<p>Marcus Junius Brutus is chiefly known for his assassination of Julius Caesar. The consequences of this deed forced him and Cassius to leave Italy and defend themselves in the East against their enemies, the Triumvirate. This thesis focuses on all those who supported Brutus from the time of the Ides of March until the battle of Philippi. These men are collected and analyzed in terms of their interrelationships, and their relations to Brutus against the background of the society and history of Rome. It is argued that Brutus was the leader of a political factio which could trace its roots back to the opposition to Pompeius at the beginning of his career in 70BC. Also many individuals of various former political alliances joined Brutus because the political circumstances of the last decade made it necessary for them to unite against the Triumvirate. In this way, Brutus' associates were motivated by traditional socia-political motives and by situations characteristic of the end of the Republic. All dates are B.C. unless otherwise noted.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

The Bare Units is a transmission from a queer body/brain navigating an After-Hours Members-Only Club, a site of graymarket sexuality and commerce. Alive to the fizz and froth of visceral sensation- be it the damp texture of a limp dollar bill or the soft meaty slap of an ass- yet awkwardly vigilant to the unstated but specific social exchanges in a semi-regulated space, the role of the Newcomer collapses into the persona of the Participant, awash and implicated in the complexity of each moment. Collecting details from a personalized capitalism enmeshed in mutated systems of value and power, The Bare Units fantasizes a nebulous architecture built from a self-conscious fictional narrative of self, and all the provisional and mutually-beneficial transactions that might be possible within.

The thesis examines two of the most prominent forms of Ancient Greek medicine, rational and temple. These two forms put themselves in direct competition with each other and often tried to differentiate their form from the other. On the other hand the public often conflated these two types viewing them as one entity instead of two. The perception of Ancient Greeks was that the two forms were actually very similar and the temple practitioners and rational physicians were in many ways interchangeable.

One of the great paradoxes of the medieval period is the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1225), in which monks of the Cistercian Order took an active and violent role in campaigning against the heretics of the Languedoc. Why, and how, did this order officially devoted to prayer and contemplation become one of the prime orchestrators of one of medieval Europe’s most gruesome affairs? This thesis seeks to answer that question, not by looking at the crusading Cistercians themselves, but at their predecessor Bernard of Clairvaux, who—I will argue—made the Albigensian Crusade possible by making it permissible for monks to intervene in the world outside the cloister. The logic of this thesis is as follows. Bernard of Clairvaux lived in a world in which monastics had a certain spiritual authority that granted them special privileges over ecclesiastics (Chapter II). The Cistercian Order itself, even before Bernard became their prime mover and shaker, used these privileges to cultivate contacts beyond monastic borders (Chapter IV), and once Bernard became a prominent abbot himself, his desire to do good and criticisms of the outside world (Chapter VI) led him to intervene in various endeavors (Chapter V). These interventions drew backlash from other monastics and ecclesiastics, which then required justification in order to reconcile the vita passiva and Bernard’s active lifestyle (Chapter VII). These justifications, along with Bernard’s justifications of violence (Chapter VIII), came to more broadly characterize the Cistercian Order as a whole (Chapters I, IV), and thus the ideological material to justify monastic holy war was all present in eloquently defended and rapturously accepted form by the time Henry of Clairvaux took a castle during his 1281 preaching mission turned mini-crusade (Chapter IX). With all of this built into the Cistercian DNA, Arnaud Amaury found it very easy to lead a crusade in 1212. Could he have done this without Bernard’s example paving the way and ingraining such lessons in Cistercian thought? It is my contention that he could not have.

This thesis explores the relationship between the Classical Greek legacy and today’s world by examining the past two hundred years of controversy surrounding Lord Elgin’s removal of the Parthenon Marbles from Athens. Since the Marbles were purchased by the British Museum in 1816, they have become symbols of democratic values and Greek cultural identity. By considering how the Parthenon Marbles are talked about by different people over the years, from art connoisseurs and Romantic poets of the early 19th century to nationalist political activists of the late 20th century, this thesis demonstrates that the fight for the Marbles’ return to Greece is about more than just the sculptures themselves. It is about national heritage and cultural identity.

This thesis focuses on the development of the first project for FIU’s ICAVE, The Globe Experience, presented as part of the “First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare” exhibit during February, 2016. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part is the project itself: a virtual reality recreation of going to The Globe Theater to see a play by William Shakespeare. The second part examines the digital project and outlines how Walter Benjamin and postcolonial theorists influenced the design of The Globe Experience, resulting in, what I call, a “temporally and spatially disjointed London.” From this examination, the thesis goes on to question the role of canonical literature in the humanities. I go on to make the argument that the design decisions made in recreating The Globe reveals the ways in which canonical literature can reinforce and support hierarchical ideologies which can impede student learning.

