The repatriation of the human remains of Indigenous peoples collected within a colonial context has been the subject of debate within UK museums over the last 30 years, with many museums now having returned human remains to their countries of origin. Although the repatriation of human remains is often characterised as the 'journey home', there has been a lack of consideration of the physical presence and mobility of the remains and the meanings created as they move through different spaces. This study uses the repatriations from The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii as case studies to consider three key areas: (i) the impact of repatriation on museum landscapes; (ii) the journey of the repatriated remains and how this mobility intersects with wider discussions about restitution, sovereignty, identity, relatedness, memory and memorialisation; and (iii) the repatriation archives, how they are thought about by the institutions that hold them and their future potential and meaning within a post-colonial context. Taking a more-than-representational approach and engaging with the materiality, mobility and agency of the repatriated remains and the documentation that relates to them, this study bridges the gap between research considering the approach of museums to repatriation, and ethnographic studies on the meanings of the return of ancestral remains to individual communities. Combining work on museum geographies, deathscapes and absence opens up new ways of theorising and discussing repatriation through understanding the process in terms of the tension between absence and presence, and human remains as being in or out of place. Through engaging with the materiality and agency of the remains and viewing repatriation through a spatial lens, this thesis deals with aspects of the process that have received little attention in previous studies, foregrounding the challenging nature of repatriation for communities, the issues around unprovenanced remains, and discussions about the control, management and meaning of information and data, identifying that a significant legacy of repatriation for RCS is the documentation the museum continues to hold. What the journey of the ancestral remains repatriated by RCS illustrates is the emotive materiality of the remains, and agency that they and the distributed repatriation archive have as actors within social networks. It is therefore proposed that the concept of repatriation as having problematised human remains collections within UK museums is replaced with a nuanced and contextually sensitive understanding that recognises the role of the human remains in social interactions that impact on the emotional geographies of museum practice, and that rather than framing repatriation as post-colonial act that is either political or therapeutic, the return of ancestral remains be understood as part of a process of decolonisation in which there is space for discussion, disagreement and debate amongst all stakeholders.

The core concern of my thesis is with shifting the focus from the description on how innovation is done (predominantly STS accounts of innovation in-the-making) to what designers do with conceptions of innovation. The thesis is based on ethnographic fieldwork within a group of interaction designers of Milan. Despite the different conceptions and traditions of innovation that these designers bring in – the artistic and technological ones – I observed that a design-centered conception of innovation is reproduced, as well as the idea that plans and intentions precede things. However, another key idea of my fieldwork is the importance designers give to imagining things as they might be, rather than focusing on how things are. This is where different models of action, planned and open ones coexist in creative ways: it is these processes that the ethnography details.

This dissertation investigates how a symmetrical approach to archaeology can be applied to identify the properties and effects of the non-living, abiotic materials. And to reconfigure the relationship between humans and non-human objects, bridging the divide between what has been termed ‘cultural’ and ‘natural’ and thus placed in different ontological realms. This is examined by studying the practices surrounding “boulder graves”, from the Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age (approx. 1000 – 0 BC) in Kättsta, Ärentuna parish in Uppland, Sweden. The boulders tend to be studied from an anthropocentric point of view, in which they are seen primarily as passive objects, interpreted only for what they represent. The objective of this research, however, is to gain new insights into the agency of boulders, and how they contributed to the practices carried out adjacent to them. The dissertation is based on a case study where a thematic analysis is performed, focusing on the properties and characteristics of boulders, their affordances, the distribution of finds and their interrelations, and the effects their relations generated. The results show that the boulders themselves contributed in human-stone relations and were vital in the formation of the grave-like features they became part of. It is argued that a symmetrical, non-anthropocentric approach to these features will broaden our view on materialities in the past, affording ontological as well as ecological implications.

This thesis is focused on assessing the economic risk for the investor in the implementation of the investment project. An investor's decision on the implementation of the project depends on the economic feasibility analysis identified outputs, these outputs are burdened by economic uncertainty, which raises the risk. Therefore, it is necessary to manage risk. The process of risk management consists of a phase of risk analysis and risk management phase. In the analysis phase is to identify risks, assessments of materiality and risk measurement. In the phase of risk management risks identified evaluate and establish measures to prevent their occurrence or impact.

