This thesis explores the themes, and trends within the novels of the acclaimed Syrian writer Hanna Mina. Three novels are discussed: Fragments of Memory (بقايا صور), The Swamp (المستنقع), and Sun on a Cloudy Day (الشمس في يوم غائم). The focus revolves around the relationship between rich and poor during a stage of transformation from imperial feudalism into urban modernity in Syria following the Second World War.

This thesis investigates the failed state label on Lebanon. The thesis explores how Lebanon falls under the paradigm and how Lebanon contradicts, at times, the failed state model with the inclusion of Hizbullah.

This paper examines the plural inflectional processes present in Egyptian Arabic, with specific focus on the complex broken plural system. The data used in this examination is a set of 114 lexemes from a dictionary of the Egyptian Arabic variety by Badawi and Hinds (1984) collected through comparison of singular to plural template correspondences proposed by Gadalla (2004). The theoretical side of this analysis tests the proposed realizational approach in Kihm (2006) named the “Root-and-Site Hypothesis” against a variety of broken plural constructions in Egyptian Arabic. Categorizing concatenative and non-concatenative morphological processes as approachable in the same manner, this framework discusses inflection as not only represented by segments but also by “sites” where inflectional operations may take place. In order to organize the data through a computational lens, I emulate features of this approach in a DATR theorem that generates the grammatical forms for a set of both broken and sound plural nominals. The hierarchically-structured inheritance of the program’s language allows for default templates to be defined as well as overridden, permitting a wide scope of variation to be represented with little code content.

A Certain Semite is not intended to be a history of handwriting, but rather a restriction to that part of the history and development of writing which has had either an indirect, or a direct effect on American writing. Although some authorities maintain that there can be no chronological order to the development of handwriting, it seems to me that there is a reasonably understandable order which can be followed in a reasonably discernible route from the Semite to us. A Certain Semite is an effort to trace handwriting from him who was, according to discoveries made in the past hundred years, the first to conceive of the idea of writing, and also to touch upon pre-writing steps made by more barbaric peoples before him, without whom he would not have been able to give to the world his epic discovery.

This thesis is an exploration of hospitality, sharing and acclimation within a studio art practice as a means of fostering consideration of others. I employ a practice whereby I disrupt the typical gallery context, and through the production and dissemination of consumable items from the Middle East, I examine how resources can be used, valued, and shared to accommodate various and unspecified others and provide opportunities for crossing thresholds of guest and host relationships.

The foreign policy of the United States in the Middle East has taken many twists and turns since the first American citizens were taken captive by North African pirates in 1784. These foreign lands are a constant presence for contemporary Americans. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, the United States has been continuously at war. “Tellingly, the Asian greens that once camouflaged the fatigues of U.S. troops have burnished to Arabian browns and yellows, and Arabic has supplanted Russian as the lingua sancta of the intelligence services.”Unfortunately, constantly shifting motivations for US foreign policy in the Middle East has led to a situation that emboldens our enemies, weakens our allies trust, and makes us an unpredictable player in the Middle East. This thesis will examine the conflict between idealism and pragmatism in American relations with the Middle East, specifically during the 1950s under the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. Before launching into this task, it is essential to answer basic questions that will guide the reader through this thesis: How has the ‘Middle East’ been defined as a geographic area and a zone of contention? Why does this thesis identify the 1950s as thecrucial period for exploring the tenets of US Foreign Policy in relation to this zone? And how does the conflict between idealism and pragmatism emerge as the key tension in US rhetoric and action related to the Middle East?

The problem of this thesis is: To determine whether there are Hebraic idioms in the Small Plates of Nephi in the Book of Mormon that have been retained in translation. An idiom is defined as any peculiar genius of the language: grammatical, syntactical, or verbal imagery. Non-Hebraic idioms were not considered.The assumptions underlying the problem are:1. The Book of Mormon is a record of the Nephites whose cultural, social, and lingual milieu originated in Israel.2. The Book of Mormon was originally written according to a Hebrew pattern of thought and communication.3. Joseph Smith, as a young man inexperienced with languages and inept by training as a translator, tended to translate literally.

