Athanasius’ three letters to Serapion were the first comprehensive writings to discuss the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The letter written by Serapion bishop of Thmuis to Athanasius asked him how to deal with a group in the Nile Delta, the Tropici, who denied the deity of the Holy Spirit. Athanasius was in his third exile when he received Serapion’s request. The letters are replete with biblical references in order to support his defense of the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Particularly prominent are the Johannine texts; the Gospel of John and 1 John are cited more than ninety times. This dissertation demonstrates Athanasius’ reliance on John’s writings for the composition of his Letters to Serapion, as well as provides a preliminary exploration of the links between John and Athanasius’ pneumatology. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

During Augustine’s early years in ministry, he promoted the idea of using the pen rather than the sword when it comes to converting those who were not Christians. However, during the Donatist Controversy. Augustine advocated the use of violence to convince the Donatists to return to the Catholic fold. This dissertation argues that disgust played a crucial role in Augustine’s change of heart. Emotions play a huge part in an individual’s decision-making process. Studies on disgust discuss its role in interpersonal conflict and in religious violence. The dehumanizing language present in Augustine's letters when he describes the Donatists helps create an atmosphere where disgust's strong presence can be felt. The question of purity became an important question since both groups argued that they were the “true, pure Church.” Both groups traced their spiritual lineage to Cyprian as proof that they belonged to the true African Church. By examining Augustine's Letters, one can see the shift in tone and characterization of the Donatists by Augustine. Over the years, the disgust felt by Augustine led to a shift in his attitude, leading him to sanction the use of violence against the Donatists. Initially, the role of disgust was to prevent humans from coming into contact with harmful pathogens. As a result, humans developed a strong revulsion against harmful substances in order to protect themselves from harm. While disgust has this physical component, it also has a sociomoral component where it manifests itself against disgusting stimulus. Within this schema, anything that it deems as a moral transgression, especially as it involves question of purity, is considered as a stimulus to be avoided and rejected strongly and vehemently. While it poses no problem for a human to avoid what it deems as a disgusting stimulus such as a cockroach, it does pose a problem when another human being is seen and labelled as a cockroach. Disgust has the power to “other” human beings and creates a very strong us-vs-them mentality. Once this us-vs-them mentality is enforced, it is only natural to label another group as a "cockroach” and kill them as such. In examining Augustine's relationship with the Donatists, it is important to acknowledge disgust’s role in this particular theological and historical event. This dissertation will conclude with a contemporary application of disgust in modern theological controversies, especially as it relates to homosexuality and the role of women in leadership. Disgust’s ability to elicit such a strong and violent response in humans is a reminder of the strength of emotions to govern our actions. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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A collection of poems that plays with ambiguous narration and the exploration of taking apart and rebuilding myth and fairytale. A hint of menace underlies series of letters between an unnamed writer and a figure only referred to by G, offering a glimpse into a world that is both vague and interpretable, at times grappling with its own meta nature.

This thesis uses the letters of Carl Linnaeus to investigate the social and academic practices ofgeologists in the 18th century. Geology in the 18th century is understudied, and this study usessources written by Linnaeus, who was not famous but nevertheless active in geology, to study thedaily practices of geologists. Collective biography is used to bring together small and disparate datapoints. Personal factors had an influence on the practices the geologists engaged in. Though theactivities of nobles and academics could be similar, gender was a limiting factor, restricting the fieldto all women but those of the highest status. Age and seasonality were, surprisingly, very importantin determining which activities were undertaken. In the field, geologists’ travels were also impactedby their age. Their reporting on their travels was often linked to academic discussions, withcorresponding expectations of what they might find, and presentation of their findings that seemedto replicate the note taking in the field. This was part of a wider trend, also seen in exchangesbetween practitioners, of bringing the outside world into the study of the geologist. That way, theycould experience areas they were not likely to visit themselves. This was done intentionally, andgeologists took care to send each other interesting rocks. In much the same way, information wasexchanged between geologists, informing a correspondent of local geological features. Writtenpractices extended into giving recommendations for membership of academic societies andreviewing each other’s publications.The actions of geologists indicate that geology was a heterogeneous professional field (inBourdieu’s sense of the word) when it comes to the social origin of the practitioners. Nobles andacademics often engaged in similar activities, and worked together on equal standing, despite thestatus imbalance. Overall, geology in the 18th century gives the impression of an open field, in whichpractitioners were not in competition with each other, but aimed to complete each other’sknowledge, which would naturally be fragmented by their distance and the difficulties of travel.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: p. 60-61.

Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people who pursue gender affirming medical interventions, such as hormone therapy and surgery, are required to supply their physicians with referral letters from mental health professionals (Coleman et al., 2012). The process by which TGNC people are required to obtain referral letters before accessing gender affirming care is often referred to as gatekeeping in the TGNC literature (Budge, 2015; Cavanaugh, Hopwood, & Lambert, 2016). Despite implications that the current gatekeeping system may have for the relationship between TGNC clients and their therapists, few studies have examined TGNC individuals’ experiences related to obtaining referral letters in therapy (Bess & Stabb, 2009; Elder, 2016). This study used semi-structured interviews and a grounded theory approach to qualitatively examine the experiences of 15 TGNC individuals who have obtained a referral letter for gender affirming medical intervention from their therapists. Thematic analysis revealed two core themes: (1) “blessings” that TGNC individuals experienced because of the referral letter requirement and (2) “bullsh*t” (or “BS”) participants endured due to this requirement. Implications for psychotherapy practice and training, as well as healthcare policy, are discussed.

