This essay examines Jon Krakauer’s novel Into the Wild from an ecocritical perspective. It aims to analyse three representations of nature: its interdependence with culture, its connection with transcendence, and nature as a linguistic or cultural construct in Into the Wild and relate them to ecocriticism today. The analysis uses Peter Barry’s introduction to ecocriticism in Beginning Theory: An introduction to literary and cultural theory as its main theoretical framework, along with theories by famous ecocritics such as Laurence Coupe, Kenneth Burke, and William Rueckert. Christopher McCandless’ journey in Into the Wild highlights how it may no longer be possible to consider nature and culture as two separate entities due to the domestication of nature and humans alike. This analysis further discusses the potential reasons why individuals such as McCandless may feel a need to turn to nature as a solution for the problems they may experience in their lives. This exploration also considers how the attitude towards nature and wilderness has shifted and been reconstructed through time and how this may have helped shape McCandless’ mental image of nature and wilderness, which Krakauer explores in his novel.

The purpose of the current study is to revise the wording of the items in the Strong Black Woman (SBW) attitudes scale and investigate the psychometric properties of this revised scale (renamed the SBW Cultural Construct Scale, SBWCCS). Another goal is to determine if the scale predicts racial identity, stress, and social support. The sample consisted of 152 women of African descent, who were recruited from a community based organization. An exploratory factor analysis on the SBWCCS scale suggested a 3-factor model consisting of (1) caretaking, (2) affect regulation, and (3) self-reliance. These factors parallel those found in the original scale (Thompson, 2003). The internal consistency was adequate for the overall scale and the caretaking subscale, but somewhat low for affect-regulation and self-reliance. The SBWCCS scale predicted centrality of racial identity and stress (measured as perceived stress and number of stressful events). Specifically, women who reported higher levels on the SBWCCS also reported higher levels of centrality and stress. In addition, higher levels on the caretaking subscale predicted lower reciprocity of social support. Other aspects of racial identity (public and private regard) and social support (received and satisfaction) were not predicted by SBWCCS. Methodological limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

The purpose of the current study is to revise the wording of the items in the Strong Black Woman (SBW) attitudes scale and investigate the psychometric properties of this revised scale (renamed the SBW Cultural Construct Scale, SBWCCS). Another goal is to determine if the scale predicts racial identity, stress, and social support. The sample consisted of 152 women of African descent, who were recruited from a community based organization. An exploratory factor analysis on the SBWCCS scale suggested a 3-factor model consisting of (1) caretaking, (2) affect regulation, and (3) self-reliance. These factors parallel those found in the original scale (Thompson, 2003). The internal consistency was adequate for the overall scale and the caretaking subscale, but somewhat low for affect-regulation and self-reliance. The SBWCCS scale predicted centrality of racial identity and stress (measured as perceived stress and number of stressful events). Specifically, women who reported higher levels on the SBWCCS also reported higher levels of centrality and stress. In addition, higher levels on the caretaking subscale predicted lower reciprocity of social support. Other aspects of racial identity (public and private regard) and social support (received and satisfaction) were not predicted by SBWCCS. Methodological limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

Centuries of devastating, recurrent outbreaks made the plague the archetypical disease of late medieval and early modern societies. Yet explanations of where it came from changed significantly over time. This dissertation examines how portrayals of the plague’s origins and place in society evolved separately in England and France, from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries. It relies in particular on plague tracts, a long-lasting literary genre that offered standardized therapeutic and curative advice. Medical historians have studied these sources to trace the development of medical thinking and practice over time. This dissertation focuses instead on the tracts’ changing discourses about the nature of the plague that are unique to time and to place. The study elaborates a new analytical method to investigate the materiality and contents of these historical documents: it involves close reading and a codicological/bibliographical comparison of approximately 180 tracts in manuscript and printed form, set into their appropriate historical contexts. Tract producers influenced how the plague was understood locally. England’s centralised print industry fostered the idea that London was the de facto site and source of the disease; France’s diffused industry, by contrast, encouraged the discussion and tracking of outbreaks in multiple cities. Understanding of the plague’s origins also evolved: belief in malevolent celestial events gave way, in turn, to blaming unhealthy local landscapes, then the living conditions of the poor, and finally the Ottoman Empire. By the mid-seventeenth century, tract writers pointed to the Ottoman Empire as the historical and geographical source of the disease. Especially during the tumultuous sixteenth century, religious discord, dynastic factionalism, and incapable rulers also appeared in the tracts as causes and effects of the plague. Plague tracts are direct expressions and reflections of the short- and medium-term historical waves in which they appeared. It is possible to trace through them shifts in political, cultural, and intellectual worldviews. The spread of humanism in particular influenced how tract writers discussed the plague’s origins and influence in society. This study thus demonstrates that understanding disease is a cultural construct specific to time and place. Observing the unique aspects of plague tracts enhances our ability to understand the place of disease in past human societies.

The diploma thesis "Gender differences in risk attitude among Czech high school students" discusses how people deal with risk in everyday life. The first part of the paper investigates the forming of risk perception, and the factors that influence the process. Social and cultural structures are of high importance, but also individual factors (such as gender or personal experiences) as well as media representation matter. Risk perception plays a key role in decision-making in situations dealing with uncertainty and the paper asserts that it is possible to model risk behaviour and make predictions accordingly. The second part of the paper presents research on risk attitudes among Czech high school students. It deals with gender differences and students' willingness to risk in three key domains: social, health and leisure time. The model used in the paper focuses on students' willingness to participate in a given activity, their perception of the probability of negative outcomes, and the degree of pleasure derived from the activity. Research indicates that a) men are more willing to risk in health and leisure time related activities, whereas women are more daring in social activities; b) students coming from academically oriented schools are more willing to risk in social activities than students...