The thesis investigates the causes and nature of return in the context of the Iraqis displaced to Syria and Jordan after the 2003 US-led war in Iraq. It combines critical International Relations theories with transnational approaches in Migration Studies to investigate: (1) how regional and international geopolitics have shaped asylum and migration regimes in the Middle East; (2) how Iraqi forced migrants have interacted with such regimes in order to reach safety, sustainable livelihoods and personal development opportunities and; (3) the decision-making processes and transnational migration practices of Iraqi individuals and families. It finds that Iraqis' returns result from the uneasy interaction between international and national asylum and migration regimes and the lack of agreement on a common legal framework for durable solutions to the Iraqi displacement. The presence and mobility of the Iraqis in Syria and Jordan are regulated within national immigration systems. The immigration and residency policies of the home and host governments confirm the historical importance of voluntary and involuntary population movements as a nation-building and governance tool in the Middle East. Regional governments and international agencies manage the Iraqi displaced and steer their return through the provision, or the lack thereof, of assistance and information. The Iraqis respond to the limited institutional assistance and information by developing independent coping strategies and informal information and communication systems based on the use of information and communication technologies and on their transnational mobility and social networks. Transnational mobility and livelihoods therefore constitute a precondition for Iraqis' sustainable return and reintegration in home societies undergoing political and socio-economic transition. In this context, return is a complex process that takes time and entails various degrees and modalities of transnational mobility, social networks and livelihoods connecting host and home societies.

Migration has taken place throughout human history. However, push and pull factors for migration have changed, and some have not been identified during long periods of time. Since 1970, migration studies have  paid more attention to the role of women in migration processes, noting that patterns in migration are sometimes similar to men, but many other times differ, this is also known as the feminization of migration. Women, like men, migrate in search for a better future and new opportunities. Moreover, women migrant workers migrate to provide better future for their families back home. However, this migration process leaves great exposure to abuse and exploitation for both men and women. Feminist research argues, however, that this vulnerability is also gendered, affecting women and men differently. This study aims to contribute to understand the paradox of the agency of women migrant workers on the one hand, and vulnerabilities on the other, from the perspective of migrants themselves. Eleven interviews were conducted with women migrant workers in Amman. Some of the findings of this study show that the interviewees choose to migrate mainly due to economic needs, familial constraints and social structures,   which in turn influence their power over their rights and situation, leaving them in vulnerable conditions prone to abuse. Moreover, the alternatives for migration are limited by social and economic structures, in addition to lack of knowledge of rights and obligations.

On décrit et on étudie une matrice Q inversible telle que Q F = JQ ou J est la forme normale de Jordan d'une matrice carrée A, et F sa forme de Frobenius. On propose un algorithme efficace pour le calcul de l'inverse de Q et deux algorithmes donnant la forme de Frobenius d'une matrice n x n quelconque. Dans le cas ou les éléments de A sont des nombres rationnels, on montre que la complexité de l'un des algorithmes est polynomiale. On considère aussi le cas des matrices A coefficients dans le corps des nombres algébriques sur Q

The 1920’s and 30’s saw the advent of the automotive era in America as Henry Ford’s vision of production and technological progress was fully realized. But the pleasure of automobility was initially afforded to a select few, and so the automobile revealed a growing chasm between social classes. Additionally, the automobile contributed to a transformation of the social ideology of gender as more and more women spent time in cars as passengers and as drivers. And while some viewed this ideological shift as a welcome change, many Americans worried about the negative implications of women in cars. Representations of automobiles in American literature reveal this juxtaposition between positive and negative reactions, and this thesis explores the cultural impetus behind this duality, as well as the manifestations of this duality in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity, and John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.

In Jordan, a woman is often murdered by members of her own family if she is found to have tainted the family's honor in any way. Refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being seen alone with a male stranger or even wearing makeup have all been cited as incidents that shame the family and result in what are called "honor killings". These honor killings have continued to plague Jordan, and other countries in the Middle East, well into the 21st century, despite the country's progress towards modernization. The dominance of the patriarchal family and the inability of the country to experience economic growth are strong contributors to the perpetuation of these horrible crimes in a country that is considered to be relatively modern in this day and age.

This thesis contains descriptions and definitions of the Iron Age Proto-Aeolic capitals from Israel - Palestine area. The modern area, which my materials cover is Israel and Jordan. The time period of the capitals is between the 9th century BC and the late 8th or the beginning of the 7th century BC. Attention has been put on issues of typological characteristics, usage and time periods of the capitals and how this, through the new examples, described here for the first time, created a new typology and usage for the Proto-Aeolic capitals.

