Frances Wright attempted to reform America between 1825 and 1839. Her activities were unlike any other for a woman of her time. In public lectures to audiences of men and women throughout the East and Midwest, she spoke on the evils of orthodox religion and advocated abolition, equal rights, and universal education for all people regardless of gender or class. In both action and thought, she challenged all notions of nineteenth-century womanhood. Wright's public career helps illuminate the history of antebellum American reform because it reflects the ferment and range of such activity.This study will demonstrate that ideology as a category of study is useful when examining nineteenth-century women in several interrelated contexts. Unlike previous studies examining her as a women's rights advocate, however, this is not a feminist interpretation. Wright's significance as a humanitarian is much larger than any emphasis she gave to women in her rhetoric. Part of her motivation, like her sisters in benevolence reform, involved Christianity and orthodox religion. But unlike most women of her time, Wright believed religion prevented the realization of republican values -- in particular, equality -- because the clergy perpetuated elements of theology scientific methods could not prove true. Intellectual development and social improvement could not occur, she boldly asserted, until Americans threw off religion's blanket of ignorance. Most Americans rejected Wright's denunciations of religion and calls for equality, but to some her message rang true. Her rhetoric planted in progressive women concepts about religious constraints on females and the possibilities of egalitarianism. These individuals would become leaders in the women's rights movement during the final decades of the century. / Department of History

Thesis (M. A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1997. / Bibliography: leaves 182-188.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2004. / "A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy" Bibliography : leaves [361]-388.

Traditionally the reactor is recognised as the `heart' of a chemical process system and hence the focus on this part of the system is usually quite detailed. Steam reforming, however, due to the `building block' nature of its reaction products is unusual and generally is perceived as a `utility' to other reaction processes and hence the focus is drawn " towards the 'main' reaction processes of the system. Additionally as a `mature' process, steam reforming is often treated as sufficiently defined for the requirements within the overall chemical process. For both primary and secondary steam reformers several models of varying complexity were developed which allowed assessment of issues raised about previous models and model improvements; drawing on the advancements in modelling that have not only allowed the possibility of increasing the scope of simulations but also increased confidence in the simulation results. Despite the complex nature of the steam reforming systems, a surprisingly simplistic model is demonstrated to perform well, however, to improve on existing designs and maximise the capability of current designs it is shown that more complex models are required. After model development the natural course is to optimisation. This is a powerful tool which must be used carefully as significant issues remain around its employment. Despite the remaining concerns, some simple optimisation cases showed the potential of the models developed in this work and although not exhaustive demonstrated the benefits of optimisation.

This is an intellectual biography of the classically trained Egyptian Muslim scholar, Muḥammad al-Ghazālī (1917-1996). A one-time leading intellectual of Egypt’s influential Islamic organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, Ghazālī was a popular author with a vast public following. Although his ideas have shaped the trajectories of various Islamic groups that emerged in Egypt during the 1970s “Islamic Revival,” he remains understudied. Through an analysis of his writings, this study presents a novel account on modern Islamic political thought, arguing that its sources extend well beyond what the secondary literature, as well as Muslims today, portray as the mainstays of the Islamic tradition—that is, the Qur’ān, the Sunna (Prophetic traditions), and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). In contrast, it places Sufism and Islamic philosophy, or more specifically Islamic philosophical ethics, at the heart of Ghazālī’s modern-day political critiques. Additionally, it moves beyond the scholarly narrative that depicts contemporary Islamic political thought as simply Islamic reformulations of concepts and categories derived from modern Western social thought. By examining Ghazālī’s considerable interest in Euro-American self-help, spiritualism, and psychical research, it shows how his engagement with these new forms of religion was mediated by Islamic theological concepts, which he deployed to not only make sense of his interlocutors’ claims, but also correct and build upon their work. In highlighting the corrective and productive impulse behind his engagement with Euro-American thought, it demonstrates that Ghazālī was not merely an assimilator of Western ideas, but rather a contributor to a global project of rethinking the human potential.

John Humphrey Noyes was the founder of the Oneida Community, one of the most successful utopian ventures in nineteenth-century America. Early in his life, Noyes was a deep religious thinker, but he founded Oneida as an ideal society based on extending the family unit, and not as a church. Noyes's social theories eventually overwhelmed his former religious concentration. The purpose of this thesis is to locate in Noyes's religiously-oriented youth the sources of his social interests. Few scholars have studied in depth the childhood and young manhood of John Humphrey Noyes, but that is where the roots of his social theories are to be found. Noyes did write his religious autobiography, but completely passed over his formative years. Further, he never wrote the analysis of his social ideas and experiences that he had once promised. However, many of his early letters and journals have been compiled and edited by his relatives; and his immediate family left reminiscences of his youth. These works provide most of the available information on the childhood of Noyes. Large gaps in his history do exist, however. Therefore, the modern psychological theories of Erik Erikson are used to illuminate the otherwise shadowy areas of Noyes's early life.

This thesis traces the evolution and emergence of the new-vice regal woman during a high point of the British Empire. The social, political and economic forces of the age, which transformed British society, presented different challenges and responsibilities for all women, not least those of the upper-class. Aristocratic women responded to these challenges in a distinctive manner when accompanying their husbands to the colonies and dominions as vice-regal consorts. In the last years of Queen Victoria’s reign a unique link was established between the monarchy and her female representatives throughout the Empire. The concept of the new vice-regal woman during the period 1884-1914 was explored through three case studies. The imperial stores of Lady Hariot Dufferin (1843-1936), Lady Ishbel Aberdeen (1857-1939), and Lady Rachel Dudley (c.1867-1920), establishes both the existence and importance of a new breed of vice-regal woman, one who was a modern, dynamic and pro-active imperialist. From 1884-1914 these three new vice-regal women pushed established boundaries and broke new ground. As a result, during their vice-regal lives, Ladies Dufferin, Aberdeen and Dudley initiated far reaching organisations in India, Ireland, Canada and / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of History, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-223).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 2001. / "A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the division of the social sciences in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of History, by Deborah Ann Skok, Chicago, Illinois, August 2001." Includes bibliographical references (p. 470-486). Also available on the Internet.