction and preparation of those in charge of Teacher Performance Assessment, because teachers consider a must that agents responsible of its application should know about the socio-cultural reality of the school and the characteristics of educational actors, since they assume that these factors affect their performance. / Trabajo de investigación

För att lyckas med omställningen till ett mer hållbart samhälle behövs en kombination av kompetenser och förmågor hos framtidens civilingenjörer. Världsledare och forskare har pekat ut kreativitet som avgörande för att kunna hantera och lösa de komplexa problem mänskligheten står inför. Civilingenjörsutbildningar har som mål att utbilda studenterna till att bli kreativa problemlösare, men flera forskare inom kreativitet hävdar att kopplingen mellan kreativitet och ingenjörsutbildningar är bristfällig. En del av kritiken handlar om att studenter i för stor utsträckning inte tränas i att lösa vagt definierade problem som kräver kreativt tänkande. Oavsett vilket fokus som läggs på att främja kreativitet under utbildningen, kommer det finnas yttre hämmande faktorer som inte går att undkomma inom utbildningsmiljön. Det finns därför unika förutsättningar att främja kreativitet utanför utbildningsmiljön och fylla en kompletterande funktion genom ett kreativt utbyte mellan studenter och näringsliv. I en kreativitetstävling initierad av Skogsindustrierna fick studentgrupper i uppgift att komma på vad morgondagens innovation från skogsindustrin är. Med utgångspunkt i kreativitetsteori genomfördes en tematisk analys av insamlade enkätdata från nio kreativitetstävlingar. Resultaten visade att en kreativitetstävling kan bidra till att främja kreativitet hos civilingenjörsstudenter, men enbart under rätt förutsättningar. En grundförutsättning är att en kognitiv brygga skapas mellan studentens kunskaper och området för skogsindustrin. Ett annat exempel är att studenten själv ska identifiera problemet för att få en hög nivå av inre motivation. / To succeed in the transition towards a more sustainable society, a combination of skills and abilities is needed among the engineers of the future. World leaders and researchers have identified creativity as crucial skill to solve the complex issues facing humanity. Engineering education aims to educate students to become creative problem solvers, but several creativity researchers argue that the link between creativity and engineering education is flawed. Part of the criticism is that students are often not trained to solve vaguely defined problems that require creative thinking. No matter the focus on promoting creativity in education, there will be external inhibiting factors that cannot be completely removed within the educational environment. There are therefore unique opportunities for parties outside the educational environment to play a role in promoting creativity in other contexts, such as student-industry collaborations. In a creativity contest initiated by the Swedish Forest Industries Federation, groups of students were asked to identify tomorrow's innovation from the forest industry. Based on creativity theory, a thematic analysis was carried out on the survey data collected from nine creativity contests. The results showed that a creativity contest can help promoting creativity among engineering students, but only under certain conditions. One essential condition is that a cognitive bridge is created between the student's knowledge and the field of forestry. Another example is that the students must identify the problem themselves to achieve a high level of internal motivation.

This study explores aspects of journalistic quality in complex digital stories. Based on a tailored overview of the potentials of online journalism and digital long form stories for journalistic quality, all available award-winning stories of the subcategory Interactive of the World Press Photo’s Digital Storytelling Contest from 2011 to 2021 (n = 31) are examined according to their structure and journalistic quality criteria using Grounded Theory. The findings add to the long and ongoing research history in journalism and communication studies on the question of what journalistic quality entails and can be used as a basis for further analyses focusing on the technological and structural nature of digital stories and high-quality journalism. The analysis revealed a differentiation between linear stories and chapter stories with linear elements. While a multimedia nature, continuous text and video content prevailed in both forms, they differed in terms of their complexity as well as certain expressions of quality criteria. Gamification and immersion emerged as new yet debatable aspects of journalistic quality in digital stories.