<p>The aim of this thesis has been to consider how Philip II of Macedonia presented himself to the Greek peoples after the Battle of Chaeronea in 336 BC. It examines the context and program of the Philippeion at Olympia in order to determine how Philip II negotiated his royal status in response to Greek opinion. This study takes into account the traditional role of the Macedonian kings, how they typically portrayed themselves, and to what purpose. It also explores Philip's propaganda specifically and the differing responses of various Greek peoples. <p lang="en-CA">Although Philip's role as Hegemon of the League of Corinth seems to be at odds with the Philippeion's classification as a victory monument and a display of the king's authority, further examination reveals that the Philippeion conforms with Philip's program of propaganda. It's message is also adaptable to the various perceptions of the Greek peoples as well as any Macedonian viewers. <p lang="en-CA"></p> / Master of Arts (MA)

The Onmyōji series has had an incredible impact on Japanese fiction. It has created an entire genre of material called onmyōjimono and sold 5 million copies counting only the novel series. Despite this, it has been woefully understudied by both Japanese and English speaking scholars. The Japanese scholars that do acknowledge it use it as a springboard to launch a survey of Abe no Seimei in written and performed media throughout history, and the English speaking scholars have limited their analyses to the form that oni take in the narrative. My research has revealed that Yumemakura Baku utilizes a complex set of mechanisms to combine disparate narratives into a cohesive whole, integrating elements of genre and modern literary aesthetics to make old narratives agreeable to modern tastes. In the process he creates a dark and threatening world through which the Heian courtiers must navigate. Abe no Seimei acts as their guide and mediator. Despite holding an official rank within the court he is as otherworldly as the world, filled with supernatural beasts and formless creatures, in which they live. Using the mechanism of Abe no Seimei, Yumemakura Baku reveals to the reader their own tendencies toward prejudice, while constructing a vast world through centuries of written material.

<p>This thesis has two primary aims: 1) to add weight to the minority opinion that Xenophon is not naively pro-Spartan and that while he appreciates and admires certain facets of the Spartan socio-political system, he recognises and criticises its inherent flaws, and 2) to show that Xenophon is consistent and even-handed in his treatment of Spartans throughout his works with no significant alteration over the period of his literary output. The focus is on those works in which Spartans figure most prominently: the Anabasis, Hellenica, and Respublica Lacedaemoniorum; the Agesilaus and Cyropaedia are dealt with insofar as they complement and illuminate matters under discussion.</p> <p>The first two chapters show that very little is known with certainty about Xenophon's life and the chronology of the relevant works. I argue that this lack of factual evidence has opened the way for scholars to make inaccurate and misleading speculations in support of the traditional view that Xenophon is uncritically pro-Spartan. In the next two chapters various Spartan leaders in the Anabasis and Hellenica are examined with respect to the qualities which Xenophon believed a good leader should possess. It is concluded that Xenophon shows no obvious bias toward Spartans in either work; praise and criticism are apportioned as due. The fifth chapter considers the Respublica Lacedaemoniorum with emphasis on those aspects of the Spartan lifestyle which bear most directly on the way Spartan leaders function. The standard view of the work as encomiastic is challenged and its purpose is reassessed. I argue that Xenophon simply presents an analysis of those Spartan laws and institutions which he believed allowed Sparta to rise to pre-eminence in the Greek world. A comparison with what he says elsewhere shows that he did not necessarily consider these laws to be ideal or worthy of imitation. A short conclusion draws attention to the consistency in Xenophon's attitude to Sparta in the works considered.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This written portion of my thesis documents how I, as Director, set about to bring J.M. Barrie’s classic, Peter Pan to the contemporary stage. I take the reader through my in-depth research into Barrie’s many adaptations of his story, seeking an understanding of the evolution of Peter Pan and noting major elements that were retained across time and those that were changed, in search of the “true” story of Peter Pan. I explore how my discoveries informed design choices, were folded into rehearsals, and ultimately arrived on stage. In seeking the backbone of a classic, the vast interpretive history of Peter Pan and its many adaptations also gave me a sense of freedom to make my own changes. I discuss the major re-imagining of Tiger Lily and the Redskins to become the collaboratively created Never Landers, a dance ensemble of otherworldly characters sprung from the land itself. I explore the major themes I identified in the play and discuss decisions to bring darkness, longing and loneliness to the stage rather than glossing over the complex elements of the story in order to create something cute for children. Finally, I offer an exploration of the production process as a major collaboration with many artists and consider various elements of my collaborations with the design team, fight director, dance choreographer, and the actors.