This dissertation analyzes and critically evaluates Southern Baptist Hispanic church-planting strategies in North America during the period of 1970-1994. This twenty-five-year study demonstrates that these years were both important and influential days for language missions among Southern Baptists. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the reality that the United States is a nation of many "nations." Each culture is extraordinarily unique and, consequently, requires that strategies be contextualized to reach successfully the increasingly diverse population in North America. Chapter 2 explores the historical context that was the genesis of Southern Baptists' language missions in North America. Key people instrumental in reaching language/cultural groups, starting new churches, and developing indigenous leadership among different ethnic groups helped to paint the overall language missions landscape. Chapter 3 introduces Oscar I. Romo and explores Romo's missiological principles, sociological understanding, and theological foundation for language missions. The chapter investigates how Romo's theology influenced his methodologies, and to what extent he influenced other people and agencies. Chapter 4 introduces the reader to three important questions one must answer in order to have a better understanding of the importance and influence of language missions in the Southern Baptist Convention during the period of 1970-1994. While Chapter 4 is descriptive of each strategy, Chapter 5 analyzes, evaluates, and critiques the strengths and weaknesses of both primary and secondary strategies. Chapter 6 draws conclusions from the historical, theological, missiological, sociological, and ecclesiological lessons learned during the period of 1970 to 1994. Additionally, chapter 6 examines the lessons learned from the past, reflects on current church-planting practices of the NAMB, and answers important and practical questions.

Truman Capote, autor, roteirista e dramaturgo Americano, foi um dos principais escritores americanos de ficção do período pós-guerra, conhecido por receber ampla notoriedade pelo seu romance best-seller In Cold Blood, de 1965, por um estilo de escrita que misturava literatura e jornalismo. No entanto, o trabalho de Capote se estende além do romance antes mencionado. O autor, que se tornaria famoso por sua personalidade também, revelou grande talento como escritor desde muito jovem, trabalhando com temas muito relacionados à sua vida pessoal. Durante minhas leituras de seus trabalhos, eu pude perceber que o narrador que Capote criava trazia o leitor muito mais próximo à história. O propósito da minha dissertação é fazer uma análise do narrador de Capote para poder discutir suas técnicas específicas. Para tal, escolhi trabalhar com a teoria da narratologia, que não apenas é o estudo da narrativa e da estrutura de um texto, mas também sobre como ele afeta nossas percepções como leitores. Através de uma análise de aspectos como focalização e discurso do narrador, minha intenção foi traçar uma relação entre o narrador de Capote com seu autor implícito para poder entender como isso afeta nossa experiência de leitura e seu relacionamento com o leitor. Para essa análise, eu escolhi o primeiro romance publicado de Capote, Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948), porque acredito que conta uma história que pareceu surgir de emoções altamente reprimidas do autor sobre sua infância e crescimento. Além disso, tentarei identificar onde elementos biográficos podem ter inspirado alguns dos eventos presentes na história, na tentativa de estabelecer uma conexão com os eventos de sua vida real e o quanto elas interferiam em sua ficção. teoria que em destaque nesse trabalho são os trabalhos da autora Mieke Bal (2009) e de Herman & Vervaeck (2005), para poder trazer os termos que ajudam a continuar com a discussão. Ao fim desta análise, espero mostrar o que há por baixo de um narrador cuidadosamente construído, e que o leitor seja capaz de perceber Truman Capote por mais do que sua famosa personalidade, mas também como um escritor cuidadoso e focado que era apaixonado por sua arte. / American novelist, screenwriter and playwright Truman Capote was one of the leading American authors of fiction of the post-war period, known for receiving wide notoriety for his 1965 best seller In Cold Blood, for a style of writing that mixed literature and journalism. However, Capote’s works extend beyond the aforementioned novel. The author, who would eventually become famous for his personality as well, revealed great talent as a writer since a very young age, working with themes closely related to his personal life. During my readings of his works, I was able to perceive that the narrator Capote creates brings the reader much closer to the story. The purpose of this thesis is to carry out an analysis of Capote’s narrator in order to discuss his particular techniques. In order to do that, I chose to work with the theory of narratology, which is not only the study of narrative and the narrative structure of a text, but also of how it affects our perceptions as readers. Through an analysis of aspects such as focalization and the narrator’s discourse, my intention was to trace a relation between the narrator with Capote’s implied author in order to understand how this affects the reading experience and the relationship with the reader. For this analysis, I chose Capote’s first published novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948), because I believe that it tells a story that seem to come from the highly suppressed emotions of the author about his childhood and growing up. I will also attempt to identify where biographical elements might have inspired some of the events that appear in the story, attempting to establish connection to the events of his real life and how much it interfered in his fiction. As to the theory that underlines this work, I chose the works of Mieke Bal (2009) and Herman & Vervaeck (2005), in order to bring light to terms that help further the discussion. By the end of this analysis, I hope to show what lies beneath a carefully constructed narrator, and that the reader will be able to perceive Truman Capote for more than his famous personality, but also as a careful and focused writer that was passionate about his craft.