The use of media technology to pre-program the camera work of performances (with tools such as CuePilot) became a state-of-theart solution in live broadcasted music competitions and events, allowing to create technologically advanced and more appealing live performances. In this paper we study how the use of such solutions affect the viewer’s experience, assuming that preprogrammed camera work results in a more unified experience compared to manual camera work. The paper also investigates whether pre-programmed camera work is noticeable by the viewers. To study these effects an experiment was conducted. The material used was a set of four entries from the Latvian music competition Supernova available in two versions: one produced manually without CuePilot and one pre-programmed with CuePilot. Each participant watched two of the entries without CuePilot and two with, and provided quantitative input according to GEMS (Geneva Emotional Music Scale), an instrument developed in order to measure musically evoked emotions, as well as qualitative input, as each participant had to determine which two of the performances watched were directed with CuePilot and asked to explain their choices. An analysis of the data using statistical tools and significance tests showed that pre-programmed camera work can result in a more unified experience compared to manual camera work, up to some degree. The ability to decrease the variance depends on the creativity value of the Creative Space of the specific production. Pre-programmed camera work is not directly noticeable but can be identified more easily with the presence of video effects, quick cuts or explicit interaction of the artist with the camera. / Användningen av medieteknik för att förprogrammerad kameraarbetet för framträdanden (med verktyg såsom CuePilot) har blivit en lösning i teknologisk framkant inom direktsända musiktävlingar och event vilket möjliggjort tekniskt avancerade och mer attraktiva liveframföranden. I denna uppsats undersöks hur användningen av sådana lösningar påverkar tittarens upplevelse under antagande att förprogrammerat kameraarbete resulterar i en mer enad upplevelse i jämförelse med manuellt kameraarbete. Vidare undersöker uppsatsen om förprogrammerat kameraarbete är märkbart hos tittaren. För att undersöka denna inverkan utfördes ett experiment. Materialet som användes var fyra bidrag från den lettiska musiktävlingen Supernova tillgängliga i två versioner: en producerad manuellt utan CuePilot och en förprogrammerad med CuePilot. Varje deltagare tittade på två av bidragen utan CuePilot och två med och bidrog med kvantitativ input enligt GEMS (Geneva Emotional Music Scale), ett verktyg framtaget för att mäta musikaliskt framkallade känslor, tillsammans med kvalitativ input då deltagarna också blev ombedda att gissa vilka av de sedda bidragen som producerats med CuePilot tillsammans med en motivering av valet. Med statistiska verktyg och signifikanstest visade en analys av datan att förprogrammerat kameraarbete till viss del kan resultera i en mindre varians av upplevelser. Möjligheten att minska variansen beror på kreativitetsvärdet av den kreativa rymden (Creative Space) för en specifik produktion. Förprogrammerat kameraarbete är inte direkt noterbart men kan lättare bli identifierat om videoeffekter, snabba klippningar och tydlig interaktion mellan artist och kamera är närvarande.

This dissertation focuses on studying various network formation games in Economics. We explore a different model in each chapter to capture various aspects of networks. Chapter 1provides an overview of this dissertation. Chapter 2 studies the possible Nash equilibrium configurations in a model of signed network formation as proposed by Hiller (2017). We specify the Nash equilibria in the case of heterogeneous agents. We find 3 possible Nash equilibrium configurations: Utopia network, positive assortative matching, and disassortative matching. We derive the specific conditions under which they arise in a Nash equilibrium. In Chapter 3, we study a generalized model of signed network formation game where the players can choose not only positive and negative links but also neutral links. We check whether the results of the signed network formation model in the literature still hold in our generalized framework using the notion of pairwise Nash equilibrium. Chapter 4 studies inequality in a weighted network formation model using the notion of Nash equilibrium. As a factor of inequality, there are two types of players: Rich players and poor players. We show that both rich and poor players designate other rich players as their best friends. As a result, We present that nested split graphs are drawn from survey data because researchers tend to ask respondents to list only a few friends. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation focuses on studying various network formation games in Economics. We explore a different model in each chapter to capture various aspects of networks. Chapter 1 provides an overview of this dissertation. Chapter 2 studies the possible singed network configurations in equilibrium. In the signed network, players can choose a positive (+) relationship or a negative (-) relationship toward each other player. We study the case that the players are heterogeneous. We find 3 possible categories of networks in equilibrium: Utopia network, positive assortative matching, and disassortative matching. We derive the specific conditions under which they arise in equilibrium. In Chapter 3, we study a generalized model of signed network formation game where the players can choose not only positive and negative links but also neutral links. We check whether the results of the signed network formation model in the literature still hold in our generalized framework. Chapter 4 studies inequality in a weighted network formation model using the notion of Nash equilibrium. In this weighted network model, each player can choose the level of relationship. As a factor of inequality, there are two types of players: rich players and poor players. We show that both rich and poor players choose other rich players as their best friends. As a result, we present that nested split graphs are drawn from survey data because these social network data are censored due to the limit of the number of responses.

