Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 295 pages. / Thesis (M.A.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, has been described in many ways. It has been called qigong, one of many schools of physical exercises that aim at improving health and developing "supernatural abilities". Scholars and mainstream media have referred it to as a "spiritual movement" or religion, although practitioners claim it is not a religion. It has been called a cult, in the pejorative sense rather than in a sociological context, by the Chinese government and by some Western critics. In the writings of Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, it is referred to in different ways, though primarily as a "cultivation practice". The question of how to define Falun Gong is not just an academic issue; the use of the cult label has been used to justify the persecution of practitioners in China. To a limited degree, the Chinese Government is able to extend the persecution overseas. / ABSTRACT: How society defines Falun Gong has implications for action on the level of policy, as well as the shaping of social, cultural, and personal attitudes. This research project addresses what Falun Gong is through ethnography. Research methods included participant-observation, semi-structured ethnographic interviews (both in-person and on-line), and content analysis of text and visual data from Falun Gong books, pamphlets, and websites. Research sites included Tampa, Washington D.C., and "cyberspace". In order to keep my research relevant to the issues and concerns of the Falun Gong community, I was in regular contact with the Tampa practitioners, keeping them abreast of my progress and asking for their input. My findings are contrary to the allegations made by the Chinese Government and Western anti-cultists in many ways. Practitioners are not encouraged to rely on Western medicine, but are not prohibited from using it. Child practitioners are not put at risk. / ABSTRACT: Their organizational structure is very loose. Finally, the Internet has played a vital role in Falun Gong's growth and continuation after the crackdown. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Bergslagets museum is one of the oldest industrial museums in Sweden. It opened in 1922 in Falun, by the big mining company Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags Aktiebolag. This is a study of why a company would be interested in running a museum, why Bergslagets museum opened and who the people were that created it. Several persons were involved in collecting and organizing the models of old machinery, letters, paintings, pictures that was to become the Bergslagets museum. This paper shows different motives behind the opening of an industrial museum in Falun and gives a presentation of its superintendants, Carl Sahlin, Alvar Silow, Erik Johan Ljungberg and Olof Söderberg. All of them were central in the creating of the Bergslagets museum, today known as Gruvmuseet i Falun.

Falun Gong as it began to establish itself in China during the early 1990’s was a reaction to the Qigong bloom from the late 1970’s during a period of recent newfound religious as well as cultural revival after Mao Zedong's death in 1976. The Chinese Government continued their cultural revival with a new constitution that was created 1982, which gave the people of China the rights to practice their religion as well as be under the protection of the government when affiliating with different kinds of religious organizations. That will say, as long as the Chinese government can control it. Falun Gong did not however find its place being under the government's control and found itself soon enough in the violence of the Chinese government which has from the year 1999 criticized the movement and their use of systematic violence upon the movement was drawn to the edge of persecution. The Chinese government's reaction can as we will see be understood within the context of the Chinese religious history. As Falun Gong stands out as and been branded as a offspring from the folk sectarian movement White Lotus and all other affiliations of messianic rebellion and millenarian movements which had occurred from the early Ming dynasty 1338 until the fall of the Qing dynasty 1911

Economic analysis and evaluation of sport events and sports infrastructure is a widely researched topic, especially when it comes to mega-sports events. As many of major and mega events require large amount of resources, governments and municipalities worldwide have to make decisions regarding support for the events. To determine whether and to what extent events should be subsidised with public resources, a thorough analysis of potential impacts of the event has to be conducted. Most of the studies within this field choose Economic Impact Analysis as a method, while many researchers point out a need for costbenefit analysis, as only a comprehensive analysis of costs and benefits for society can justify public subsidies for sport events and sports infrastructure. This paper presents a cost-benefit approach of sports venue evaluation. A cost-benefit analysis made in this paper, on the case of Swedish outdoor area of Lugnet, Falun, presents possible effects of sports infrastructure investments on social welfare. Analysis was aimed towards investments made prior to hosting 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun. Presenting results for three alternative scenarios, this study compares different effects on social benefit. This research paper highlights areas that need to be investigated to ensure the better quality of the results, thus it can be beneficial for further studies of the topic. Results presented in this paper can also be beneficial for policy makers, as many of the potential welfare effects were described.

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The purpose of this essay is to examine and explain how the Swedish mining court of Stora Kopparberget (the Great Copper Mountain) implemented its judicial legislation between 1641-1682. Questions are asked about which counts of indictments the court tried, which sentences they handed out, in what quantities and how these results looks in comparison with other contemporary courts. The index cards of the court judicial protocols are the primary source of information. The methods are those of quantity- and comparative analysis.The results show that theft of copper ore was the most common crime ransacked by the court. Other common crimes were (in order): sin of omission, transgression of work directions, fights, slander and disdain, trade of stolen ore, failing appearance in court etc.Fines were by far the most common sentence followed by shorter imprisonments, gauntlets, loss of right to mine possession, twig beating, loss of work, penal servitude, banishment, “wooden horse riding” and finally military transcription. Even though previous re-search, in the field of Swedish specialized courts, is almost non existent evidence confirms great similarities between the Stora Kopparberget mining court and Sala mining court. This essay will, hopefully, enrich our knowledge of specialized courts, of 17th century mining industry and society and let us reach a broader understanding of the working conditions of the mountain.