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Este trabalho tem como propósito estudar a queerness de relacionamentos entre mulheres heterossexuais e homens gays no romance A Home at the End of the World, de Michael Cunningham, e no seriado de televisão Will & Grace. O objetivo é analisar tais relacionamentos do ponto de vista das personagens femininas principais Clare e Grace, respectivamente , comparando e contrastando os textos literário e televisual. A dissertação fundamenta-se nos conceitos teórico-metodológicos da teoria queer, nos quais se baseia a análise das personagens e de seus relacionamentos. Contudo, à medida que estabelece um diálogo entre um romance e um programa televisual, foi adicionado um capítulo sobre teoria da televisão. Além de fornecer uma visão geral sobre tal teoria, o capítulo mostrou-se relevante na discussão de Will & Grace. Por meio do estudo mais aprofundado da teoria queer percebe-se que queerness, ao invés de uma identidade fixa, pode ser mais bem compreendida como uma atitude de resistência às normas sociais heteropatriarcais. Portanto, apesar das aspirações convencionais de Grace e Clare, ambas agem de forma queer em várias situações, provando que queerness é um posicionamento que todos podem assumir; até mesmo os heterossexuais / The purpose of this work is to study the queerness of relationships between straight women and gay men in Michael Cunninghams novel A Home at the End of the World and in the TV sitcom Will & Grace. The intention is to analyze such relationships from the point-of-view of the main female characters Clare and Grace, respectively , comparing and contrasting the literary and televisual texts. The theoretical-methodological core of this thesis lies on the concepts of queer theory, based on which the characters and their relationships have been analyzed. However, as it establishes a dialog between a literary work and a TV show, a theoretical chapter on television theory has been added. While providing an overview of television theory, this chapter has also been really relevant in the discussion of Will & Grace. Through a deeper study of queer theory, one realizes that queerness, instead of a fixed identity, may be better understood as an attitude of resistance to heteropatriarchal social rules. Therefore, in spite of Graces and Clares conventional aspirations, they both act queerly in several situations, proving that queerness is a positionality which everyone may assume; even straight people

ABSTRACT IMPROVING THE LEVEL OF CARE FOR SOUTHERN BAPTIST INTERCULTURAL MISSIONARIES SERVING IN NORTH AMERICA Trent Isaac DeLoach, D.Miss. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2013 Chair: Dr. J. D. Payne This dissertation explores the contemporary conditions and challenges of Southern Baptist cross-cultural missionaries serving in North America for the purpose of determining how Southern Baptists can improve the level of care for their domestic missionaries. The dissertation will be guided by three basic questions: How are the missionaries doing? What challenges are they facing? How can Southern Baptists better care for their needs? The spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial condition of the missionaries will receive special attention. An effort will be made to identify challenges that are unique to cross-cultural missionaries in the North American context. Finally, the data obtained from the missionaries will determine how Southern Baptists can improve the level of care for its domestic missionaries. Chapter 2 describes the significance of cross-cultural missions in North America. Research will be presented that reveals the growing gap between the diversity of North America and the diversity found within Southern Baptist churches. Chapter 3 presents the results from the qualitative research gained from the surveys, interviews, and site visits. Special attention is paid to the spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial condition of the missionaries. The missionaries' assessment of the care they are receiving from the Southern Baptist entities concludes the chapter. Chapter 4 provides a response and an interpretation of the data collected from the study. Strengths and weaknesses of Southern Baptist care for cross-cultural missionaries in North America are explored. Chapter 5 concludes the study by presenting a strategy to improve missionary care in North America among Southern Baptists. The strategy includes practical steps that can be taken to ensure Southern Baptists remain on the frontlines of engaging the nations in North America. Chapter 6 reviews the salient observations from the study and presents areas that need further research.

