The seven deadly sins are a popular theme, but they are often brushed off as antiquated, the product of stringent moral rules, or just arbitrary. In this thesis, I explain morality from a different perspective: evolutionary psychology. Using the Seven Deadly Sins as an example, I provide a user-friendly understanding of why we have the moral rules that we have. Boyd and Richerson (1992) demonstrated that, through the use of punishment, any rule---no matter how capricious---can be upheld. What I seek to explain is that moral rules, in this case the Seven Sins, are not arbitrary---or, at least, they were not arbitrary in the environment in which our innate moral faculties developed, though these rules may seem ascetic today. I suggest that much of what falls under the conceptual umbrella of morality can be better understood when framed as problems of cooperation. The Seven Sins are a useful example of the usefulness of moral rules, and psychopathy provides a comparison for understanding the importance of conscience.

The purpose of this project is to establish Joan Lavis MacDonald (1871–1962) as the intellectual and philosophical companion of her spouse, Canadian painter J.E.H. MacDonald. Her journals and articles are central resources in this reconstruction of the life and circumstances of a woman living in southern Ontario, Canada at the end of the Victorian-era. By the dawn of the twentieth century, urbanization, industrialization, opportunities for women to pursue post-secondary education, and social reformations found Joan Lavis at a point of conflict between the newly-available educational opportunities and traditions of homemaking, and the thesis is divided accordingly. Although the points of conflict are examined separately, the thesis nonetheless affirms Joan Lavis MacDonald's ability to combine the two by drawing on cultural and art movements like transcendentalism and the arts and crafts movement. The thesis moves beyond the male-dominated sphere in which the Group of Seven operated to examine Joan Lavis MacDonald as a contributor, and in turn influenced by, the distinctly Canadian domestic environment that permeates J.E.H. MacDonald and the Group of Seven’s insistence that nature is synonymous with Canaian-ness. This creates additional space for women in a national history intertwined with ideals of masculinity that are in turn fabricated by men, and studies an important art movement from outside the mythologized individuals and locations that have become indivisible from it. Thus, the thesis also creates a new avenue by which J.E.H. MacDonald may be studied and understood. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur lärare i årskurs 4–6 arbetar med läsning och läsmotivation i undervisningen och hur deras arbetssätt förhåller sig till det forskningen säger. Teorin som ligger till grund för arbetet är Gambrells sju regler för läsmotivation. För att uppnå syftet genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex verksamma lärare från olika skolor om deras arbete med skönlitteratur i skolan. Materialet har därefter bearbetats och analyserats utifrån teorin och aktuell forskning. Studien visar att lärarnas arbetssätt inom vissa områden har hög överensstämmelse med det forskningen visar är främjande för läsmotivation, men att det också finns brister inom vissa områden. Det som fungerar bra är områden där lärarna har kontroll och kan påverka själva, medan de områden som har brister snarare är sådant som ligger utanför lärarnas påverkan. För att stärka barns läsmotivation ännu mer behöver detta arbete även ske i större utsträckning på skolorna och i hemmen.

Wanghua Chu (b. 1941) is an outstanding Chinese composer and pianist, who has written extensively for piano. This dissertation offers a pedagogical analysis of Seven Chinese Folk Songs (1999), one of his most famous and well-regarded piano solo works. The present study has two broad and related aims: to introduce Wanghua Chu's Seven Chinese folk songs to a broader community of pianists outside of China; and to provide a pedagogical analysis so that pianists of a late-intermediate level and higher can learn it effectively and teachers can teach it successfully. Chapter 2 provides an overview of Wanghua Chu's artistic career and major works, as well as the composition background of Seven Chinese Folk Songs. Chapter 3 introduces the seven original Chinese folk songs that are used in this work, both the actual songs and the song types. Chapter 4 provides an analysis of the musical form of each movement of Seven Chinese Folk Songs. Chapter 5 analyzes the technical difficulties of this work and provides specific practice methods to solve them. Seven Chinese Folk Songs exposes the pianist to the diversity and richness of Chinese folk songs and offers them a different kind of learning opportunity in which they not only broaden their horizons through learning Chinese folk songs and ethnic cultures but also improve their piano playing techniques, as well as enhance their musical expression and imagination abilities.