8343511\u / 8343512\u

The bull was a potent symbol of power, strength, and, to a lesser degree, fertility to the peoples of the ancient Near East from the twelfth century until 330 BCE. This symbolism was manifested in several iconographic motifs. These motifs reveal the bull as a manifestation of divine characteristics and as an expression of the power of man, and particularly the authority of the king. The use of these iconographic motifs was not consistent across the entire area of the ancient Near East; some differed in appearance and use in the different areas of the region, and many changed over time even in the same area. In all areas and during all periods the basic core symbolism stayed the same, and the bull was always held in a special respect. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M.A. (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)

第一個由政府主導的創業競賽－科技部創新創業激勵計畫始於2013年。邁入第三年，已舉辦了六個梯次。根據科技新報指出，截至2015年4月，其中真正走向新事業發展的僅有38間。因此，本研究欲瞄準獲得優勝的參賽團隊，研究其在創業的歷程中面臨到什麼樣的改變因素，使得參賽團隊改變其方向。 本研究採用個案研究的方式，從FITI計畫歷屆獲得前十名優勝隊伍中挑選出四組作為研究個案，並搭配Timmons Model中所提到的「機會」「團隊」、「資源」及「動態關係」，透過這些面向來探討個案後續新創企業發展的改變因素，及如何與此理論相呼應。 研究結果發現，參與FITI計畫的創業團隊，其後續改變最主要的兩大原因為對未來機會拿捏的不確定性及團隊之間的不協調性；參照Timmons Model，可以很清楚地界定出創業團隊後續改變的因素為何；創業者對「機會」的可控程度為Timmons Model尚未考慮進的因素。 另外，針對研究結果亦提出建議給予未來參賽隊伍，及如何給予FITI計畫政策上的建議。對於參賽團隊而言，一切的因素如合作模式、股權分配等都應在事前談妥。而針對FITI計畫亦提出評審機制、白皮書、技轉三點未來可改進之建議。 / The first entrepreneurial contest held by government was the From IP to IPO (FITI) in 2013. FITI contest had held over two years, nearly 160 entrepreneurial teams, but only 38 of them established companies. Thus, this study aims to explore the reasons why these winning entrepreneurial teams change after the FITI contest. With the method of case study used in this study, four of the top ten winning entrepreneurial teams from over the past years had been chosen as case studies. And by the support of “Opportunity”, “Teams”, “Resources” and “Dynamic Relationships” from Timmons Model, this study aims to explore the reasons why these entrepreneurial team’s changing reasons, also to see how it fits in Timmons Model, and how it interacts with each other. This study finds out that the entrepreneurial teams change because of two reasons, which is the uncertainty to opportunity and the incoherence between team members. Next, the changing reasons can be clearly defined by the use of Timmons Model. Lastly, how much of the controlling power the team held to the opportunity, is one of the factors that Timmons Model had not been considered yet. Last but not least, this study also gave suggestions to the entrepreneurial teams that wanted to attend to FITI contest that everything like division of work should be negotiated at the very first place. On the other hand, three suggestions are also given out to FITI.