Contemporary operatic scenography has been undergoing broad aesthetic, theatrical and technological transformations. My dissertation analyzes the work of three key designer-directors—Robert Wilson, Achim Freyer, and Karl-Ernst Herrmann—in order to investigate the changing relationship between the visual and the theatrical in contemporary opera, as well as opera’s place within current trends in theatrical design and broader visual culture. Combining an analysis of current productions with wide-ranging archival research, I reconstruct and explore these artists’ individual stylistic development and their mutual influence. Through this focus on the hybrid figure of the contemporary designer-director, I address two key historical changes in operatic culture: first, the greatly increased importance of scenography and visuality in global opera and second, the emergence of new scenographic idioms, which have rapidly displaced the dominance of historicist and realist conventions in staging. Throughout, I show how Wilson, Freyer, and Herrmann’s work has been central to the development of a “new international style” in operatic scenography. Combining close visual analysis with historical contextualization, I examine how this style—characterized by abstraction, rich colors, striking lighting and radical theatrical effects—has transformed the look of opera, while also framing these developments within the longer history of modernist scenography, and the long-standing tensions between stylistic innovation and aesthetic traditionalism.

Freedom of religion or belief is indisputable in Human rights discourse, more discussed is exactly what it is that is included in the concept of freedom of religion or belief (in Swedish: religionsfrihet). This thesis focuses on the freedom of religion or belief in a European context, in particular on the European court of human rights and article 9 in the European convention for human rights. Some criticism has been directed against the Court to the effect that its practice and verdicts don't answer to the pronounced desire to develop a pluralistic and inclusive form of freedom of religion or belief. My aim is to examine, analyse and test three different theories, which all try to develop alternatives to the expression freedom of religion or belief, in relation to six verdicts from article 9 in Europe convention. My basic purpose is to try to find new ways of talking about freedom of religion or belief that might lead to a more inclusive, pluralistic and equal interpretation of that concept. The three theories wich I use are elaborated by Richard Amesbury (associate professor at Claremont school of Theology); Hugo Strandberg (TD at Åbo Akademi) and Eberhard Herrmann (professor in philosophy of religion at Uppsala University); and Martha Nussbaum (professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago). The six cases from the European court are: X v. Federal Republic of Germany, X v. United Kingdom, Chappell v. United Kingdom, Dahlab v. Switzerland, Leyla Sahin v. Turkey, Dogru v. France. The results of this thesis suggest that the use of alternative expression to the Swedish term religionsfrihet might to a great extent lead to a more inclusive, pluralistic and equal form of freedom of religion or belief – for example in such areas as: individuality, minorities and frames of reference in society as such.

A common phenomenon in the private higher education environment is that lecturers are highly qualified subject specialists and conduct research mainly in areas in their fields of expertise. Therefore they are not always well informed about the dynamics of the global educational environment and they do not have an indepth knowledge of how learning takes place. As a result of this the traditional lecturing style is mainly used during contact sessions and mostly theoretical knowledge is assessed in written examinations. During class visits that were conducted as part of my duties as quality assurer of the teaching, learning and assessment that take place in the Production Management Institute of Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd (trading as PMI), a private higher education institution, it was noticed that the facilitators of learning present mostly lectures that are based on one-way communication with very little student participation. Learning style flexibility and allowing active student participation during the contact sessions are, in most instances, not considered. This lecturer-centred practice prevents the students from developing responsibility for their own learning process and creating an interest in becoming lifelong learners. An action research-driven professional development programme was presented to the academic staff of PMI to allow them the opportunity to develop innovative facilitation of learning practices. The programme aimed to create a scholarly approach to establishing a culture of lifelong learning in the private higher education environment – in literature commonly referred to as a scholarship of learning and teaching. The academic staff members conducted action research on their own practices as facilitators and assessors of lifelong learning. I conducted living theory action research on my style of being a mentor for the participants of the project. The programme commenced in 2009. The content of and the level on which the programme was presented are in line with a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE) that is offered at a public institution. The participants were introduced to, inter alia, the principles of the Ned Herrmann Whole Brain® theory, Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory and Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive levels. As the first step in the programme all the participants completed the on-line Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® (HBDI®). An accredited Hermann Brain Dominance