This work aims, in a rather contemplative manner phased into three related parts, to discuss two concepts indispensable for Hegel's entire philosophy of life and history: language and memory. In Part I, I examine the triple relation between language and thinking, thinking and reality, and reality and language. I argue that language shares a logical structure with thinking and reality, and is itself the performative principle (or acteur) of creating reality, being itself the externalizing tool of the movement of thinking without which any development of the Spirit would not be possible. Part II targets the concept of memory and its function within thinking and action of self-consciousness. It is argued that Hegel's language functions as the modern concept of discourse in terms of its agency in reality. Memory is understood as fundamentally entangled with matter, or the material objectivity that calls in memory to be named, i.e. posited in language. Memory is an interiorizing principle, language is the exteriorizing principle, both deeply rooted in the so-called night of the self of each spirit. I also discuss the subject-objective relation against the background of memory, before moving onto Part III which generally tackles the process of the self-expression of the Spirit in history, the distinction...

This work aims, in a rather contemplative manner phased into three related parts, to discuss two concepts indispensable for Hegel's entire philosophy of life and history: language and memory. In Part I, I examine the triple relation between language and thinking, thinking and reality, and reality and language. I argue that language shares a logical structure with thinking and reality, and is itself the performative principle (or acteur) of creating reality, being itself the externalizing tool of the movement of thinking without which any development of the Spirit would not be possible. Part II targets the concept of memory and its function within thinking and action of self-consciousness. It is argued that Hegel's language functions as the modern concept of discourse in terms of its agency in reality. Memory is understood as fundamentally entangled with matter, or the material objectivity that calls in memory to be named, i.e. posited in language. Memory is an interiorizing principle, language is the exteriorizing principle, both deeply rooted in the so-called night of the self of each spirit. I also discuss the subject-objective relation against the background of memory, before moving onto Part III which generally tackles the process of the self-expression of the Spirit in history, the distinction...

The digital copy is rapidly becoming the dominant form in which researchers encounter cultural heritage. In this situation, the relation between the original and the digital reproduction has become a crucial, yet too little discussed problem. This thesis investigates this relation through two questions: (1) Which is the ontological status of the reproduction in relation to the original, and (2) How is the original mediated to its digital format? Question (1) is answered in dialogue with previous research: The reproduction is a new artefact, but with a relation (of similiarity) to the original. It is the understanding of this relation that the remaining part of the thesis tries to deepen and around which the second question revolves. This more empirical question (2)is examined through a comparative analysis of a physical original—the 17th century album amicorum of Gottfried Schröer—and its digitisation in the platform Alvin.The informative dimensions “context”, “materiality”, “textbased information”, and the category “aura” are investigated in the original and in the digital reproduction. For this purpose, Walter Benjamin’s concept “aura” is critically discussed and redefined as an analytical concept, and the research question is rephrased in terms of (a) which qualities are transfered, (b) not transfered, and (c) if/how they are transformed during the transfer to the digital format. It is also asked which consequences this might have for the artefact as a source of information. The analysis is positioned in a materiality discourse, adopting perspectives from, i.a., Actor-Network Theory and Material Philology. In this context, a widened concept of materiality is also developed, allowing the inclusion of the “virtual”. The thesis identifies aspects in which the reproduction differs from the original, depending, among other things, on its own materiality. This strengthens the call for users’ information competency when interacting with digital reproductions. This is a two years masters's thesis in library and information science.

