This thesis explores what impact thirteen years of Britain’s New Labour government’s (1997-2010) social exclusion policy agenda had on the representation of non-white communities within England’s authorised heritage narrative, told through the places, objects and ‘things’ given heritage value by ‘experts’. This thesis finds that certain mainstream heritage organisations in England perceive there to be an ‘established’ heritage that is agreed, therefore cannot be challenged even as we uncover more about the diverse realities of the county’s past. Two ways are considered by which to understand the hegemony of this heritage and how it might be ‘used’ to the benefit of a more diverse national narrative: the first by accepting Laurajane Smith’s assertion that there is an authorised heritage discourse (AHD) in England and seek ways to harness it rather than subvert it. The second follows on from the first in proposing how communities of interest might participate equally in the process of heritage making. The first way is drawn out through an interrogation of heritage sector policy and practice – from organisations such as the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage, national museums, amongst others – to decipher the meaning of heritage in England and who it is for, according to those mainstream organisations that create and manage it. The second utilises case studies of major heritage projects in England that have sought to engage with non-white audiences to understand the methods mainstream heritage organisations have used to do so. It is concluded that the model for heritage making in England acts as a barrier to a diverse heritage. Using the work of Rodney Harrison, an alternative ‘dialogic’ heritage is suggested that encourages it to be seen as fluid and contested and challenge the notion of any heritage being perceived as 'established'.

This thesis provides a new direction to studies of “gay masculinity”, examining the impact a consumerist approach has had on the two bestselling “gay” lifestyle(s) magazines between 1991 and 2011: 'Attitude' and 'GT' (previously known as 'Gay Times'). In both magazines over the period covered, the desire for a “successful” identity as understood through neo-liberal discourse is demonstrated through textual analysis of the aspirational discourse and images (re)presented in both publications, specifically assessing the importance placed on signifiers of consumerism and celebrity role models. In selecting the most-read lifestyle(s) magazines in Britain over the period under study, I was able to understand how mainstream forms of “gay masculine” identity had increasingly been underpinned by discourse pertaining to consumerism as opposed to campaigns against perceived homophobia and inequality. In arguing that a neo-liberal binary of “success” and “failure” has become increasingly prevalent since 1991, with signifiers (re)constructing the former as aspirational, this thesis also notes that 'Attitude' and 'Gay Times' have remained uniquely directed at an explicitly “gay” audience, with emphasis being placed on homonormative forms of “success” being an easily attainable norm.

It is widely acknowledged that films have the capability to act as a tool to perpetuate stereotypes, promote a certain ideology, and influence audiences. Hollywood films have been accused of endorsing stereotypes and promoting prejudicial attitudes towards Arabs for more than a century. This study explores the nature of Arab representations in Hollywood films. More importantly, the study sets out to investigate how young Arabs from the State of Kuwait negotiate and interpret the way Hollywood represents Arabs in its productions. In order to understand how Kuwaiti audiences interpret Arab representations it was crucial to investigate how films are integrated into Kuwaiti society. Three key groups were identified for the purpose of this study, ‘the importers and regulators’, ‘the production group’, and ‘the Kuwaiti audience’, which was narrowed down to include both male and female Kuwaiti university students between the ages of eighteen to twenty-four. Research showed that Kuwaiti audiences were clearly fond of Hollywood films. According to the survey results, 95% of all participants chose Hollywood films as their favourite productions, even though 72% believed that the representations of Arabs in Hollywood films were generally inaccurate. Moreover, the vast majority of participants (82%) believed that the image of Arabs in Hollywood films was generally negative. The pool of available literature lacks an authentic Arab perspective on the issue of film representation. The findings of this study attempt to address this gap in the literature.

