Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Monalisa Dibo.pdf: 2749049 bytes, checksum: 96831de7ad989f4b24fdc9032b450835 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-08-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The purpose of this study consists in the determination of whether the mandala's design improves concentrated attention in teenagers in a classroom, and if it presents symbols of religious connotation. This is a quantitative as well as a qualitative research project, focusing on the quantity and frequency of the meanings and processes under scrutiny. The tool used for the mensuratiion of concentrated attention in four high school groups, totalling 70 teenagers, was Test AC-15. In the concentrated attention test, groups B and C (mandala + test) showed results above the average, while groups D and E (test + mandala) came up with results below the average; thus attesting to the mandala's improvement of concentrated attention. The results also show that circular forms are the most frequent in the mandala's inwards, and that, in the quadrature of the circle, flower and star shapes prevail among the themes found. In the verification and analysis of the groups, it is possible to observe that the drawings, in their majority, are center-aligned, which indicates that the subjects of this research are well-adjusted individuals, with a tendency to be more self-driven and self-centered. The characteristics of drawing styles and pressure, reflecting emotional and mental balance, appear to be normal. Also, the drawings present mostly average aesthetic results, showing signs of intelligence, aptitude for spatial abstraction, and emotional equilibrium. Therefore, it can be said that, in this study, the mandala presented an enriching activity for individuals' psychic life, enhancing concentrated attention in the subjects, and bringing moments of improvement in the inner contact with order and harmony, leading to emotional integration / O objetivo deste estudo consiste em verificar se o desenho da mandala melhora a atenção concentrada em adolescentes em sala de aula e se o mesmo apresenta símbolos de conotação religiosa. É uma pesquisa qualitativa e quantitativa, que privilegia os significados e processos mensurados em termos de quantidade e freqüência. O instrumento utilizado para medir atenção concentrada em quatro turmas do Ensino Médio, que totalizaram 70 adolescentes, foi o Teste AC-15. As turmas B e C (Mandala + Teste) que representa a aplicação do desenho da mandala e depois o teste AC15 apresentaram índice superior à média no teste Atenção Concentrada, enquanto as salas D e E (Teste + Mandala) manifestaram um índice inferior à média; comprovando, assim, que a mandala proporciona maior atenção concentrada. Os resultados mostram, também, que as formas circulares são as mais freqüentes no interior da mandala e que, na quadratura do círculo, entre os temas encontrados, há o predomínio de flor e estrela. Na verificação e análise das turmas, é possível observar que os desenhos, em sua maioria, estão centralizados, indicando que os sujeitos desta pesquisa estão ajustados; mostram-se mais auto-dirigidos e auto-centrados. A caracterização do traço e a pressão, que significa equilíbrio emocional e mental, se apresentam normais. Os desenhos também, em grande parte, são medianos, demonstrando inteligência, capacidade de abstração espacial e equilíbrio emocional. Portanto, podemos dizer que a mandala nesse estudo foi uma atividade enriquecedora para a vida psíquica, aumentando a atenção concentrada dos sujeitos e proporcionando momentos à melhora na integração emocional de contato interior de ordem e harmonia, o que pode levar, à integração

The focus of this qualitative, arts-based inquiry was to understand how disabling illness might be transformed through art. A/r/tography -- art/research/teaching and writing, was the method used to explore and understand the meaning(s) held within the art: Border Crossings -- a conceptual, figurative, sculptural installation. The installation embodied the experience of disabling illness, symbolically depicting power relationships, identities, subjectivities and the multi-dimensional nature of being, of one coming up against the institution, the illness and the self. Guided by the work of Heidegger (Hermeneutic Circle), Deleuze and Guatarri (Rhizome and The body without Organs) and Foucault (Power Relationships), the A/r/tographer examined the installation through the lens of the poststructural feminist writers Grosz, Davis, Gatens, Weedon, Moss and Dyck with a focus on the body/subjective to explore notions central to understanding being in a body. A further analysis through art theorists Eisner, Allen and A/r/tographers Irwin and Springgay’s aesthetic perspectives, explicated the nuance of how art transformed the ill researcher and larger community. The results of the inquiry revealed a multi-dimensional, generative process of opening multiple thresholds of complexity, understanding and transformation of the experience of disabling illness for inquirer, and the art participant/observers/larger community. The research illuminates the value of A/r/tography as a potent means of inquiry into lived experience and how art enhances the understandings and possibilities for the transformation of the experience of disabling illness/lived experience. / Graduate

This study investigates the possibilities of human life in outer space and the implications ofremoving the numinous dimension from creation, using Olga Ravn's novel The Employees.The main question is: How is human life portrayed in Olga Ravn's novel The Employees?What happens when the numinous is removed from creation, and what can this, throughliterature's defamiliarizing potential, reveal about human life? Using Ravn's novel,Stevensson's theory of human nature and Rudolf Otto's concept of the numinous, three keythemes are detected: relationships and emotional life, the dissolution of boundaries, andseparation. The theme of relationships and emotional life presents a technocratic societyvaluing efficiency over emotions, where contact with artifacts from the planet “NewDiscovery” transforms and increases humanity both born (humans) and unborn (cyborgs). Thedissolution of boundaries blurs lines between beings, suggesting human identity and life-deathdistinctions are fluid and interconnected. Separation highlights the loss of belonging, usingthe allegory of mother-child separation to emphasize attachment needs between human andearth. The study concludes that human life requires a society valuing emotions, relationships,and a sense of belonging to a greater whole, challenging the idea of human supremacy