Economic reform packages became important for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by the 1980s. Mainly as a result of the growing external debt, together with the regional stagnation that began after the second oil shock in the early 1980s, most of the MENA countries were affected by economic crisis. As a response to the economic crises, which also mostly resulted in regime legitimacy crises, many MENA countries initiated economic liberalization programs in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. In some of the Middle Eastern states, these economic liberalization processes were followed or accompanied by political liberalization policies. This thesis analyzes the political economy of reform in Jordan between 1989-2002 with reference to globalization. This thesis chooses Jordan as a case study since Jordan has been regarded as a successful case in implementing economic reforms envisaged in the Washington Consensus by the IMF and World Bank, and a country holding prospects for democracy. In this respect, this study seeks to find out why and how economic liberalization reforms were implemented in Jordan. In addition to that, this thesis displays how domestic and external factors affected both the rationale behind and the implementation of economic and political reforms in the country. The basic conclusion of this thesis is that regime survival is the main concern for the economic and political liberalization processes in Jordan.

Numerical solutions of mathematical modelizations of heat and mass transfer in cubical and cylindrical reactors of solar adsorption refrigeration systems are studied. For the resolution of the equations describing the coupling between heat and mass transfer, Bubnov-Galerkin method is used. An exact solution for time dependent heat transfer in cylindrical multilayered annulus is presented. Separation of variables method has been used to investigate the temperature behavior. An analytical double series relation is proposed as a solution for the temperature distribution, and Fourier coefficients in each layer are obtained by solving some set of equations related to thermal boundary conditions at inside and outside of the cylinder.

The notion of a nascent Arabic public sphere vis-à-vis the region s transnational news networks has been at the centre of much debate. However, this debate is met with little empirical grounding as well as a conceptual limitation to discussing political publics. This thesis seeks to contribute to and inform current debates by means of an empirical exploration of Arabic public spheres across the mediated-political realm of news media as well as the performative-cultural sphere of interactive theatre. The Jordanian parliamentary elections of November 2007 offer a framework for the research which is made up of two case studies. The first case study examines the portrayal and representation of Jordanian citizens in the news coverage of the parliamentary elections. Four transnational broadcasters (al-Jazeera, al-Arabiya, al-Hurra and JTV) were monitored during the lead up to and post the elections (over a month s duration) and different modes of participation were identified in the coverage. The second case study explores the ways in which Jordanian citizens participated in interactive theatre performances about the elections across Jordan. The performances were specifically developed to ellicit responses from audiences in the form of discussion as well as role playing (in which the audiences assume the roles of citizens in a town hall meeting). Results from the two case studies revealed significant differences in the ways in which citizens participated, or were portrayed as participating, across the political and cultural spheres. The transnational media portrayed citizens largely as observers of the political process and, less frequently, as commentators on issues of public concern. The mediated public sphere was also found to be gendered and afforded Jordanian women less presence and access to participate. On the other hand, the cultural public sphere afforded citizens spaces to discuss issues of public concern as well as contest dominant and exclusionary narratives within their societies. Jordanian women were also found to negotiate change through the reinterpretation of the symbolic. These findings demonstrate that confining our understanding of Arabic public spheres to the political-mediated marginalises the diverse ways in which citizens do participate, particularly so in the case of women.

This thesis examines the tubulus, a ceramic heating pipe developed by the Romans to create wall cavities through which hot air could circulate. An extension of the hypocaust system, tubuli systems were one of the most advanced heating systems used in antiquity, and were employed throughout the Roman Empire. This thesis focuses on the tubuli from Roman Arabia and particularly those from the site of Humayma, in modern Jordan, where a large corpus of this material has been found. This thesis represents the first study specifically on tubuli in Roman Arabia, and as such, it presents an initial examination of the material and lays the foundation for future studies on the topic. The first chapter of this thesis introduces tubuli, the region of Roman Arabia, and the history of baths in Roman Arabia. In the second chapter, tubuli and their use at Humayma are discussed in detail, and a chronological tubulus typology is presented. The Humayma tubuli are put into their regional context in the third chapter, which looks at tubuli found at sites throughout Roman Arabia. This final chapter also examines the regional trade and reuse of this material. Although this study only scratches the surface of this topic, it is able to reach several conclusions regarding tubuli and their use in Roman Arabia. These findings include revelations about the Nabataeans’ adoption and adaption of the tubulus before the Roman annexation of their territory and insights into the production and trade of this previously poorly understood material. / Graduate / 0324 / 0333 / 0579 / caharvey@uvic.ca