abstract: Ecohydrological responses to rainfall in the North American monsoon (NAM) region lead to complex surface-atmosphere interactions. In early summer, it is expected that soil properties and topography act as primary controls in hydrologic processes. Under the presence of strongly dynamic ecosystems, catchment hydrology is expected to vary substantially in comparison to other semiarid areas, affecting our understanding of ecohydrological processes and the parameterization of predictive models. A large impediment toward making progress in this field is the lack of spatially extensive observational data. As a result, it is critical to integrate numerical models, remote sensing observations and ground data to understand and predict ecohydrological dynamics in space and time, including soil moisture, evapotranspiration and runoff generation dynamics. In this thesis, a set of novel ecohydrological simulations that integrate remote sensing and ground observations were conducted at three spatial scales in a semiarid river basin in northern Sonora, Mexico. First, single site simulations spanning several summers were carried out in two contrasting mountain ecosystems to predict evapotranspiration partitioning. Second, a catchment-scale simulation was conducted to evaluate the effects of spatially-variable soil thickness and textural properties on water fluxes and states during one monsoon season. Finally, a river basin modeling effort spanning seven years was applied to understand interannual variability in ecohydrological dynamics. Results indicated that ecohydrological simulations with a dynamic representation of vegetation greening tracked well the seasonal evolution of observed evapotranspiration and soil moisture at two measurement locations. A switch in the dominant component of evapotranspiration from soil evaporation to plant transpiration was observed for each ecosystem, depending on the timing and magnitude of vegetation greening. Furthermore, spatially variable soil thickness affects subsurface flow while soil texture controls patterns of surface soil moisture and evapotranspiration during the transition from dry to wet conditions. Finally, the ratio of transformation of precipitation into evapotranspiration (ET/P) and run off (Q/P) changed in space and time as summer monsoon progresses. The results of this research improve the understanding of the ecohydrology of NAM region, which can be useful for developing sustainable watershed management plans in the face of anticipated land cover and climate changes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Geological Sciences 2014

abstract: Functional traits research has improved our understanding of how plants respond to their environments, identifying key trade-offs among traits. These studies primarily rely on correlative methods to infer trade-offs and often overlook traits that are difficult to measure (e.g., root traits, tissue senescence rates), limiting their predictive ability under novel conditions. I aimed to address these limitations and develop a better understanding of the trait space occupied by trees by integrating data and process models, spanning leaves to whole-trees, via modern statistical and computational methods. My first research chapter (Chapter 2) simultaneously fits a photosynthesis model to measurements of fluorescence and photosynthetic response curves, improving estimates of mesophyll conductance (gm) and other photosynthetic traits. I assessed how gm varies across environmental gradients and relates to other photosynthetic traits for 4 woody species in Arizona. I found that gm was lower at high aridity sites, varied little within a site, and is an important trait for obtaining accurate estimates of photosynthesis and related traits under dry conditions. Chapter 3 evaluates the importance of functional traits for whole-tree performance by fitting an individual-based model of tree growth and mortality to millions of measurements of tree heights and diameters to assess the theoretical trait space (TTS) of “healthy” North American trees. The TTS contained complicated, multi-variate structure indicative of potential trade-offs leading to successful growth. In Chapter 4, I applied an environmental filter (light stress) to the TTS, leading to simulated stand-level mortality rates up to 50%. Tree-level mortality was explained by 6 of the 32 traits explored, with the most important being radiation-use efficiency. The multidimentional space comprising these 6 traits differed in volume and location between trees that survived and died, indicating that selective mortality alters the TTS. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Biology 2017

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Este trabalho tem como propósito estudar a queerness de relacionamentos entre mulheres heterossexuais e homens gays no romance A Home at the End of the World, de Michael Cunningham, e no seriado de televisão Will & Grace. O objetivo é analisar tais relacionamentos do ponto de vista das personagens femininas principais Clare e Grace, respectivamente , comparando e contrastando os textos literário e televisual. A dissertação fundamenta-se nos conceitos teórico-metodológicos da teoria queer, nos quais se baseia a análise das personagens e de seus relacionamentos. Contudo, à medida que estabelece um diálogo entre um romance e um programa televisual, foi adicionado um capítulo sobre teoria da televisão. Além de fornecer uma visão geral sobre tal teoria, o capítulo mostrou-se relevante na discussão de Will & Grace. Por meio do estudo mais aprofundado da teoria queer percebe-se que queerness, ao invés de uma identidade fixa, pode ser mais bem compreendida como uma atitude de resistência às normas sociais heteropatriarcais. Portanto, apesar