published_or_final_version / abstract / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

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Contemporary Western legal storytelling relies heavily on images and discourses in popular culture to secure meaning and give credibility to certain legal arguments. This thesis focuses on the legal stories told in the trial of a celebrity in Western society. As a system of meaning, the celebrity sign operates on the levels of signification and affect. The ambiguous semiotic power of the celebrity sign forces an examination by the legal audience regarding the "real" nature of the celebrity. Reality and truth are seen to emanate from this private self. Moreover, the affective power of the celebrity sign guarantees that, at times, emotion will dictate how much credibility will be given to particular celebrity legal stories and what stories will be considered plausible by a jury. In the trial of a celebrity "Other" — that is, one of the celebrated few who defies the white male norm -- celebrity legal storytelling looks towards issues of race, class, and gender, in addition to celebrity, in order to secure meaning and effect credibility. The aesthetic acceptance of the celebrity "Other," along with discourses of authenticity in Western society, work to shape what is considered credible and true in a courtroom. These factors place limits on the semiotic and affective power of the celebrity "Other" and, thus, on what celebrity legal stories will be accepted as truth in the courtroom. Looking specifically at the 1949 acquittal of jazz singer, Billie Holiday, and the 1994 acquittal/partial conviction of gangsta rapper, Tupac Shakur, this thesis will demonstrate the ways in which law, culture, race, gender, class, and the celebrity intersect in the Western mass media and how this intersection affects legal process and the trial tactics utilized in the trial of a celebrity "Other."

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Abstract This study begins by examining the interconnections between print and nationalism in John Milton’s prose works in order to demonstrate that Milton’s interest in print—including print-related activities like reading, writing, and publishing—is not simply a byproduct of his vocation. Instead, I argue that Milton consciously registered his reliance on and use of print in writing the nation. Further, I argue that Milton’s writing of the nation is in keeping with a modern definition of nationalism as a unifying cultural construct that wields considerable emotional poignancy despite its lack of ideological specificity. In making this argument, I am adapting a modern definition of nationalism and arguing against scholars who see nationalism as a product of modernity. I organize my dissertation into two sections: the first section, chapters 2 and 3, discusses the confluence of print and nationalism while the second section, chapters 4 and 5, examines Milton’s poems, Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes, as nation-building texts. As chapters 2 and 3 demonstrate, Milton had an acute awareness of the role of print in the public life of the nation, and he shaped his own identity as an author based on his contribution to England’s print culture. In chapters 4 and 5, I look at the ways Milton’s poems suggest a continuation of his commitment to nation-building although the poems were written during the Restoration: a period of time when Milton would have doubted the critical capabilities of his fellow countrymen. Paradise Lost continues the recuperative work undertaken in prose pieces like Eikonoklastes by helping to educate the reader in political reading. In Samson Agonistes, Milton explores the way that the individual and nation are vulnerable to the same sort of corruption which emphasizes the degree to which inward and outward servitude is linked. Yet, neither poem gives up on “nationalism” as a source of individual liberty and positive form of community. Instead, both poems offer an examination of nationalism that balances the nation’s potential with a consideration of the limits and possible abuses of this potential. / Thesis (Ph.D, English) -- Queen's University, 2008-09-25 15:22:21.28

The purpose of my research is to describe and analyze the facets of the learning culture in one non-profit organization. Based on my reading, I define a learning culture as: the observable and unobservable processes, structures, norms, and communication patterns that support ongoing, work-related, learning for employees. I relied on Schein’s (1985, 1992, 2004) levels of culture theory to guide my study. Schein posits that culture must be explored at three levels: “artifacts” (observable symbols and structures), “espoused beliefs and values” (the articulated ideologies of the organization), and “underlying assumptions” (the unconscious beliefs that are shared amongst members of a group). Accordingly, I selected a three-phase qualitative approach to provide a rich description of one organization’s learning culture. Using semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and document analysis, I investigated the firm’s learning culture. I targeted two groups: organizational representatives and employees. I further divided my employee group into two subgroups: administrators (management) and frontline employees (those who provide direct care for clients), in order to glean a broad perspective of the learning culture and how different groups perceive that culture. My research allowed me to describe the organization’s culture of learning. I uncovered a mismatch, however, between the organization’s espoused values regarding work-related learning and the employees’ perspectives on their learning. The organization articulates that it actively promotes and encourages learning for its employees; yet, the employees perceive their learning to be supported, but not readily encouraged. I tentatively conclude that perspectives on learning seem to be a function of employee role. This study offers some insight into the challenges of investigating an organization’s culture, both theoretically and methodologically. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2011-03-27 09:20:58.606

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

No description available.