<p>*some of the hebrew words may not be written correctly in the abstract. Refer to the e-copy for the correct words. </p> / <p>This study sets out to redefine the concept of the biblical netherworld designated שְׁאוֹל, by focusing on the specific contexts within which it is mentioned as well as on the contexts of its semantic equivalents in the Bible. In the course of this study former views are reviewed and modifications suggested on the basis of different interpretations and in the light of new comparative material.</p> <p>In Chapter I previously proposed etymologies of שְׁאוֹל are surveyed and their linguistic and semantic adequacy critically evaluated. This study proposes a semantic development leading from Hebrew/Aramaic שְׁוֹל- 'to inquire' > 'to call to account' > and probably 'to punish' as relevant.</p> <p>Chapter 2 examines the contexts in which the semantic equivalents of Sheol appear. It is demonstrated that the contexts of בּוֺר - 'pit', a semantic equivalent of Sheol, always imply the realm of divine punishment, while שָׁ֫חַת - 'pit', another semantic equivalent of Sheol, appears in a similar context in all but one instance. This chapter further indicates the similarities between the biblical vocable חַוֹת - 'the realm of death', which parallels Sheol, and its Ugaritic counterpart Mȏt. These two concepts share a number of physical attributes. The suggestions conveyed by these attributes, however, are basically different. In Ugaritic literature they symbolize the intrinsic aggressiveness of the realm of Mȏt, but in biblical literature they serve to convey divine retributive judgement, thus raising a natural power onto an ethical plane. In the case of yet another semantic equivalent of Sheol, צרע - 'netherworld', there are a number of similarities between the biblical and extrabiblical concepts. Its range of meaning, however, in comparison to biblical Sheol, seems to be both wider and more neutral. While generally having negative denotations, it may appear in neutral and even once in a positive context . Sheol, on the other hand, is attested to in a negative context only, implying divine wrath and judgement.</p> <p>In Chapter 3 an examination of the contexts in which Sheol proper appears indicates that it is almost exclusively associated with unnatural death. Such a death, implying divine judgement, is further suggested by a literary use of ordeal terminology derived from Babylonian sources. The relationship of this terminology to the biblical אוף - 'catastrophe' has been discussed in an excursus and its Babylonian affinities indicated.</p> <p>Chapter 4 deals with the descriptive details of Sheol and points out their paucity and vagueness in comparison with extra-biblical accounts of the netherworld. It is shown that most of the physical features of Sheol - cords, snares and fetters - may be explained as conveying the idea of inescapability of divine judgement.</p> <p>Chapter 5 deals with the ancient Near Eastern notion of 'evil death' as distinguished from natural death, and indicates the relationship between such a death and the denizens of Sheol. The discussion focuses particularly on two groups _ Rephaim and Belial. The former are considered in the light of Ugaritic texts. While in both Ugaritic and biblical texts Rephaim are heroic figures, in the Bible the attitude to them seems to be negative and a polemic vein against a belief in their power may be detected. Part of the explanation for this may be suggested by hints of an ancient myth recounting the unsuccessful rebellion of the Sons of El, among whom the Rephaim may have been numbered. A second group of the dwellers of Sheol are the Belial. This designation is transferred by metonomy from the name of the underworld river to a special category of transgressors - the Belial. These are violators of the basic norms of ethical behavior of Israelite society. These norms are stipulated in the covenant between the Israelite and his fellow man. As a violator of these norms, the Belial merits an 'evil death', and since he cannot be pardoned, he will never rise from Sheol.</p> <p>The conclusion reached by this study is that the most formative influence on the concept of Sheol on the Bible was the view of God as the divine judge. It was this notion that prescribed the limits of the borrowings from neighboring cultures, entirely precluding a profusion of elements incompatible with the concept of ethical judgement. And it was this notion that accounts for the restriction of descriptive detail of Sheol in the Bible to a bare minimum. The emphasis is on a situation rather than on a locale, the situation of a person under judgement in a place of judgement suggested by the etymology of Sheol - Place of judgement.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis addresses the influences on family size for Palestinian refugees in Beirut. It is based on ethnographic research done in a camp in Beirut over a three month period in which 24 women were interviewed to discern why they choose to have the number of children that they do. This thesis argues that changing nationalist ideals, declining economic status, and evolving women’s roles in the family contributed to the average decrease in family size.

Much of the academic discussion on the topic of radicalization and terrorism in the Balkans has been centered on the conditions and the processes by which individuals become radicalized and indoctrinated, even to a point of engaging in violence. Comparatively speaking, this ethnographic research addressed the factors that prompt Kosovo's Muslim extremists, a small number of them engaged in the conflict, to disengage from terrorist groups fighting in the Syrian and the Iraq conflict. Data were collected from 12 government officials with direct knowledge on the issue of disengagement from terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria. Cognitive dissonance theory served as the theoretical framework for this ethnographic study, while the conceptual framework was built around social, psychological, and physical factors associated with disengagement from terrorism. Interviews served as primary methods of data collection. The content analysis technique was applied to identify emergent themes. The findings highlighted the crucial role of psychological and social factors in individuals' decision to abandon terrorist organizations engaged in the Iraq and the Syrian conflict. The findings also suggested that affecting ideological values of extremists or terrorist groups may not be sufficient. Recommendations include incorporating a combination of â??softâ?? and â??hardâ?? power measures in addressing the issue of disengagement from terrorist groups. The findings generated from this study may inform the development of more efficient counter-radicalization and counterterrorism policies in Kosovo and the Balkans in general. The findings may also add value to the global literature on disengagement from terrorism.