Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (DD)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Old Testament Studies / unrestricted

The 'cities of the Levites' have left no trace in the historical and prophetical literature of Israel; they appear only in P and Chronicles. They must then be either a fiction of the later compilers of the Law, or an earlier institution which made no great impact in monarchic times. This study therefore begins with a review of the materials of Levite history up to the Exile; the Levite cities must find a place somewhere within this setting, if they ever had any real existence. In the second chapter we turn to survey the development of modern critical study of Joshua and Chronicles, culminating in the classic interpretations of Wellhausen and, for Chronicles, of Rothstein and Rudolph. These provide the presuppositions widely accepted by more recent scholars. We then examine and compare the texts of the two versions of the Levite city list, from a literary standpoint, and conclude that, contrary to previous opinion, the one in Chronicles represents an earlier stage in the development of the tradition than that in Joshua. There are signs that at some time the list has been remoulded, with additions and deletions, to fit the pattern of four cities from each of the twelve tribes. Having recognised the difficulties in supposing the list to be entirely a late invention, in the second half of this study we try to find the Levite cities' place in history. First, the findings of archaeologists, traditio-historians and form-critics are examined, When their proposals appear not wholly satisfactory, we turn in chapter five to those who have attempted to re-appraise the character of the 'Levites' of these contexts. In pursuing this enquiry further, we reach the conclusion that these 'Levites' must be distinct both from the old secular tribe of Levi, and from the sacerdotal Levites of the Deuteronomic and Priestly literature. The 'cities of the Levites' seem to be towns which, in the second millennium, entered Israel by alliance rather than by conquest. Finally, we observe the measure of correspondence between the areas of 'Levite' and Hivite/Hurrian occupation, and raise the question whether the term 'Levite' here may not stem from a textual corruption of 'Hivite' in the Jerusalem archives.

Other Nature Other nature is a long term, ongoing documentary project that explores the relationship between humans and the natural environment of the Mojave Desert. Predicated on the reduction of the Joshua Tree woodlands that surround my home of Hesperia, Other Nature examines and questions the practices used in the creation of the built environments that are replacing the Mojave’s endemic terrain. Through various techniques, I document and record the systematic removal of the Mojave’s natural presence. Photography, eco-printing and paper making all offer a cathartic approach to witnessing the loss of these natural spaces. Included in my work is an aspect of gathering and reclaiming removed plant material to commemorate the beauty of and offer a voice to a habitat that is being forever changed. Fred Brashear Jr.

The discipline of material culture study has long been estranged from mainstream academic discourse and has been viewed commonly as the study of pots and pans. Historians are beginning to realize that material culture and cultural reconstruction offer vital insights into the past. Building upon new developments, my thesis sought to reconstruct the items painted by Joshua Reynolds in his famous painting of Lord Dunmore. Such an analysis allowed for the steps of unnamed tradesmen to be retraced, making a few people who were lost to history known once again. This was achieved by recreating every object in the portrait as it would have been done in context, through primary written documentation in tandem with extant artifacts. This study put to the test the benefit of material culture study and its place amongst academic history. the utilization of interdisciplinary means brought to light new insights into the past through combining experimental archeology, material culture studies, and academic history. The findings of this research provide insight into the effectiveness of the experiential analysis technique for the purpose of historical study and how it benefits, not only current understanding of artifacts themselves, but also fills gaps in the lives of those who created an used these items.

This thesis identifies the attractors of Detroit’s growth and divulges into the cultural, federal, socio-economic and urban deterrents that have afflicted Detroit for the past fifty years. It probes the city of Detroit and exposes a hyper-segregated city that has been destroyed by a self-feeding cycle of nomadic behaviour and a speculative culture of endless opportunities. To initiate change this thesis examines real alternatives that are not defined for the citizens of Detroit, but are created by them. It is a self-organizing grassroots approach that applies pressure on the city to rethink its conventional methods of urban revitalization. Utilizing the city’s large inventory of vacant land, abandoned buildings and neighbourhood schools, an alternative design methodology is logically applied to atomize, consolidate, fortify and envisage a new Detroit; one where residents can remain sufficiently abreast of the social and economic problems that consistently challenge them.

This thesis identifies the attractors of Detroit’s growth and divulges into the cultural, federal, socio-economic and urban deterrents that have afflicted Detroit for the past fifty years. It probes the city of Detroit and exposes a hyper-segregated city that has been destroyed by a self-feeding cycle of nomadic behaviour and a speculative culture of endless opportunities. To initiate change this thesis examines real alternatives that are not defined for the citizens of Detroit, but are created by them. It is a self-organizing grassroots approach that applies pressure on the city to rethink its conventional methods of urban revitalization. Utilizing the city’s large inventory of vacant land, abandoned buildings and neighbourhood schools, an alternative design methodology is logically applied to atomize, consolidate, fortify and envisage a new Detroit; one where residents can remain sufficiently abreast of the social and economic problems that consistently challenge them.

