Un rhinocéros Berserker, des hordes de Vanir déferlant sur la Cimmérie, le fils d’Ymir emprisonné... les références aux récits médiévaux scandinaves couramment désignés par les termes « mythes nordiques » sont nombreuses dans le jeu de rôle en ligne massivement multi-joueurs Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. Mais, comment des éléments issus de sources presque millénaires sont-ils devenus des composantes d’une production vidéoludique contemporaine ? À partir de ce cas d’étude, l’auteur de ce travail s’intéresse, de façon plus générale, aux phénomènes culturels et à leurs dynamiques à travers leurs processus de transmission, de manifestation et d’appropriation. Pour ce faire, il s’appuie sur une démarche qualitative et empirique à la croisée des Sciences de l’information et de la communication et des Études scandinaves afin de développer une approche anthropo-communicationnelle, fortement imprégnée par les travaux en Anthropologie. Celle-ci se fonde sur une méthodologie à la fois linguistique, socio-historique, d’observation participante sur le temps long et un suivi de veille sur le temps très long. Elle permet de constater que, des manuscrits médiévaux aux jeux vidéo en ligne, en passant par la littérature de fantasy américaine des années 1930, le sens donné aux références aux ressources culturelles du passé est sans cesse transformé et construit en fonction de la situation dans laquelle elles sont manifestées. Ces dynamiques culturelles s’inscrivent alors au cœur de la problématique du changement et de la permanence et mettent en lumière les constructions d’un imaginaire du commun tout en remettant au centre de la réflexion le travail des acteurs / A berserker rhinoceros, hordes of Vanir swarming upon Cimmeria, Ymir’s son imprisoned … references to the medieval scandinavian stories often designated as « Norse myths » are numerous in the massively multi-player online rôle playing game Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. But, how could elements coming from sources which are almost a thousand years old become parts of a contemporary videogame ? From this case study, the author of this work takes a more general interest in cultural phenomenons and their dynamics through their transmission, manifestation and appropriation processes. In order to do this, he leans on a qualitative and empirical research which articulates communication studies with scandinavian studies in order to build an anthropo-communicational approach, which is strongly influenced by Anthropology. This approach is based on a multi-layered methodology which includes linguistics, socio-historical method, long term participant observation and very long term information monitoring. It allows to observe that, from the medieval manuscripts to online video games, through american fantasy literature from the 1930’s, the significations which people give to past cultural ressources are always transformed and built according to the situation in which they are expressed. Such cultural dynamics fall within the heart of research questions about change and permanence and highlight the ways by which an imaginary of the common is built at the same time as it puts the work of the social actors at the center of the reflection

In certain Germanic languages, there is a group of verbs called preterite-present verbs that are often viewed as irregular, but in fact behave very predictably. They exhibit a morphological phenomenon called deponency, often in conjunction with another morphological phenomenon called heteroclisis. I examine the preterite-present verbs of three different languages: Old Norse, Modern Icelandic, and Modern German. Initially, I approach them from a historical perspective and then seek to reconcile their morphology with the modern perspective. A criteria is established for a canonical preterite-present verb, and then using a lexical programming language called DATR, I create code that generates the appropriate paradigms while also illustrating the morphological relationships between verb tenses and inflection classes, among other things. DATR is a programming language used specifically for language models.

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This thesis will argue that the Beowulf Manuscript, which includes the poem Judith, Saxo Grammaticus’s Gesta Danorum, and the Old-Norse-Icelandic Laxdæla saga highlight and examine the tension between the female pagan characters and their Christian authors. These texts also demonstrate that Queenship grew fragile after the spread of Christianity, and women’s power waned in the shift between pre-Christian and Christian Europe.

This thesis explores the process of integrating cycling infrastructure into transportation networks in major cities. It starts by contextualizing the process in Copenhagen, Denmark (often called the best bike city in the world) during its cycling movement in the mid-20th Century. The findings from Copenhagen show that cycling is both viewed as a legitimate and respected mode of transportation and that the city layout, density, and topography is conducive to cycling. In the United States, this thesis explores the federal policies that have been created in support of the Complete Streets movement and makes the case that Complete Streets generally yield many benefits. In the final section, this thesis contextualizes these studies with a case study of Seattle and explores the challenges that have been associated with implementing Seattle’s Bicycle Master Plan. Although the city has made some small-scale cycling infrastructure, the number of cyclists in the city remains low and the bike network remains disconnected. There has been tremendous citizen pushback against lanes for fear of increased traffic and gentrification, and Seattle’s layout and topography presents additional challenges. While the author is in support of bicycling and cycle networks, she believes it is important to consider the opposition to implementing this infrastructure so that we can be more deliberate, sensitive, and inclusive with creating cycle networks in the future. The author proposes that cycling infrastructure may need to be done in smaller pockets before a citywide network can be successfully developed.

Inspired by words of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people in California and Denmark, this thesis critically analyzes the American criminal justice system and asks if critiques of the institution can be addressed and improved through the implementation of kindness and compassion within the walls of prison, itself.

This written portion of my thesis is aimed at documenting and synthesizing how I, as director, staged an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler through ongoing collaboration with a creative team comprised of dramaturges, designers, and actors. I walk the reader through my exploration of Ibsen’s life and work through travel to the International Ibsen Festival in Oslo, Norway, and describe how I endeavored to lead the production’s creative team by applying feminist theories in directing and embracing the possibility of failure as a means of discovery. I discuss the casting process and establishment of an all-women ensemble, explore the major themes I identified in the play, and reflect on how the creative team strove to subvert the societal expectation of a historical production rooted in realism through designs and artistic choices inspired by the western canon’s ongoing grasp on contemporary theater programming.

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