Many factors detrimental to healthy aging have been proposed including depression, stress, cognitive decline, and telomere shortening. Of specific interest are the genetic factors that may contribute to these factors and subsequently lead to accelerated telomere shortening and aging, namely the Bcl1, 5-HT, DRD2, and ApoE polymorphisms. We sought to: 1) further clarify the role of depression, stress tolerance, and cognitive decline in aging by examining the effect of associated polymorphisms (Bcl1, 5-HT, DRD2, and ApoE) on telomere length in two samples of older adults and 2) determine the difference in absolute telomere length between the two groups. We examined two samples of older adults: participants in a competitive, athletic event (N=220; mean age=66.8 years) and a sample of community-dwelling older adults (N=208; mean age=69.1 years). Participants completed a questionnaire with demographic information and provided a saliva sample. The Bcl1, 5-HT, DRD2, and ApoE polymorphisms were determined using PCR and Taqman assays. Telomere length was determined using qPCR analysis. The community-dwelling group had significantly shorter telomere lengths than the athletic group (t=-4.82, p< .0001). Additionally, for males in the athletic group, the L/S genotype of the 5-HT polymorphism was associated with longer telomere length. In males in the community-dwelling group, the GC genotype of the Bcl1 polymorphism was associated with shorter telomere length. In females in the athletic group, the GC and GG genotypes of the Bcl1 polymorphism were associated with shorter telomere length with the opposite being true for females in the community-dwelling group: the GC genotype of the Bcl1 polymorphism predicted longer telomere length. Exercising nearly everyday and the length of exercise were associated with telomere length in both groups. Our results indicate that competitive athletic activity in older age is associated with increased telomere length, longer periods of exercise at one time may contribute to longer telomere length, and the Bcl1 and 5-HT polymorphisms are associated with telomere length in older adults.

Activated Heat Shock Transcription Factor 1 (HSF1) has received attention in recent literature as a therapeutic effector in diseases of protein misfolding, as an immune modulating adjuvant in tumor regression, and as a trigger for gene therapy transcription. In its normal function, activated HSF1 enhances heat shock protein (Hsp) expression when additional molecular chaperoning is required (i.e., in situations of proteotoxic stress, including thermal stress) in a process known as the heat shock (HS) response. Thus, HSF1 acts as an environmental sensor, and a harness based on the biology of this capability enables transcription of genes for engineered purposes. The hypothesis of this thesis is that a harness of the heat shock response, when paired with a therapeutic mechanism, will refine novel therapies. Extensions to the concept of deliberately activating HSF1's normal functions for therapeutic purposes are examined through in vitro trials and in vivo preliminary studies that feature the use of HSF1 as a regulator of therapy. Successful in vitro work translated to pioneering preclinical studies, launched at the University of Florida's Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology. Collaboration supported the development of an innovative project to treat solid tumors using a recombinant virus system. The system was designed to facilitate intratumoral delivery of a previously characterized molecular switch, which was newly engineered to control cytotoxic gene transcription that produced dramatic consequences in cells of human origin. Central to the targeting of the in vivo therapy, is a transient, initial trigger: a thermal dose, delivered to solid tumors, which localizes HSF1 activation (a constitutively active mouse HSF1 construct was also produced to aid clarification of physiological consequences associated with deliberately upregulating HSF1 activity in vivo). Gene transcription was expected to ensue to both cause and sustain tumor regression through other regulatory elements of the molecular switch. Results demonstrated practical potential to achieve a therapeutic outcome of solid tumor regression and define contemporary challenges that continuing research directions (e.g.: production of additional viral vectors, an improved animal model, and a refined heat system) now confront in order to target and safely regulate even more potent, novel therapeutic agents.

Effects of globalization transform the forms of relations between settlements and it also changed the relations between capital and labor. In this global era performances of individual settlements became crucial in the absence of old hierarchic boundaries. But individual performances of settlements are not enough to integrate the global system. A New type of spatial organization appeared which is called networking to enhance complementary and cooperative relations crucial for synergy. The spatial reflexions of this transformation process are city regions. This study aims to determine the factors affecting economic performance and networking patterns of settlements in Antalya Region with the use of quantitative research methods.

This ethnographic study of the professional studies year of a Bachelor of Education course in a College of Higher Education aims to understand teacher education as a process of professional socialisation. The study starts from the recognition that our present understanding of the process of teacher socialisation is limited - theoretically, conceptually and empirically - despite considerable recent developments in the sociological understanding of school and classroom processes. By taking an interactionist/ethnographic approach to the study of the process of becoming a teacher, attention is drawn to the negotiated character of professional socialisation, and the similarities and differences in student teachers' experiences and perceptions of what it is to be a teacher. The study is concerned with the social processes and experiences of teacher education the subjective perceptions, feelings, interests and understandings of individuals and their creative and strategic adaptations in response to perceived circumstances. The study finds student teachers actively constructing perspectives, strategies and identities as potential teachers, a process involving conflicts and contradictions, taking place within a social context which imposes constraints on individual action Conceptualising the professional socialisation process as a critical phase of 'survival' in which student teachers must learn to cope, the study documents the necessity for strategic negotiation, accommodation and resistance to ensure success in the teacher education course. The particular difficulties of initial encounters with pupils and student teacher's relationships with teachers on school experience are discussed. The study also examines the power relations involved in teacher education, particularly those concerning the 'hidden pedagogy' of control and its relation to assessments of teacher competence.