Submitted by Andréia Brandão Daltro Sodré (andreia.bdsodre@gmail.com) on 2014-11-12T19:16:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Andreia Upload.pdf: 1696600 bytes, checksum: a36857c678f55a7f75214bfa5d34414f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by ÁUREA CORRÊA DA FONSECA CORRÊA DA FONSECA (aurea.fonseca@fgv.br) on 2014-11-14T13:49:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Andreia Upload.pdf: 1696600 bytes, checksum: a36857c678f55a7f75214bfa5d34414f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2014-11-17T11:30:13Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Andreia Upload.pdf: 1696600 bytes, checksum: a36857c678f55a7f75214bfa5d34414f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-11-17T11:35:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Andreia Upload.pdf: 1696600 bytes, checksum: a36857c678f55a7f75214bfa5d34414f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-10-09 / Cognition is a core subject to understand how humans think and behave. In that sense, it is clear that Cognition is a great ally to Management, as the later deals with people and is very interested in how they behave, think, and make decisions. However, even though Cognition shows great promise as a field, there are still many topics to be explored and learned in this fairly new area. Kemp & Tenembaum (2008) tried to a model graph-structure problem in which, given a dataset, the best underlying structure and form would emerge from said dataset by using bayesian probabilistic inferences. This work is very interesting because it addresses a key cognition problem: learning. According to the authors, analogous insights and discoveries, understanding the relationships of elements and how they are organized, play a very important part in cognitive development. That is, this are very basic phenomena that allow learning. Human beings minds do not function as computer that uses bayesian probabilistic inferences. People seem to think differently. Thus, we present a cognitively inspired method, KittyCat, based on FARG computer models (like Copycat and Numbo), to solve the proposed problem of discovery the underlying structural-form of a dataset.

My exhibition consists of monstrous cyborg forms comprised of a variety of imagery of both biological and machine elements. The smaller works are constructed through the means of paper collage. The larger painting is built from discrete cut out shapes of plywood and canvas. I had the unique experience of growing up around both water treatment operations and the flora and fauna of South Florida. Those experiences were filtered through a fascination for the science fiction genre, and imparted with a dose of fearful imagination. This has resulted in personal anxieties concerning the future of the human experience. My work explores and utilizes expressive properties of paint. I utilize applications that range from the attractive and sensuous to the messy and grotesque. All of this adds up to a visual expression of the potential nightmarish outcomes created as a result of our manipulation of the environment. / by Joshua Hunter Davis. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The acquisition of the Indian land by the Cherokee Commission between 1890 to 1892 was a series of events that changed the future of many indian nations and parts of american history. In the midst of these great changes, Kiowa interpreter for the Cherokee commission: Joshua H Given, ended up in a controversial position. He was accused of having deliberately cheated and mislead the Indians to get them to sign the agreements to allot their land to the goverment. This led to several attempts by the Indian tribes to annul the agreements with the commission and the condemnation of Joshua Given by many Kiowas. This essay is an attempt to clarify parts of Joshua H Givens life, actions and death through a source-critical analysis of the sources used in the research of Joshua Given. The views of two historians, C. Blue Clark and William T. Hagan, is used to contrast and compare the actions and life of Given to get a fuller view of the complicity of this individual. Hagans views is more focused on the image of a trying mediator, while Clark focuses on the images of a deceiving interpreter, By the work and theories of Nancy L. Hagedorn and Margaret Connell Szasz on the cultural broker as an cultural intermediate, Givens complexe relation to the clashing cultures and tradition of his own Kiowa nation and his newly learned western and Christian culture can be undersood as a failiure to gain the extremely important trust required for such mediation between the parties.

In this thesis, I defend John Rawls’s assertion that political liberalism does not use the concept of truth. I respond to objections from Joshua Cohen and David Estlund. I argue that Cohen fails to show that public reason needs a minimalist conception of truth, since individuals with a range of conceptions of moral truth can meet the requirements of public reason. I dispute Estlund’s argument that the liberal principle of legitimacy is merely insular. Estlund assumes that the claim that the liberal principle of legitimacy is reasonable is no different than the claim that the principle is acceptable to reasonable persons. I argue that this assumption is incorrect, and that therefore the liberal principle of legitimacy is justifiable on the grounds that it is reasonable. I argue that political liberals need not worry that doing without the concept of truth will undermine the semantic coherence or objectivity of political liberalism.