This essay aims to investigate how the cultural heritage process and gentrification, that the Elsborg district in the city of Falun has gone through, is expressed in modern residents' reception of the architecture in the area, as well as to relate this to preceding ways of looking at the environment. In the study I examine two time periods; 1975 when Falun was appointed as pilot project for the European Architectural Heritage Year, and 2021 - the year in which this essay is written. The study is partly an analysis of texts produced in 1975 and partly an interview study with six current inhabitants of the Elsborg area. The analysis is based upon Wolfgang Kemp’s reception theory, which primarily argues for the focus being on the viewer instead of on the creator of the work or the work itself. The results of the study show that many of the thoughts that were formulated about the architecture in Elsborg during the European Architectural Heritage Year are repeated in the interviewees' experiences and uses of the environment today. Additionally, the observations of the respondents in the interview study highlight that the interviewees appreciate the old, traditional wooden architecture for its visual, historical and social values. Moreover, the participants view themselves as involved in preserving Elsborg and its cultural heritage.   Keywords: Art history, architecture, Elsborg, Falun, reception theory, Wolfgang Kemp, cultural heritage, gentrification, wooden house

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Den här studien utgår ifrån två svenska koppargruvor varav den ena, Aitik i Gällivare, är idrift och den andra, Falu gruva, stängde 1992. Studiens syfte är att undersöka förutsättningarna för att använda Falu gruva som modell för den framtida avvecklingen av Aitik, med särskilt avseende på efterbehandling, kulturarvsprocesser och återanvändning. Inom ramen för kulturarvsprocesser och återanvändning beaktas särskilt lärande.Metodansatsen är kvalitativ och den teoretiska utgångspunkten är att en gruva kan ses som ett stort sociotekniskt system bestående av artefakter och sociala komponenter. Genom intervjuer med representanter från Falu gruvas ägare och Aitiks ägare samt från Gällivare kommun genererades data. Data från intervjuerna samt från en mindre dokumentstudieut gjorde studiens resultat. Detta analyserades tematiskt och diskuterades utifrån uppsatsens teoriavsnitt. Resultatet visar att Aitik kan utvecklas vid en framtida avveckling och att Falu gruva i vissa avseenden kan användas som modell för denna process. Bland annat kan Falu gruva användas som modell för Aitik avseende utbildning som en del av återanvändning, där Aitikkan lära av Falu gruva genom att inte göra samma misstag som gjorts där. Resultatet visar emellertid också att samhällena Gällivare och Falun skiljer sig mycket åt, både vad gäller samhällsidentitet och samhällets relation till gruvan. Slutsatsen av den här studien är att aspekter såsom att betrakta artefakter som en resurs; gruvans roll i samhället; samt vem som definierar kulturarv är centrala för att kunna använda Falu gruva som modell för Aitikmed hänsyn till lärande. / This study is about two Swedish copper mines, Aitik in Gällivare which is still in use and theFalun mine, which closed in 1992. The aim of this study is to explore the prerequisites for using the Falun mine as a model for the future closure of the Aitik mine, with regards specifically to mine reclamation, heritagisation and reuse. In particular, the aspect of learning within the heritagisation and reuse framework is discussed. A qualitative research method has been used and the theoretical starting point is that a mine can be seen as a large technological system consisting of artifacts and social components. Data has been collected through interviews with representatives from the Falun mine owners, the Aitik mine owners and from the local government of Gällivare. This data, along with data from a limited document study, made up the results of this study. The results were then analyzed thematically and discussed against the theoretical frameworks used in this study. The results show that Aitik can be developed post-closure and that the Falun mine can, ins ome regards, be used as a model for this development process. Among other aspects, theFalun mine can be used as a model for Aitik for education as a part of reusing the mine, where Aitik can learn from the Falun mine by not making the same mistakes that were made there. However, the results show that the Gällivare and Falun societies are different in terms of identity and in their relations towards the mines. The conclusion of this study is that aspects such as regarding artifacts as resources; the mine’s role in society; and who determines what a cultural heritage is, are all important in order to use the Falun mine as a model for Aitik from an educational perspective.

The city of Falun has a rich history of mining with the open mine, Stora Stöten, centrally located in the city and nowadays a well-known world heritage tourist attraction. The mine is the main reason that Falun even exists. During its glory days, Falun was one of Sweden’s largest cities, at that time considered to be world-leading in mine engineering and Europe’s main supplier of copper.  A less flattering effect of the mining era was that the city became poisonous and almost unhabitable. Both waters from the mine and from piles of mining waste ended up in rivers and lakes around Falun. Over the years several successful actions have been taken to improve and restore the environment which has decreased the amount of heavy metals leaked into Faluån and lake Tisken. Though, the water is still polluted, and Tisken has in practice for a long period of time worked as a deposit with an increasing amount of poisonous sediments.  This has unfortunately made Falun central waterbodies disabled for human use and made humans no longer have a relationship to the water despite its central location, importance, and potential for the city.  This thesis project seeks to unlock the lost potential of water in Falun by reviving it as a living and interweaved spine in the city in a systematic and schematic approach. The project aims to address the polluted water and sediment challenges while promoting sustainable stormwater and flooding management. A connected green structure linked with a movement network for pedestrians and bicyclists promotes sustainable transport to the spine and existing nodes in the city. The different layers in the project enable new nodes with new potentials for Falun