The climate, the environment and sustainability work are in more focus than ever. With the growing interest in sustainability work, new opportunities with data, and technological progress, opportunities—but also challenges—are created. These new possibilities give market analysis companies an opportunity to foster sustainability work for the better. It has been shown that an important part of successful sustainability work is to communicate it externally to reap competitive advantages. The purpose of this study is to create a greater understanding of what companies that are perceived as sustainable in Sweden communicate today. By examining what companies that are perceived as sustainable communicate, a better understanding of customer demands can be obtained and contribute to knowledge in the process of sustainable work. Companies' sustainability communication is studied from the perspective of what they communicate from Agenda 2030, impact in GRI and what priorities in the materiality principle. It is observed that several Agenda 2030 goals are mentioned slightly more or less frequently than others where goals 12 and 13 could be identified as more communicated. The disclosures in GRI differ between industries although they have some common disclosures communicated more frequently where the publication of greenhouse gas emissions was in focus in the climate dimension, diversity and discrimination in the social dimension, and incidents of corruption in the financial dimension. The materiality principle tends to have certain focus areas with the main focus being on products, the value chain and sustainability in general, which are jointly communicated regardless of industry. / Klimatet, miljön och hållbarhetsarbete är mer i fokus än någonsin. Det finns ett växande intresse för hållbarhetsarbete, nya möjligheter för data och med teknologiska framsteg skapas möjligheter—och utmaningar. Möjligheterna med att arbeta med data i kombination med ökat intresse samt behov av hållbarhetsarbete ger analysföretag en möjlighet att främja hållbarhetsarbetet till det bättre. Det är visat att en del för lyckat hållbarhetsarbete är att kommunicera det utåt för att dra nytta av konkurrensfördelar. Syftet med examensarbetet är att bidra till ökad förståelse över vad en väl kommunicerad hållbarhetskommunikation består av. Genom att undersöka vad företag som upplevs hållbara i Sverige kommunicerar idag kan en ökad förståelse för vad kunderna efterfrågar erhållas och bidra till kunskap i processen för hållbarhetsarbetet. Studien studerar företags hållbarhetskommunikation utifrån vad de kommunicerar som mål i Agenda 2030, vilken påverkan i GRI och vad företagen kommunicerar att de prioriterar i väsentlighetsanalysen. Vidare observeras flera Agenda 2030 mål som nämns något mer frekvent medans andra omnämns i lägre utsträckning. Påverkan kommunicerad i GRI skiljer sig mellan branscher men har vissa gemensamma offentliggöranden och väsentlighetsanalysen tenderar att ha vissa fokusområden som sticker ut. I Agenda 2030 kunde hållbar konsumtion och produktion (mål 12) och bekämpa klimatförändringarna (mål 13) identifieras som mål mer i fokus. Baserat på GRI indikatorerna var det offentliggörande om växthusgasutsläpp avseende klimatdimensionen, mångfalden och diskriminering m.m. i samhällsdimensionen och om incidenter om korruption i den ekonomiska dimensionen. I väsentlighetsanalysen var det främst produkter, värdekedjan och hållbarhet överlag som gemensamt kommuniceras oavsett bransch.

Temporality has been given attention in HCI research, with scholars arguing that temporal aspects in function-oriented graphical user interface are overlooked. However, these works have not adequately addressed practical approaches to manifest time in the design of such. This paper presents an approach for implementing temporal metaphors in the design of graphical user interface. In this design research, I materialize temporal metaphors into material qualities, in order to manifest time into the design of graphical user interface and shape the experiences of such designs. I argue that the design of temporal metaphors may express traces of time in graphical user interface differently from contemporary designs. I discuss implications and significance of unfolding experience over time. In conclusion, this design research, by articulating the experiences of its design works, sheds new light on the meanings of expressing temporal metaphors in the design of graphical user interface.

This dissertation engages with the production and use in late medieval England (c.1200–c.1500) of manuscript codices copied, in whole or in part, on offcuts: cheap, low-quality parchment scraps created as a byproduct of parchment manufacturing. After presenting a method for identifying offcuts, it explores the material through statistical techniques and case studies. Applying this mixed methodology to a corpus of 140 offcut-bearing production units spread across 75 handwritten books, it delineates a range of manuscript production stages, examining the sociocultural contexts of books recruiting offcuts as writing support. The dissertation pursues this study in four chapters. Opening with a terminological discussion, chapter one describes medieval parchment-making, clarifying how offcut traits arose during manufacture, distinguishing offcuts from similar types of parchment, and describing medieval uses for offcuts. Chapter two discusses quantitative codicology, justifying the mixed quantitative–qualitative approach, then delineates its dual-stage methodology: (i) establishing offcut diagnostic traits via linear regression analysis; (ii) assembling the corpus and analyzing it via a descriptive statistical lens. It finishes with an overview of the analysis’ main findings, noting that the corpus is dominated by Fachliteratur; lacking in texts often regarded as ‘popular’ (e.g., vernacular romances); and largely copied for personal consultation in professional, educational, or domestic contexts. Chapters three and four take up the primary subcorpora—one comprising common law books; another, miscellaneous, but chiefly theological and medical, provisionally sorted based on the medieval division of disciplines, quadrivium and trivium—engaging each via descriptive statistical overviews and case studies of representative books: London, British Library, Harley MS 912, Harley MS 1261, Harley MS 6644; Oxford, Bodleian Library, MSS Ashmole 1378, Digby 2, Digby 24. / Graduate / 2023-09-09