This dissertation demonstrates how changes in spatial boundaries map on to changes in the boundaries of national belonging through an ethnography of linguistic and spatial practice in a divided landscape. In Israel, as in many places around the globe, new forms of segregation have emerged in recent years, as violence and the fear of violence become increasingly bound up with the production of social difference and exclusion. In Wadi Ara, a valley in the north of the country where my fieldwork was based, segregation between Jewish and Palestinian citizens has dramatically increased since the fall of 2000, as the place of Palestinians in a Jewish state is being reconfigured. In this dissertation I focus on the changing movements and interactions of Jewish Israelis in Wadi Ara as they articulate with changes in the ways difference, belonging, and citizenship are organized on a national scale. I examine how increased hostility, fear, and distrust have become spatialized; how narratives of the past shape contemporary geographies; how competing ways of interpreting and navigating the landscape are mediated; and how particular forms of encounter are framed. My central argument is that through daily linguistic and spatial practice people in Wadi Ara do more than just make sense of shifting boundaries; they bring these boundaries into being and, in the process, they enact both self-definition and exclusion, reflecting and circumscribing the changing place of Palestinians in Israel. The dissertation is based on 19 months of fieldwork between 2002 and 2006.

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The study has investigated the culture of Lamu through an ethnographic field study and the usage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) through interviews. The field study, including the interviews, was conducted during a fifteen week period. Theories of technological and cultural determinism as well as theories of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) are presented as theories which my analysis is based upon. What is investigated is the interplay between technology and culture in Lamu. The data collected will be used to discuss possible ICT4D assessments for future projects; what factors need to be investigated and mapped out prior to a project plan. Lamu is a complex community with a long history of outside influences. Nowadays, the influences are not from imperialistic power nations but from tourists, Non-governmental Organizations (NGO’s), Governmental Organizations (GO’s) and private investors. The culture of Lamu has gone through a change in behavior throughout the generations. What has changed lately is the adoption and usage of ICT’s. In conclusion, this study shows the unique way in which the culture uses technologies. This has been analyzed with former ICT4D projects in mind and seen out of a development work perspective. Lamu’s religious character has colored the three spheres of the community and is presented as one of the many important binary factors that need to be considered in development work assessments. What has been found out through this study is the importance of a culturally humble assessment before making a plan for ICT4D projects. Previous projects have failed due to the top-down approach. What has worked is the bottom-up approach and this is proclaimed in this study. All of the dimensions of a community, its history and all spheres need to be assessed before successful projects can be made. Lamu is a unique case and shows the complexity of assessments due to the binary factors and the many layers in the society that are important to take in account.

This thesis deals with online dating sites. An online dating site is an Internet site with the main objective to mediate between singles. It is a relay service, or dating service, not so different from the services long offered by the contact ads. The main difference is the agency over the Internet. The online dating sites in the sample are: E-kontakt; Match; and Mötesplatsen. The aim has been to clarify the structure of online dating sites. In concrete terms, it was about to discern patterns that can be interpreted as peculiar and common to play on online dating sites. By extension, it was about creating a better understanding of the service offered in the form of various search engines and other tools to find the big love. The thesis overall aim got manageable by three questions: 1) What is the usual treatment of unregistered visitors? 2) What features are offered to registered users? And, 3) what tools are provided to find a date? The thesis used two theoretical standpoints: the modified version of Al Cooper’s Triple-A Engine, which can be found in Christian Daneback’s thesis Love and sexuality on the internet from 2006; and Zygmunt Bauman: Liquid modernity from 2000 and Liquid love: On the frailty of human bonds from 2003. The empirical data was collected by an ethnographic approach. I used and took note of some of the services offered on the Internet sites I had intended to study. The reason is that many online dating sites require registration. The empirical data were analyzed with an analytical method developed by Malin Sveningsson, Mia Lövheim & Magnus Bergquist: Att fånga nätet: Kvalitativa metoder för internetforskning from 2003. The results landed in three answers: 1) The standard treatment is that online dating sites allow unregistered visitors to take part of the basal parts of the Internet sites features, but prevents non-registered visitors from contacting registered users. 2) Online dating sites offer three basic features for registered users: tools to a/ create a personal profile; b/ make contact; and c/ maintain a long-term relationship. 3) Online dating sites offer three basic tools that will facilitate the outreach of dating: a/ simple search engine; b/ advanced search engine; and c/ matchmaking functions. The overall result should be that online dating sites present both opportunities and constraints for users looking for love on the Internet.

This thesis examines the transformative potential of applied theatre, specifically through a study of the playmaking process, and the embodiment and performance of stories, as a tool for middle school girls to articulate ideas about and personalize the notion of leadership. This study documents the theory and practitioners who informed my work in the creation and implementation of an applied theatre program piloted in the fall of 2009. Through a process of qualitative, reflective practitioner research, I examined the participants’ perceptions of, and relationship to, leadership throughout the project, while simultaneously analyzing my own changing perceptions of what it means to lead and facilitate an applied theatre process and performance. The resulting discussion offers a need for a balance between the process and the product in applied theatre, and most importantly the need for practitioners to continuously reexamine their intentions and practices throughout an applied theatre project. / text

This is the life history of Rend Percente from Little Farmer's Cay, Exuma, Bahamas. When the University of Arizona-College of the Bahamas research team visited Little Farmer's Cay during the Bahamas Biocomplexity Project, Rend asked the team to record his story. This document reflects this effort.

The Creating Borderlands using a Multicultural Approach: a reflective ethnography focuses on an exploration into the psychological landscapes of junior-level students, whose minds have been riddled with stereotypes, single-stories, and images of Nazi Germany and of the Jewish people. The research navigates these young minds through a sea of images and preconceptions of the German and Jewish cultures and attempts to break down barriers, and reconstruct a borderland and a geography of renewed/reshaped understanding. The research intends to explore issues of social justice through a multimodal, multi-literacy unit within the context of the Holocaust. Through the qualitative paradigm of ethnography the research uncovers a mosaic of preconceptions and stereotypes, a tapestry of emotions, and a puzzle of renewed cultural awareness. Key terms: Border Crossing, Social Scaffolding, Multimodal Literacy, Reflexive Ethnography, Narrative Inquiry, Cultural Awareness, Polyvocality, Autobiographical Narrative, Qualitative Paradigm, Bricolage, Reflexivity, Multicultural Education

The Creating Borderlands using a Multicultural Approach: a reflective ethnography focuses on an exploration into the psychological landscapes of junior-level students, whose minds have been riddled with stereotypes, single-stories, and images of Nazi Germany and of the Jewish people. The research navigates these young minds through a sea of images and preconceptions of the German and Jewish cultures and attempts to break down barriers, and reconstruct a borderland and a geography of renewed/reshaped understanding. The research intends to explore issues of social justice through a multimodal, multi-literacy unit within the context of the Holocaust. Through the qualitative paradigm of ethnography the research uncovers a mosaic of preconceptions and stereotypes, a tapestry of emotions, and a puzzle of renewed cultural awareness. Key terms: Border Crossing, Social Scaffolding, Multimodal Literacy, Reflexive Ethnography, Narrative Inquiry, Cultural Awareness, Polyvocality, Autobiographical Narrative, Qualitative Paradigm, Bricolage, Reflexivity, Multicultural Education

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