practitioner was contracted to provide feedback to the participants and to explain the principles of this instrument. The HBDI® practitioner is affiliated on a full-time basis with the education faculty of a public higher education institution. He was contracted to facilitate the professional development programme as well. The success of the programme became evident through student feedback and requests, and feedback received from the participating facilitators of learning. Top level management of PMI also became aware of the successes and it resulted in the inclusion of the development of the academic staff members as one of the main focus areas in the strategic management plan for 2010. It was decided that the programme should be repeated every year in order to ensure the continuous professional development of existing and new academic staff members. PMI was invited to offer the programme in the Agriculture and Science Faculty of a public university. Parts of the project were showcased at the 2010 and 2012 conferences of the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of South Africa (HELTASA) and the Knowledge 2011 international conference. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

Differential item functioning (DIF) is present when examinees who have the same level of a trait have a different probability of correctly answering a test item intended to measure that trait (Shepard & Averill, 1981). The following study is a DIF analysis of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI), a preference profiling instrument developed by Herrmann International to help individuals identify their dominant preferences and then classify their level of dominance into four preference quadrants. Examinees who completed the American English version of the instrument were classified as the reference group and examinees of the International English version were classified as the focal group. Out of 105 items, 11 were manifesting a large amount of DIF and were flagged for further review. The POLYSIBTEST procedure was used to carry out the DIF analysis. POLYSIBTEST is an extension of the SIBTEST procedure, which is a conceptually simple method for analyzing DIF that uses a latent trait measure rather than an observed total score. The latent trait measure helps detect both uniform and nonuniform DIF and the POLYSIBTEST procedure is used for both dichotomous and polytomous items. Each of the four preference quadrants were analyzed separately to reduce incorrect findings as a result of ipsative scoring. The process used to complete the DIF analysis was documented so that additional language groups may be analyzed by Herrmann International.

Thesis (MMus (Music))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / This study is concerned with determining whether the application of Ned Herrmann’s “whole-brain” model would impact violin teaching in any way. Our educational system places great importance on what has become known as the left-brain modes, that is, reading, writing and arithmetic, to the neglect of the socalled right brain’s cognitive abilities, such as, music, art, intuition and dance. Wellintentioned, yet ill-informed teachers teach learners in ways that make learning difficult or impossible, as they are unaware of how to determine and use the preferred learning style of each learner. When a learner’s learning style is not matched with the method of instruction, the learner’s discomfort level may be so great that it not only interferes with the learning process but it could also ultimately prevent learning from taking place. The researcher, therefore, set out to determine whether the use of whole-brain development would lead to any significant changes in the learning process. For a period of two school terms, case studies using action research were conducted on five of the learners that received instruction from the researcher. The research participants were so chosen as to make the experimental group as homogenous as possible. Data was collected qualitatively by means of diaries and was presented descriptively. Every week the learners received a printed copy of the homework exercises. They recorded their feedback weekly, in their diaries. The researcher, as the teacher of the learners, made weekly observations during lessons. During this research the process of triangulation was used. This process added validity to the study as information about specific aspects was gained from three different perspectives, namely, that of the learners, the teacher and the learners’ accompanists. The accompanists gave their feedback before the start of the research and again at the end. After applying Herrmann’s model for two terms, the following became apparent: • The learners practised more, were more motivated and there was a general improvement in their attitude. • The learners felt that having received a printed copy of the exercises, a whole brain exercise in itself, had helped them to know what and how to practise. • There was a significant change in the playing of the majority of learners (three of the five). • The learners, where significant changes were not apparent in their playing, indicated that their understanding of their practising methods and playing had increased. • The learners felt that they had benefited from the experiment as they all indicated that they would like future lessons to be conducted in the same manner. In view of the positive outcome of the research, and given that this was a pilot study, the researcher suggests that similar studies using larger numbers of learners and involving a longer period of time, be conducted. The inclusion of a control group would also render the findings more conclusive. The researcher also suggests that violin teachers become knowledgeable about learning styles and whole-brain learning if they wish to reach all learners and enable them to achieve their potential.