Income inequalities and subjective well-being have been increasingly identified in the literature as important measures of socio-economic cohesion. This is particularly relevant for developing economies that are typically characterised by strong population growth and relatively low incomes per head. Although in those economies a considerable share of resources is derived from rural areas, data availability for these regions is often an issue which precludes important insights into the overall socio-economic tissue of the developing world. This dissertation seeks to advance our knowledge on various aspects of inequalities and well-being with particular emphasis on rural Pakistan. At the core of the present monograph lie three chapters that deal with income inequality, subjective well-being as well as physical well-being (i.e. health). The empirical analysis is based on a unique survey dataset that covers the four provinces of rural Pakistan. The dissertation seeks to contribute to the existing literature in several dimensions. We decompose overall income inequality by its different types to disentangle which sources of income are inequality-increasing and which ones reduce socio-economic divergence. The empirical measurement and assessment of both subjective and physical well-being in rural Pakistan is a rather novel aspect. We introduce and examine different well-being measures as indicators of (subjective) poverty and find that well-being in rural areas is largely driven by financial factors. When it comes to health, however, overall results are less clear-cut. The thesis is therefore able to offer several policy recommendations for important socio-economic factors in rural Pakistan. On a more general note, some of the results discussed might also illuminate the policy debate in other geographic areas with similar characteristics.

This thesis represents part of my Ethnological research carries out in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in the years 1926 and 1927. After having worked for three months in the area between the White and Blue Niles, mainly amongst the Ingassana People of the Tabi Hills, and later for some seven weeks on the West Bank of the Nule, amongst the Moro Peoples, I arrived in that part of the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province which is inhabited by the Azande towards the end of March 1927. I left for England at the end of August, thus completing a residence of five months amongst the Azande. The Thesis is arranged in two books. The first book is a condensed analysis of the structure of Zande society. In the second book I have taken native customer or institutions, divination, magic, dancing and obscene songs, and I have en-deavoured to interpret them by showing their contexts, associa-tions and functions. It is by the method exemplified in the second book of this thesis that I hope to explain one by one the institutions of the Azande. In the parts on magic and obscenity I have used the comparative method of analysis. It is this method which must eventually be applied to all institu-tions if Social Anthropology is to put forward general state-ments, or laws, and so take its place in the ranks of other inductive sciences.

This thesis evaluates the colonial productions and contestations of Puerto Rican public housing and its residents as urban ‘others’. It combines a historical analysis of the political, spatial and material trajectory of the island’s projects with an ethnography of the resistances enacted by a group of residents- mainly women- from one such complex called ‘Las Gladiolas’ against an impending order of demolition and displacement. I argue that while a context of socio-spatial exclusion and environmental determinism has pervaded the constructions of these postcolonial ‘projects’ in ways that have significantly discriminated against its residents, public housing has never been and can never be completed according to that limited governmental design- which today exists under the rubric of urban redevelopment- mainly because communities of solidarity, dissent and conflict emerge simultaneously with and against those formulations, taking on a life of their own in ways that collude with and escape rigid technocratic formulations of housing policy. The research presented emphasizes the symbolic struggle and material reality embedded in Las Gladiolas’s community politics which resists and disrupts a homogeneous vision of past, present and future urban space. The historical analysis highlights the ways in which ‘othering’ was set in place within the colonial context of Puerto Rico’s urban development in a way which has allowed for the continued stigmatization of public housing projects and for the reproduction of residents’ disadvantage according to raced, gendered and classed discriminations. Those distinctions of difference also created the conditions for particular forms of resistance to emerge. The ethnographic data tells the story of how the political and physical enactment of the buildings’ deterioration intersected with residents’ informal, institutional and legal resistance to relocation. It shows how the contemporary production, experiences and contestations over public housing are not fixed, but multiple and highly ambiguous. The complex interplay that emerges between political, social and material elements demonstrates that the boundaries separating Las Gladiolas from its urban environ, and Puerto Rican housing agencies from the American ones, are in fact open and porous, fluctuating according to use, appropriations, and political and legal transformations.