das aspirações convencionais de Grace e Clare, ambas agem de forma queer em várias situações, provando que queerness é um posicionamento que todos podem assumir; até mesmo os heterossexuais / The purpose of this work is to study the queerness of relationships between straight women and gay men in Michael Cunninghams novel A Home at the End of the World and in the TV sitcom Will & Grace. The intention is to analyze such relationships from the point-of-view of the main female characters Clare and Grace, respectively , comparing and contrasting the literary and televisual texts. The theoretical-methodological core of this thesis lies on the concepts of queer theory, based on which the characters and their relationships have been analyzed. However, as it establishes a dialog between a literary work and a TV show, a theoretical chapter on television theory has been added. While providing an overview of television theory, this chapter has also been really relevant in the discussion of Will & Grace. Through a deeper study of queer theory, one realizes that queerness, instead of a fixed identity, may be better understood as an attitude of resistance to heteropatriarchal social rules. Therefore, in spite of Graces and Clares conventional aspirations, they both act queerly in several situations, proving that queerness is a positionality which everyone may assume; even straight people

Truman Capote, autor, roteirista e dramaturgo Americano, foi um dos principais escritores americanos de ficção do período pós-guerra, conhecido por receber ampla notoriedade pelo seu romance best-seller In Cold Blood, de 1965, por um estilo de escrita que misturava literatura e jornalismo. No entanto, o trabalho de Capote se estende além do romance antes mencionado. O autor, que se tornaria famoso por sua personalidade também, revelou grande talento como escritor desde muito jovem, trabalhando com temas muito relacionados à sua vida pessoal. Durante minhas leituras de seus trabalhos, eu pude perceber que o narrador que Capote criava trazia o leitor muito mais próximo à história. O propósito da minha dissertação é fazer uma análise do narrador de Capote para poder discutir suas técnicas específicas. Para tal, escolhi trabalhar com a teoria da narratologia, que não apenas é o estudo da narrativa e da estrutura de um texto, mas também sobre como ele afeta nossas percepções como leitores. Através de uma análise de aspectos como focalização e discurso do narrador, minha intenção foi traçar uma relação entre o narrador de Capote com seu autor implícito para poder entender como isso afeta nossa experiência de leitura e seu relacionamento com o leitor. Para essa análise, eu escolhi o primeiro romance publicado de Capote, Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948), porque acredito que conta uma história que pareceu surgir de emoções altamente reprimidas do autor sobre sua infância e crescimento. Além disso, tentarei identificar onde elementos biográficos podem ter inspirado alguns dos eventos presentes na história, na tentativa de estabelecer uma conexão com os eventos de sua vida real e o quanto elas interferiam em sua ficção. teoria que em destaque nesse trabalho são os trabalhos da autora Mieke Bal (2009) e de Herman & Vervaeck (2005), para poder trazer os termos que ajudam a continuar com a discussão. Ao fim desta análise, espero mostrar o que há por baixo de um narrador cuidadosamente construído, e que o leitor seja capaz de perceber Truman Capote por mais do que sua famosa personalidade, mas também como um escritor cuidadoso e focado que era apaixonado por sua arte. / American novelist, screenwriter and playwright Truman Capote was one of the leading American authors of fiction of the post-war period, known for receiving wide notoriety for his 1965 best seller In Cold Blood, for a style of writing that mixed literature and journalism. However, Capote’s works extend beyond the aforementioned novel. The author, who would eventually become famous for his personality as well, revealed great talent as a writer since a very young age, working with themes closely related to his personal life. During my readings of his works, I was able to perceive that the narrator Capote creates brings the reader much closer to the story. The purpose of this thesis is to carry out an analysis of Capote’s narrator in order to discuss his particular techniques. In order to do that, I chose to work with the theory of narratology, which is not only the study of narrative and the narrative structure of a text, but also of how it affects our perceptions as readers. Through an analysis of aspects such as focalization and the narrator’s discourse, my intention was to trace a relation between the narrator with Capote’s implied author in order to understand how this affects the reading experience and the relationship with the reader. For this analysis, I chose Capote’s first published novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948), because I believe that it tells a story that seem to come from the highly suppressed emotions of the author about his childhood and growing up. I will also attempt to identify where biographical elements might have inspired some of the events that appear in the story, attempting to establish connection to the events of his real life and how much it interfered in his fiction. As to the theory that underlines this work, I chose the works of Mieke Bal (2009) and Herman & Vervaeck (2005), in order to bring light to terms that help further the discussion. By the end of this analysis, I hope to show what lies beneath a carefully constructed narrator, and that the reader will be able to perceive Truman Capote for more than his famous personality, but also as a careful and focused writer that was passionate about his craft.