[EN] Saul Bass is considered as the father of contemporary title sequences. The main contribution of this work consists in verifying the close correspondences between Bass' deviced iconography, figures and visual motifs to summarize and synthesise the profound sense of the story told by the film, preceded by their sequences, since it is this idea that is found as the base of what has been established as the turning point and conceptual axis around his innovation. This is something until nowadays taken as an axiom, for that it is a need to go more deeply into it and to define which these keys of his innovation are. Step by step, Bass is modeling his concept of Bass-Brand; since the beginning he considered creating a visual image recognisible by his personal style, and at the same time he addressed the territory of audiovisual communication and deviced a new concept, a new treatment in the field of titles design in film. A first step would be the creation of the symbol-brand of the movie, as a single product, until reaching the idea of the brand-film with which he suggests that the title sequences must be a metaphorical résumé of the story told by the film. All of this is what he will create, in the collective imagination, that recognisible idea of the author's identity as creator of the title sequence; by itself, Bass-Brand has implicitly not only a concise procedure of formal and aesthetic resolution of this sequence, but the features themselves of his innovation. But Bass, by the means of his metaphores, is not simply proposing us a summary of the argument, of the (main) plot of the story, but he extracts the pure essence of the film and it is about this essence what he wants to talk to us about, and for that he evoques that essence with his metaphores. All of this appears, as we will demonstrate, by revealing the secondary plot of the film. In order to confirm our hypothesis we have established an inquiring technique that has allowed us to analyse this particular rpoblem. We have proposed an analysis model that permits demonstrating this hypothesis in which we study a specific, complex and paradigmatic case inside the audiovisual production of this author, the film Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958). We have centred on questions such as finding the referents of Bass' audiovisual metaphores by applying this deconstruction of narrative structure technique to the film, and also by indexing the essential ingredients of an audiovisual-narrative construction of these characteristics in order to unveil the profound sense of the told story. The analytical tools that we have used for realizing a descomposition process of the film is based on the identification of the profound structures of the film, thanks to the application of Frank Daniel's sequences paradigma. Likewise, as another tool for our analysis, we rely on the identification of different music segments that are detected in the title sequences, in that in an audiovisual piece, music establishes a configuration that can endorse the self iconic phrases and their signification. In the title sequence we see the color palette and other iconographic patterns synthesised, of which dizziness and obsession make use, plus the tragic and obsessive love of Judy, Madeleine the entity, and Scottie characters, proposed on one side by the images, and on the other, by the melodies. It is about a magistral work on transforming narrative contents (and their referents) into pure audio-visual metaphores. Both Bass' and Herrmann's work in these titles are a perfect translation of the themed, emotional, and psychological aspects of the story in which one can appreciate the iconic and sound equivalences of the film's essential discursive elements. / [ES] Saul Bass está considerado como el padre de las secuencias de títulos de crédito contemporáneas. La aportación principal de este trabajo consiste en verificar las estrechas correspondencias entre la iconografía, figuras y motivos visuales ideados por Bass para resumir y sintetizar el sentido profundo de la historia contada por el film, al que anteceden sus secuencias, pues es esta idea la que se encuentra en la base de lo que todos han establecido como punto de inflexión y el eje conceptual en torno al que gira su innovación. Esto es algo que hasta ahora ha sido un axioma, por lo que es necesario profundizar y definir sobre cuáles son esas claves de su innovación. Bass va moldeando poco a poco su concepto de Marca-Bass; desde el principio se planteó crear una imagen visual reconocible por su estilo personal, al tiempo que abordó el territorio de la comunicación audiovisual e inventó un nuevo concepto, un nuevo tratamiento en el campo del diseño de los créditos en el cine. Un primer paso sería la creación del símbolo-marca de la película, como producto singular, hasta llegar a la idea de la marca-película con la que plantea que la secuencia de créditos debe ser un resumen metafórico de la historia contada por el film. Es todo ello lo que creará, en el imaginario colectivo, esa idea reconocible de la identidad de su autor como creador de la secuencia de títulos de crédito; en sí la Marca-Bass lleva implícito no solo un conciso procedimiento de resolución formal y estético de esta secuencia sino los propios rasgos de su innovación. Pero Bass, mediante sus metáforas, no nos propone simplemente un resumen del argumento, de la trama (principal) de la historia, sino que extrae la esencia pura del film y es de ella de la que nos quiere hablar y para ello evoca esa esencia con sus metáforas. Todo esto aparece, como demostramos, al revelar la trama secundaria del film. Para confirmar nuestras hipótesis hemos establecido una técnica de indagación que nos ha permitido poder analizar ese determinado problema. Hemos