The purpose of this study was to engage with a group of students from a diverse school environment about how they construct value or status in their own and others bodies in physical education (PE) and sport. This study was premised on the notion that young people s constructions of bodies that have value affect both their sense of self and their (dis)engagement with physical activity in and out of school. Sport, physical activity and education are not value-free in their purpose or practices, and constitute arenas in which young people learn about what those values are and how they apply to their own bodies. Learning more about how young people make embodied decisions to engage in physical activity can aid in understanding how best to create inclusive, positive experiences within PE and youth sport. The feminist / poststructuralist theoretical framework that this research draws upon focuses attention on the constructions of embodied subjectivities through an individual s subject positions amongst multiple discourses. These discourses are (re)produced but shift as individuals take up and negotiate positions through the multiple narratives available to them. By linking these notions to that of physical capital, this study explores how individuals practices affect how they might be seen as valued. This study pays particular attention to gendered and racialised constructions of bodies in PE and sport, as literature identifies concerns about equity in participation and representation. Data were generated over one school year with a cohort of students in Year 9 of an ethnically diverse secondary school in the East Midlands, UK. Fourteen boys and eleven girls volunteered to take part in a collaborative visual ethnographic project consisting of a fortnight s photo diary and the sharing of participant-produced images in group interviews. Taped group interviews, participants photographs, field notes from observations of the participants PE lessons and researcher s photographs of the school notice boards were collated and analysed using a combination of thematic, discourse and content analyses. Findings indicated that the participants constructed as valued bodies those that are good at PE : meaning competency, strength and a desire and ability to win. Alongside this, students also valued fit, not fat bodies, and the display of effort or trying one s best. These constructions were often tied to their potential to perform convincingly. The students took up positions in relation to these notions of status, sometimes investing in practices that would develop their bodies in these ways. Participants fluid subjectivities as they negotiated different activities, physical cultures, and assumptions about gendered and racialised bodies affected their choices not just whether to engage but in what ways they would engage in physical activity.

This thesis sets out to re-locate and redefine the historical arguments around the development of the Modern Movement in architecture. It investigates the development of architectural modernism in Central Europe from 1895-1939 in the towns and cities of the multinational Habsburg Empire, in a creative milieu in which opposition, contrast and difference were the norm. It argues that the evolution of the Modern Movement through the independent nations that arose from the Empire constituted an early and significant engagement with urbanisation, planning and architectural modernism that has been largely overlooked by western scholarship. By reviewing the extant literature in discussion with Central European authorities and by drawing upon a little known range of sources, this thesis brings into focus the role of key individuals such as Plečnik, Fabiani and Kotěra and it explores the significance of developments in town planning in places like Zagreb and Ljubljana. In restoring some of this missing detail and revisiting some of the key sites, the thesis reveals how Central European individuals made early and significant contributions to the development of architectural modernism and the Modern Movement that have hitherto received little critical acknowledgement. What this research reveals is how these figures developed what can be seen as local solutions, rooted in the context and culture of individual towns and cities and their unique histories. However more significantly, this thesis also demonstrates that these independent initiatives were formed with an understanding of - and in response to - wider national and international developments in the field of architectural modernism. In this connection, the thesis can be regarded as part of an emerging academic effort to redress the history of the Modern Movement and an attempt to set in motion a raft of suggestion for further research into this rich field of cultural endeavour.

The purpose of this study is to investigate gender differences in mathematics anxiety and its relationship to test anxiety, trait anxiety, high school mathematics participation, and mathematics attitudinal factors in community college students. It takes place at a small rural community college in California, in which the majority population is Hispanic. The study relies primarily on quantitative methods, but includes a small qualitative component in the form of focus group interviews to confirm and enhance the findings. There were several main findings in the sample studied. Women scored significantly higher in mathematics anxiety than males among all age groups, ethnicities, and mathematics levels. Furthermore, the size of the gender gap in mathematics anxiety was not affected by age, ethnicity, or mathematics level. Significant relationships were found between mathematics anxiety and test anxiety, worry, emotionality, trait anxiety, self-confidence in mathematics, effectance motivation in mathematics, perceived usefulness of mathematics, and number of years of high school mathematics. Moreover, these relationships appeared to be approximately the same across samples of females and males, regardless of age, ethnicity, or mathematics level. Among the significant predictors of mathematics anxiety of particular importance were a lack of self-confidence in mathematics, a high presence of test anxiety—specifically emotionality—and a low presence of effectance motivation in mathematics. Follow-up focus group interviews suggested additional factors that could be related to mathematics anxiety, among which were an unpleasant experience with mathematics at the elementary or junior high school level, the requirement of having to follow precise steps in obtaining an exact answer, and the perception that the terminology of the mathematical language was confusing.

Dubai’s population is unique in that its nationals represent only 15% of the total population, with expatriates comprising the other 85%. Two questionnaires were developed to collect data.  One was written in English and designed for non-nationals who live and work in Dubai, with the aim of mapping the cultural diversity in Dubai as well as investigating non-national’s perceptions about living in Dubai and its cultural diversity.  The second was written in Arabic and designed for UAE nationals with the aim of investigating their opinions regarding cultural diversity and multiculturalism in the UAE.  An unstructured interview was also utilised in order to collected detailed data from senior nationals.  Data was analysed from descriptive statistics perspectives. Findings reveal the common concepts of multiculturalism in the United Arab Emirates, which refers to diverse ethnicities living in the Emirates and where UAE nationals recognise the rights of all ethnicities within a human rights framework.  Additionally, UAE nationals and the UAE government accept the presence of this cultural diversity, enjoying the mutual respect and benefits arising from it.  Multiculturalism refers also to the UAE government’s rules and regulations designed to protect nationals and non-nationals’ rights in celebrating their cultures and religions. Further, Multiculturalism refers to the continuous management of this cultural diversity by the UAE government through implementing governmental strategies and carefully planned policies aimed to address this diversity, to manage the challenges created by it, and to manage the forces of change in order to promote social harmony where both UAE nationals and non-nationals alike can derive maximum benefit from the cultural diversity.