This study is divided into four sections beginning with a consideration of the effects of an hitherto undescribed coccidian parasite of the ovary of this bivalve on the dynamics of a particular population from Kames Bay, Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, Scotland. The parasite was found to bring about complete or partial castration of female Tellina tenuis but had no effect on males. The general biology of Tellina-tenuis is reviewed and discussed in relation to observations that were carried out over one year on the age structure, growth, density, reproduction and degree of parasitization of this bivalve. The population parameters were found to have changed little over the last fifty years. There was not found to be any significant change in the condition index that could be related to the destruction of the gonad by the parasite. This is the first description of a coccidian parasite of the ovaries of any marine mollusc. The second section describes the life cycle and developmental stages of the coccidian parasite. The parasite is believed to be monoxenous with sporogony and anisogamy orcurring in the ovary of the host. Endogenous stages were observed in the primary germ cells of the gonadal follicles. A diagnosis is presented based on the number of sprozoites per sporocyst and sporocysts per oocyst. The name Mcrocystis tellinovum (sp. nov. ) is proposed for this coccidian. The genus Merocystis belongs to the family Aggregatidae within the sub-order Eimeriorina of the order Eucoccidiorida. An ultrastructural study of both sexual and asexual stages is presented in support of this diagnosis. The third section of this study is an investigation of the observation that a large proportion of the Tellina tenuis examined histologically contained inclusion bodies within the secretory cells of the digestive gland. These inclusions were comprised of dense masses of pleomorphic mycoplasma-like organisms. The first part of this section describes the morphology and ultrastructure of these organisms and the histopathological effects on the host digestive gland. A description of the normal digestive gland iss-given including observations of the cyclic changes in appearance that take place in response to the influence of tidal rhythms. This is believed to be the first description of a mycoplasma-like organism from a marine invertebrate. The fourth section is concerned with a series of experiments to determine the nature of a virus seen in association with the mycoplasma-like organism. The virus was isolated from the host cells by density gradient centrifugation and its morphology was compared with a second virus isolated by Hill (1975) through the medium of a fish cell culture. It was found that these two viruses were quite distinct from each other. Attempts were made to propagate both viruses in an established cell line from the Atlantic salmon and the results are described and discussed.

This thesis makes a comparative study of cultural differences and similarities between Chinese and Western outlaw heroes. It examines this cultural phenomenon from eight angles: the outlaw hero as constructed by history, literature and folklore; outlaws constructed as archetypal heroes; social and cultural contexts; outlaw heroes and revolution; a comparative case study of outlaws in Northeast China and Australia; underground cultural products (the "lore" and 'law"); ballads and proverbs reflecting values of outlaw heroism; and the fate of outlaws and the outlaw hero.Historical and folkloric explanatory frameworks are applied to outlaw hero traditions. Archetypal outlaw heroes and their successors, praised or criticised, are all constructed through a long process which combines reality recreated and fiction made real. Characteristics of archetypal outlaw heroes are inherited by later outlaws in China and the West. Though there are common codes and values of outlaw heroes in China and the West, different attributes are manifested in their attitudes towards brotherhood, organisation and women, and also in bandit sources and bandit categories.Western outlaw heroes are seldom involved in revolution, but their Chinese counterparts are connected with the Taiping revolutionary movement, the republican revolution and the Communist revolution. Some Communists are no more than outlaw heroes in the eyes of the poor and bandits in the eyes of the Kuomintang However, the alliance between outlaw heroes and revolutionaries is a fragile one.Northeast China and Australia have some parallels in their outlaw hero traditions. Convicts and immigrants play an important part in frontier banditry. The environment of both provides fertile soil for banditry and immigration. Among modem outlaws in Northeast China are chivalrous bandits and bandits who heroically fight against foreign Invaders. ++ / Bandit culture is valuable heritage in China. Bandits' ceremonies, argot, internal regulations, worship and superstition, and routine and recreational activities are all important facets of Chinese outlaw culture.Outlaw heroes never bend their bodies under pressure; they rebel rather than wait for death; and they never rob the locals. This is all reflected in bandit ballads, proverbs and other lore discussed in the thesis. Death is what most outlaws have to face, and how to fade it is a significant element in the construction of the outlaw hero. The arguments of this thesis are based on folkloric, historic and literary sources, many of which are here translated into English for the first time.