propuesto un modelo de análisis, que permite demostrar esta hipótesis donde estudiamos un caso concreto, complejo y paradigmático dentro de la producción audiovisual de este autor, la película Vértigo. De entre los muertos (Hitchcock, 1958). Nos hemos centrado en cuestiones como hallar los referentes de las metáforas audiovisuales de Bass aplicando esta técnica de deconstrucción de la estructura narrativa del film, y también en referenciar los ingredientes esenciales de una construcción narrativa audiovisual de estas características para intentar desvelar el sentido profundo de la historia contada. Los instrumentos analíticos que hemos utilizado para realizar una segmentación metódica y proceder a realizar un proceso de descomposición del film se basan en la identificación de las estructuras profundas del film gracias a la aplicación del paradigma de secuencias de Frank Daniel. Asímismo nos apoyamos, como una herramienta más para nuestro análisis, en la identificación de diferentes bloques de música que se detectan en la secuencias de títulos de crédito, en la medida que en una pieza audiovisual, la música establece una configuración que puede refrendar los propios fraseados icónicos y su significación. En la secuencia de títulos de crédito vemos sintetizados la paleta de color del film y los patrones iconográficos de los que se sirven el vértigo y la obsesión, además del amor trágico y obsesivo de los personajes de Judy, el ente Madeleine y Scottie, propuestos por un lado por las imágenes, y por otro por las melodías. Se trata de un magistral trabajo de transformación de contenidos narrativos (su referente) a puras metáforas audio-visuales. El trabajo, tanto de Bass como de Herrmann, en estos créditos es una perfecta traducción de los aspectos temáticos, emocionales y psicológicos del relato en los que se pueden apreciar las equivalencias icónica / [CAT] Saul Bass està considerat com al pare de les seqüències de títols de crèdit contemporànies. L'aportació principal d'aquest treball consisteix en verificar les estretes correspondències entre la iconografia, figures i motius visuals ideats per Bass, per a resumir i sintetitzar el sentit profund de la història contada pel film, a què antecedeixen les seues seqüències, doncs és aquesta idea la que es troba en la base del que tots han establert com a punt d'inflexió i eix conceptual en torn al que gira la seua innovació. Això és una cosa que fins ara ha estat un axioma, motiu pel qual és necessari profunditzar i definir sobre quines són eixes claus de la seua innovació. Bass va modelant, a poc a poc, el seu concepte de Marca-Bass; des del principi es va plantejar crear una imatge visual recognoscible pel seu estil personal, al temps que va abordar el territori de la comunicació audiovisual i va inventar un nou concepte, un nou tractament en el camp del disseny dels crèdits en el cinema. Un primer pas seria la creació del símbol-marca de la pel·lícula, com a producte singular, fins a arribar a la idea de la marca-pel·lícula amb què es planteja que la seqüència de crèdits ha de ser un resum metafòric de la història contada pel film. És tot això el que crearà, en l'imaginari col·lectiu, eixa idea recognoscible de la identitat del seu autor com a creador de la seqüència de títols de crèdit; en si, la Marca-Bass porta implícit no tan sols un concís procediment de resolució formal i estètic d'aquesta seqüència, sinó els trets propis de la seua innovació. Però, Bass, mitjançant les seues metàfores, no ens proposa simplement un resum de l'argument, de la trama (principal) de la història, sinó que extrau l'essència pura del film i és d'ella de la qual ens vol parlar, i per a això evoca eixa essència amb les seues metàfores. Tot això apareix, com demostrem, al revelar la trama secundària del film. Per a confirmar les nostres hipòtesis hem establert una tècnica d'indagació que ens ha permés poder analitzar aquest problema determinat. Hem proposat un model d'anàlisi que permet demostrar aquesta hipòtesi on estudiem un cas concret, complexe i paradigmàtic dins de la producció audiovisual d'aquest autor, la pel·lícula Vertígen (D'entre els morts) (Hitchcock, 1958). Ens hem centrat en qüestions com trobar els referents de les metàfores audiovisuals de Bass aplicant aquesta tècnica de deconstrucció de l'estructura narrativa del film, i també en referenciar els ingredients essencials d'una construcció narrativa audiovisual d'aquestes característiques per a intentar desvetlar el sentit profund de la història contada. Els instruments analítics que hem utilitzat per a realitzar una segmentació metòdica i per a procedir a realitzar un procés de descomposició del film es basen en la identificació de les estructures profundes del film gràcies a l'aplicació del paradigma de les seqüències de Frank Daniel. Tanmateix, ens recolzem, com a una ferramenta més per a la nostra anàlisi, en la identificació de blocs diferents de música que es detecten en les seqüències de títols de crèdit, en la mesura en què, en una peça audiovisual, la música estableix una configuració que pot refrendar els frasejats icònics propis i la seua significació. En la seqüència de títols de crèdit veiem sintetitzades la paleta de color del film i els patrons iconogràfics de què es serveixen el vertigen i l'obsessió, a més de l'amor tràgic i obsessio dels personatges de Judy, l'ens Madeleine i Scottie, proposats per una banda per les imatges, i, per l'altra, per les melodies. Es tracta d'un treball magistral de transformació de continguts narratius (i el seu referent) a metàfores pures audio-visuals. El treball, tant de Bass com de Herrmann, en aquests crèdits és una perfecta traducció dels aspectes temàtics, emocionals i psicològics del relat en què es poden apreci / Alcaraz Pagán, MDLN. (2016). LAS CLAVES DE LA INNOVACIÓN DE SAUL BASS EN LA SECUENCIA DE TÍTULOS DE CRÉDITO DE VÉRTIGO [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/61992 / TESIS

