Exploring nature and art through sculpture and materials.

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This thesis critiques the nature/nurture debate in sociology and applies current thinking to sociological work on child abuse. By examining the literature available within sociology, biology and ecology, the nature/nurture debate is shown to be a defining epistemological construct within sociology. In deconstructing the debate, this thesis shows that addressing biology within sociology does not require an acceptance of determinism and that a plurality of possibilities still exists. It also reveals that human corporeality is viscerally susceptible to the environment and that separating human social life from its corporeality merely reiterates the Judeo-Christian theology that human life is divinely separate from its environment. In applying contemporay and classical sociology to the issue of child abuse, this thesis destabilises contemporary notions of the plasticity of the body and the irrelevance of the biological sciences to human social life. / Master of Arts (Hons) (Sociology)

Contemporary culture abounds with stories about how new technologies are radically altering human existence. In many respects it seems intuitively obvious that there is nothing new in this, and that new techniques for doing things change social relationships. Indeed, this has been a common refrain in the modern world. Yet there is something strange about the most recent variations of how the social impact of technological change is understood. In the early twenty-first century, new technologies are argued to have changed our daily lives so much so that what we take as the most fundamental features of human experience can no longer be assumed. Specifically, in its more contemporary articulation, the argument that new technologies have radical social consequences insists that the human subject is undergoing a fundamental transformation into something entirely different: the cyborg or posthuman. This thesis offers an exploration of some of the assumptions that underpin contemporary accounts of new technologies and their presumed impact on human experience. Using a textual analysis methodology, this thesis takes up discussions from various areas; feminist technology studies, technology studies, the history and politics of technology as well as continental philosophy to explore changing perceptions about 'technology' and 'the human'. In addition, this thesis examines some curious examples from this diverse field in order to highlight some of the inherent ambiguities and paradoxes that endure when technology is assumed to be a detachable supplement. Assisted reproductive technologies, animal tool-use, automata, stem-cell research and human cloning, all indicate that the criteria which typically define 'the human' or 'technology' are far more amorphous than is usually presumed. What comes out of these deliberations is an intriguing tension between how both technology and human subjectivity are understood which complicates our understanding of the difference between humans and machines, nature and culture, and agency and instrumentality. In turn, this raises certain questions about the experiential implications for contemporary subjectivity.

Ce travail porte sur l'application et l'utilisation par Jean Duns Scot de la théorie de l'indifférence de l'essence, issue du péripatétisme arabe, et se donne pour enjeu d'en comprendre le fonctionnement conceptuel. Solution conjointe aux questions de la constitution ontologique des choses, des rapports entre le langage et la réalité et du mode d'appréhension des notions générales dans l'abstraction, la théorie de l'indifférence de l'essence sert de sous-bassement à la métaphysique de Duns Scot. C'est au moyen de cette théorie qu'il est possible, comme le montre cette recherche, de relire certains grands thèmes de la métaphysique scotiste: la théorie de la nature commune et de l'haeccéité, la connaissance abstractive (cognitio abstractiva), et la théorie de la non identité formelle. Le travail tente surtout de dégager le caractère proprement méthodologique de la théorie des trois états de l'essence (triplex status essentiae), répondant à la question du statut de l'essence indifférente, à celle des prédicats d'ordre supérieur et au problème de la séparation dans l'abstraction.

ABSTRACT EFFECT OF A WILDLIFE CONSERVATION CAMP EXPERIENCE IN CHINA ON STUDENT KNOWLEDGE OF ANIMALS, CARE, PROPENSITY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP, AND COMPASSIONATE BEHAVIOR TOWARD ANIMALS by Sarah M. Bexell The goal of conservation education is positive behavior change toward animals and the environment. This study was conducted to determine whether participation in a wildlife conservation education camp was effective in positively changing 8-12 year old students’: (a) knowledge of animals, (b) care about animals, (c) propensity for environmental and wildlife stewardship, and (d) compassionate behavior toward animals. During the summer of 2005, 2 five-day camps were conducted at 2 zoological institutions in Chengdu, China. The camp curriculum was influenced by theory and research on the following: conservation psychology, social learning theory, empathy and moral development theory, socio-biological theory, constructivist theory, and conservation science. Camp activities were sensitive to Chinese culture and included Chinese conservation issues. Activities were designed to help children form bonds with animals and care enough about them to positively change their behavior toward animals and the environment. This mixed methods study triangulated quantitative and qualitative data from six sources to answer the following: 1. Did camp increase student knowledge of animals? 2. Did camp increase student caring about animals? 3. Did camp increase student propensity for environmental and wildlife stewardship? 4. Did camp affect student compassionate behavior toward animals? A conservation stewards survey revealed significant increases on pre-post, self-report of knowledge, care, and propensity. Pre-post, rubric-scored responses to human-animal interaction vignettes indicated a significant increase in knowledge, and stable scores on care and propensity. Qualitative data from student journals, vignettes, and end-of-camp questionnaires demonstrated knowledge, caring, and propensity, and revealed the emergent theme empathy. To address question 4, instructors tallied campers’ behavior toward animals using a student behavior ethogram. Occurrence of positive behaviors was inconsistent, but negative behaviors decreased, indicating campers were more conscious of behaviors to avoid. Field notes helped determine that camps were implemented as planned, therefore not interfering with goals of the camp. This study contributes to an emerging and critical knowledge base of effective strategies to promote conservation behavior.

Texte remanié de: Dissertation--Nuremberg, Allemagne--Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2003. / Bibliogr. p. 275-311.

Texte remanié de: Diss.--Philosophische Fakultät--Universität Münster, 2003. / Bibliogr. p. 273-294 p.

Texte remanié de: Th. doct.--Litt. française--Rennes 2, 2002. Titre de soutenance : Le monde animal, végétal et minéral dans l'imaginaire des écrivains marocains de langue française. / Bibliogr. p. 489-529. Index.

Texte remanié de: Diss.--Bonn, 1993. / Bibliogr. p. 174-185. Index.