This study speaks to the prominence of ethnocultural difference experienced by six punjabi young girls in Grade 5 at school during non-instructional school times and the extent to which these experiences are playing a role on the self-identity formations for these young girls. This inquiry delves into how these young girls, all born and being raised in Canada, are making sense of their difference and how they are engaged in constructing identities for themselves. A narrative method allowed for linking self-identity to the curriculum of noninstructional school times and how children's experiences of these times plays a role in identity formation. This study reveals some of the complexities and challenges of living as a young girl of a "minority" group brings to identity construction. Complexities and challenges that I attempt to bring to surface with the aid of the in-between space of hydridity, a space Ted Aoki terms Metonymic Space, Trinh Minh-ha's entitles Hybrid Place and Homi Bhabha calls Third Space. Through the framework of poststructuralism, the process of living and constructing identities is illuminated as being multilayered and evolving as it involves negotiations and contestations between how one views oneself and other's perceptions of you. By participating in the co-creating and co-writing of a story titled "A Day in the Life of a Punjabi Girl", the young girls included in this study were provided with an avenue for action and the production of a resource that could inform educators of the educational situation of punjabi girls and help them understand the life-world of these girls at this critical stage in their identity development. This resource may also help educators make changes for future generations of these young girls, and other students from visible minorities, in the school system.

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While some multiethnic states suffer from ethnicity-based conflicts, others enjoy the benefits of diversity, such as different skill sets, interests, and cultures. However, the cost of ethnic conflict is overwhelming. Ernest Regehr wrote in 1993 that almost two-thirds of political conflicts worldwide were ethnic conflicts. Although ethnic conflict is a worldwide phenomenon, it is not fate. Unlike the many unfortunate ones, some ethnically divided nations have successfully lived together without giving rise to widespread bloodshed or forceful repression. Potential fault lines between parties have been reengineered and tensions have been regulated. In this study, the central question is focused on governmental policies as a tool to prevent conflict. Contrary to the general perception, the vast majority of ethnic conflicts are political. As a political problem, it can be exacerbated or moderated by governmental policies or the lack of such policies. This thesis study has three main parts. In the first part, Daniel Byman's four causes of ethnic conflicts are discussed. In the second part, I recommend a solution in the form of a coherent four-fold framework consisting of "population control," "winning hearts and minds," "strengthening national identity" and "reengineering the political system". In the last part, this framework is applied to present-day Iraq.

The Uighur issue is of vital regional and global security importance to China. Although minority separatists are not well armed and seem to be largely disorganized, the violence poses a very real threat to China's ability to develop Xinjiang. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s behavior toward its Muslims has received renewed Western attention in the aftermath of 9/11. China's Uighurs have responded to CCP policies with violence and separatist activity, but the Hui (ethnic Chinese who are Muslim) have reacted with relatively high levels of accommodation. Some have blamed Uighur separatism on external influences (such as transnational terror) and Islam. However, the puzzle is, why do the Uighurs engage in separatism where the Hui do not? This study contributes to existing literature by directly comparing the Uighurs and Hui in order to determine the reasons behind Uighur separatism and Hui accommodation. This thesis argues that the Uighurs and Hui have faced different social and economic realities which have led to different perceptions of inequality and thus, different reactions to CCP policy. Also, unlike Uighur ethnic identity, Hui identity stems from and is compatible with the PRC and Chinese society. This study uses primary sources including interviews with Uighurs, Hui and Han Chinese conducted in western China during June and July of 2006.

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between diversity within the boards of directors of American companies and firm financial growth. Specifically, this study sought to determine the question of whether a relationship exists between medium-term growth in a firm’s accounting returns and the inclusion of a) minority women, b) ethnic minorities, or c) women on its board of directors. The supporting analysis for this inquiry included an in-depth examination of the five-year growth rates in ROE, ROA, and profit margins of 439 companies between 2011 and 2015. These companies operate across eight industry groups and are listed either on the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ stock index. Results of the statistical analyses show significant increases in financial growth for companies with gender- and ethnically-diverse boards (when compared to boards consisting solely of white men). However, based on effect sizes, the most significant increases were found in the profit margins of companies with minority directors.

A variety of modern software packages are available for genotype imputation relying on advanced concepts such as pre-phasing of the target dataset or utilization of admixed reference panels. In this study, we performed a comprehensive evaluation of the accuracy of modern imputation methods on the basis of the publicly available POPRES samples. Good quality genotypes were masked and re-imputed by different imputation frameworks: namely MaCH, IMPUTE2, MaCH-Minimac, SHAPEIT-IMPUTE2 and MaCH-Admix. Results were compared to evaluate the relative merit of pre-phasing and the usage of admixed references. We showed that the pre-phasing framework SHAPEIT-IMPUTE2 can overestimate the certainty of genotype distributions resulting in the lowest percentage of correctly imputed genotypes in our case. MaCH-Minimac performed better than SHAPEIT-IMPUTE2. Pre-phasing always reduced imputation accuracy. IMPUTE2 and MaCH-Admix, both relying on admixed-reference panels, showed comparable results. MaCH showed superior results if well-matched references were available (Nei’s GST ≤ 0.010). For small to medium datasets, frameworks using genetically closest reference panel are recommended if the genetic distance between target and reference data set is small. Our results are valid for small to medium data sets. As shown on a larger data set of population based German samples, the disadvantage of pre-phasing decreases for larger sample sizes.