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<p>This work attempts an answer to two questions. Firstly, is it possible to experience meaning when everything is transient? And secondly, in what way is objectivity possible when it comes to such phenomena as existential meaning? The questions originate from our insideperspective, and it is from what we have experienced ourselves that we try to make intelligible existential meaning. We are to a great extent part of the context in which we live. Our ability to contemplate our situation and our own contemplation is taking place in interplay with others. To make room for the small things meaningful in life, the expression existential meaning is used. In this expression both the meaningless and the meaningful are included, since both are needed for our understanding of meaning. Without the Other and that which is different, the individual person’s formation of existential meaning becomes just more of the same, it becomes an enclosure in the present. The encounter with the Other makes room for that which is different to break through.</p><p>Objectivity is possible when it comes to existential meaning, if one views objectivity as a process between people. It is performed in conversation. Those who converse, refer to their bodily experiences of the Time that remains and help each other, using language as the tool, to formulate their experiences. They compare each others’ manifestations of existential meaning,</p><p>and with the help of language they go further in the formation of what is meaningless and meaningful. Their conversations imply a normative presupposition that they can justify the claims that they make. Because it is actually not possible to make intelligible existential meaning in words other than by doing it as a mix of descriptions of that which is manifesting itself and linguistic rewritings in the form of stories. This expression of objectivity has a normative aspect, namely in relation to the possibility that we can be wrong. Therefore, we need each other in the act of judging, and together we are guided by the fact that it later on can emerge things that show that our judgment has not been fully correct. </p>

This work attempts an answer to two questions. Firstly, is it possible to experience meaning when everything is transient? And secondly, in what way is objectivity possible when it comes to such phenomena as existential meaning? The questions originate from our insideperspective, and it is from what we have experienced ourselves that we try to make intelligible existential meaning. We are to a great extent part of the context in which we live. Our ability to contemplate our situation and our own contemplation is taking place in interplay with others. To make room for the small things meaningful in life, the expression existential meaning is used. In this expression both the meaningless and the meaningful are included, since both are needed for our understanding of meaning. Without the Other and that which is different, the individual person’s formation of existential meaning becomes just more of the same, it becomes an enclosure in the present. The encounter with the Other makes room for that which is different to break through. Objectivity is possible when it comes to existential meaning, if one views objectivity as a process between people. It is performed in conversation. Those who converse, refer to their bodily experiences of the Time that remains and help each other, using language as the tool, to formulate their experiences. They compare each others’ manifestations of existential meaning, and with the help of language they go further in the formation of what is meaningless and meaningful. Their conversations imply a normative presupposition that they can justify the claims that they make. Because it is actually not possible to make intelligible existential meaning in words other than by doing it as a mix of descriptions of that which is manifesting itself and linguistic rewritings in the form of stories. This expression of objectivity has a normative aspect, namely in relation to the possibility that we can be wrong. Therefore, we need each other in the act of judging, and together we are guided by the fact that it later on can emerge things that show that our judgment has not been fully correct.

The main purpose of this dissertation is to answer the question of how one can understand the fact that we mean very different things when we say that God exists and when we say that chairs, mountains and trees exist, and that it is still a matter of existence. On the one hand it seems that we talk about the same thing when we say that something exists, irrespective of what it is, on the other hand it seems to be a question of very different things depending on what it is we are talking about as existing. This dissertation seeks to give an understanding of the relation between the concept of truth and the concept of reality. The conclusion is not only that we presuppose these concepts in everything we do, say, believe and think, but that we presuppose a specific understanding of these concepts, namely a concept of objective truth and a concept of an external and mind independent reality. In this dissertation it is also argued that our use of these concepts and that we use them in everything we do – that they are as basic as they are – says something about how it is, about reality. The use of these concepts does not only say something of what we conceptually presuppose but it also says something about what we assume in relation to reality. The conceptual aspect, in this way, has consequences ontologi.