Redovisning av leasing har diskuterats under många år. Den nuvarande standarden, IAS 17, har kritiserat på grund av att många företag har möjlighet att klassificera sina leasingavtal som operationella för att slippa redovisa leasingen som en tillgång eller skuld i balansräkningen. IASB och FASB jobbar gemensamt för att ändra standarden för leasingredovisning och de engagerar olika grupper av intressenter genom att de skickar in comment letters. Det första förslaget för ändringar av standarden var Exposure Draft 2010/9. Förslaget fick så många kommentarer att det resulterade i ett reviderat förslag som kom ut i maj 2013 och heter Exposure Draft 2013/6. Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka attityder från olika grupper (akademiker, upprättare, användare, redovisningsprofession, nationella reglerare och andra internationella intresseorganisationer) i Europa till det nya förslaget i Exposure Draft 2013/6 - Leasing, angående frågorna som handlar om leasingredovisning hos leasingtagare och klassifikation av leasing. Tycker de olika grupperna att det nya förslaget besvarar problemen, angående klassifikation och redovisning av leasing, som finns i den nuvarande internationella redovisningsstandarden (IAS 17) eller skapar det bara nya problem? Vi har också undersökt i vilken utsträckning dessa grupper deltar med kommentarer i comment letters. Studien är en kvalitativ undersökning där vi analyserade och tolkade kommentarer och attityder i comment letters till det nya förslaget. I den teoretiska referensramen tas upp hur forskningen bedrivs för att ta fram nya standarder, hur och i vilken grad de olika grupperna är involverade i detta genom deltagande i comment letters och den kritik som riktats mot det nya förslaget angående klassifikation och redovisning. Resultatet av studien baserades på 151 comment letters skickade till IASB/FASB. Analysen har gjorts genom att använda analysmodellen i avsnitt 3.9 och det empiriska resultatet har kopplats till den teoretiska referensramen. Resultatet visade att det inte finns några akademiker från Europa som deltagit i comment letters. Den grupp som har kommenterat comment letters i störst utsträckning har visat sig vara upprättare och detta går i linje med vad tidigare forskning visat. Majoriteten inom samtliga grupper håller inte med om det nya förslaget. Attityden mot förslaget är negativ både när det gäller redovisning hos leasingtagare och klassifikation. / Discussion on the accounting treatment of leases has been going on for many years. The current standard, IAS 17 has criticized because many companies are able to classify their leases as operational leasing agreements in order not to reflect assets and liabilities on the balance sheets. IASB and FASB working together to amend the standard for lease accounting and they involve various groups of stakeholders and individuals by submitting comment letters. The first proposal for the amendment of the standard was Exposure Draft 2010/9. The proposal received so many comments which resulted a revised proposal that came out in May 2013 and called Exposure Draft 2013/6. The aim of this study was to examine the attitudes of different groups (academics, preparers, users, the accounting profession, national regulators and other international organizations) in Europe to the new proposal of Exposure Draft 2013/6 -Leasing, regarding questions relating to lease accounting in lessee and classification. Do they think that the new proposal solve the problems concerning classification and financial statements of leasing, which is found in the current international accounting standard (IAS 17) or just create new problems. We have also investigated in which extend these groups participated with comments in the comment letters. The study is a qualitative survey where we analyzed and interpreted the comments and attitudes in the comment letters to the new proposal. In the theoretical frame addressed how research is conducted to develop new standards, how and to what extent the different groups involved in this by participating in the comment letters and the criticism leveled against the new proposal concerning classification and accounting. The results of the study are based on 151 comment letters sent to the IASB/FASB. The analysis has been made by using the analysis model in section 3.9 and the empirical results have been applied to the theoretical frame of reference. Analysis showed that there are no academics who participated in the comment letters. The group that has commented most on the comment letters have proved to be the pre-parers and this is in line with what previous research has shown. The majority of all groups do not agree with the new proposal. The attitude to the proposal is negative in terms of accounting in lessee and classification.

This thesis is a comparative legal study of preliminary agreements in French and American law. / At the negotiation process, a preliminary agreement has numerous purposes. Those purposes vary with the parties' will. The contrasted concept of preliminary agreement and its hybrid legal nature give rise to legal issues, such as interpretation, enforceability and liability. Those issues are differently tackled in French and American law. / The ambiguity of pre-agreements allows the French and American judges to play a decisive role in the interpretation of such agreements. In accordance with its definiteness and completeness, the pre-agreement may be considered as the final contract and binds the parties. Then, in case of non respect, the blameworthy party may be held liable, and courts may grant damages to the party who has suffered prejudice.

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