A partir da década de 1980, a disseminação de práticas macroeconômicas chamadas de neoliberais, cujo objetivo central é garantir a flexibilidade dos fluxos de capital em nível internacional, alterou não apenas os padrões mundiais de financiamento e comércio externo, mas toda a lógica de funcionamento da produção, do investimento, do consumo e das políticas dos governos. Tais alterações provocaram uma profunda redistribuição de funções entre os países no conjunto da economia internacional, abrindo espaço para o questionamento quanto a uma possível mudança da hierarquia historicamente estabelecida entre os países chamados do Centro e aqueles da Periferia. Este trabalho se insere nessa discussão, analisando o papel específico do Brasil no contexto da economia neoliberal e os impactos dessa inserção externa sobre a economia nacional. Partindo de uma revisão dos conceitos de neoliberalismo, desenvolvimento e dependência, e partindo também da concepção de que o Brasil foi progressivamente assumindo um papel de plataforma internacional de valorização financeira, nosso objetivo será o de mostrar que essa condição alterou substancialmente os parâmetros de definição de sua dependência externa, abrindo algumas possiblidades para a redução de sua vulnerabilidade. No entanto, a redução da dependência não significou uma associação imediata a melhores condições de desenvolvimento, o que exigiria do país um posicionamento adicional em termos da reconstrução de seu Projeto Nacional em meio à nova realidade do neoliberalismo internacional. Para a análise aqui efetuada, consideramos, sempre que possível no âmbito de comparações internacionais, o comportamento das contas externas, da composição do produto e dos mecanismos dinâmicos de incentivo à demanda e à inovação na economia brasileira em momentos de expansão e crise dos mercados financeiros, ressaltando o papel do dólar como condutor dos parâmetros de valorização. / Starting from the 1980\'s, the spread of the so called neoliberal macroeconomics practices, which were meant to guarantee international capital flows flexibility, changed not only commercial and financial world market patterns, but also, the functioning rationale of production, investment, consumption and government policies. Those changes created a profound redistribution of functions among countries in the international economic system, opening up the possibility of a much deeper change, involving the historically established relation between Center and Periphery countries. This thesis is part of this discussion analyzing the Brazilian specific role played in the context of the neoliberal economy and the impacts of its international position over the national economy. Departing from a revision of the concepts of neoliberalism, development and dependency and considering that the country was gradually assuming a role of international finance valorization platform, our goal is to show that this condition substantially altered the parameters from which external dependency was once defined, opening up some possibilities for the reduction of the vulnerability. Nevertheless, the dependency reduction did not create an immediate association with better conditions for development, which would ask for an additional statement from the country in terms of the reconstruction of its National Project in the new neoliberalism international reality. For this analysis, we consider, whenever possible in international comparisons, the behavior of Brazilian international accounts, internal product composition and dynamic mechanisms for demand and innovation incentives during financial markets expansions and crises, always highlighting the importance of the dollar as the regent of the valorization patterns.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo analisar a representação dramatúrgica da família na peça A Lie of the Mind, do dramaturgo estadunidense Sam Shepard, e os recursos por meio dos quais essa representação, tal como realizada, configura elementos de crítica à ideologia dominante relacionada ao papel da família no contexto sócio-histórico do país. Serão levantados, aqui, os aspectos formais da peça, principalmente os que se relacionam com a estética expressionista e com outros expedientes de criação que a distanciam do drama convencional. O objeto do estudo é o texto dramatúrgico original da peça (e não sua encenação). A análise tratará dos aspectos textuais e contextuais da peça e com base neles examinará as relações familiares figuradas em A Lie of the Mind como representativas e intrínsecas à situação social das personagens. / This dissertation aims at analysing the dramaturgical representation of family in the play A Lie of the Mind, by the North-American playwright Sam Shepard, and the means through which this representation, as developed in the text, brings forth elements of criticism to the dominant ideology related to the role of the family in the countrys socio-historical context. Formal aspects of the play will be approached, mainly the ones related to Expressionism and to other creative resources that drive it away from conventional drama. The study object is the original text of the play (and not the play in performance). The analysis will deal with textual and contextual aspects of the play and, based on them, will examine the familial relations that are represented in A Lie of the Mind as representative and intrinsic to the social situation of the characters.