Transporter har blivit allt viktigare i vårt samhälle och beräknas fortsätta bli ännu viktigare de kommande åren. En stor utmaning för transportleverantörer är att bevara en hög kvalitetsnivå och samtidig hålla nere miljöpåverkan vilket sätter hög press på effektivisering av processerna. I dagsläget finns det få studier som undersökt möjligheten att effektivisera den faktiska transportprocessen genom styrningsmodeller som exempelvis lean. Därav syftar studien till att undersöka hur transportprocesser kan effektiviseras med hjälp av lean. Studiens teoretiska referensram består främst av Seven Waste Framework och Value Stream Mapping. Ett kvalitativt angreppssätt har använts och insamling av data har skett genom observationer kombinerat med intervjuer för att få god förståelse för processen. En anpassad metod har använts för att lättare kunna dokumentera och visualisera flödet för att få god förståelse för processen. Den anpassade metoden innebär att först utforma en VSM över processen, sedan att identifiera slöserier i processen för att till sist definiera en strategi för att effektivisera eller helst eliminera slöserierna. Resultatet av studien är att lean är ett resultatrikt verktyg för att effektivisera transportprocesser samt att VSM skapar god förståelse av processen vilket gör att lean och VSM är en framgångsrik kombination. / Transportation has increasingly become important in today’s society and is expected to continue to grow rapidly in the following years. A major challenge for transport providers is to maintain a high quality level and at the same time minimize the environmental impact, which puts pressure on the efficiency of the processes. At present, only a few studies which review the possibility to rationalize the actual transportation process through different accurate models such as lean. Therefore the study aims to review how transport processes can be streamlined using lean. The theoretical reference framework of the study consists mainly of Seven Waste Framework and Value Stream Mapping. A qualitative approach has been used and in order to give an overall understanding for the process, the data collection was made both through observations as well as by interviews. A customized method has been used to simplify the documentation and visualizing the process flow, and hence create a better understanding of the process. The steps to the customized method firstly designs a VSM of the process, then identifies waste in the process to finally define a strategy to minimize, or preferably eliminate, the waste. The study shows that lean is an effective tool for optimization of transport processes as well as VSM creates a good insight of the process, which makes lean and VSM a powerful combination.

The purpose of the study is to review sponsored Instagram posts from influencers with a sustainable focus. This is to investigate how influencers communicate about sustainability in their sponsored posts and whether they are an appropriate choice for communicating about sustainability or whether it gives rise to greenwashing. The Instagram posts will be reviewed through the use of the model “The seven sins of greenwashing”. The results of the study have shown that depending on which companies the influencer chooses to communicate with it is possible to have sustainable collaborations. However, only 2 of 8 collaborations in the study are fully sustainable according to the model “The seven sins of greenwashing”. Suggestions for future research prompts others to investigate fewer influencers and more of their content so that it can bring better understanding and more indications as to what makes an influencer and their collaborations sustainable. Furthermore, since this study has only analyzed information on Instagram, future research can thus also examine the companies and organisations that are involved in the collaborations to get a nuanced understanding of sustainable collaborations. The essay is written in Swedish. / Syftet med studien är att granska de sponsrade Instagram inlägg som görs av influencers meden hållbar inriktning. Genom att studera dessa Instagram inlägg undersöks det hur influences kommunicerar kring hållbarhet i sina sponsrade inlägg. Detta för att undersöka om influencers är ett lämpligt val för att kommunicera om hållbarhet eller om det ger upphov till greenwashing. Resultatet av studien har visat att beroende på vilka företag påverkaren väljer att kommunicera med är det möjligt att ha hållbara samarbeten. Emellertid är endast 2 av 8samarbeten i studien fullt hållbara enligt modellen ”The seven sins of greenwashing”. Förslagtill framtida forskning uppmanar andra att undersöka färre influencers och mer av deras innehåll så att det kan ge bättre förståelse och fler indikationer på vad som gör en influencer och deras samarbete hållbara. Eftersom denna studie endast har analyserat information på Instagram kan framtida forskning även undersöka de företag och organisationer som är involverade i samarbeten för att få en nyanserad förståelse för hållbara samarbeten. Denna studie är skriven på svenska.

Denna forskningsstudie är en kvalitativt undersökande studie av svenska modeföretags hållbarhetskommunikation utifrån en utvärdering av konsultmodellen The Seven Sins of Greenwashing. Studien ämnar att undersöka hur The Seven Sins of Greenwashing fungerar som ett verktyg och ramverk för att analysera svenska modeföretags hållbarhetskommunikation samt om greenwashing förekommer i deras gröna marknadsföring med hjälp av The Seven Sins of Greenwashing. Studiens teoretiska perspektiv ämnar att på ett holistiskt sätt bemöta de forskningsbegrepp och studier som relaterar till greenwashing e.g legitimitet, isomorphism och decoupling. Föreliggande studie har valt att flytta fokus från kunden och kundens relation till hållbarhet för att istället kritiskt granska och analysera modevarumärkens gröna marknadsföring och kommunikation av modeprodukter. Därmed utgör organisationer studiens analytiska perspektiv, eftersom att allt fler modeföretag använder sig av grön marknadsföring som ett sätt att visa sig hållbara gentemot konsumenter. Vi har identifierat ett forskningsgap för kvalitativa studier som undersöker greenwashing utifrån ett organisatoriskt perspektiv, och med användandet av The Seven Sins of Greenwashing som ett analytiskt redskap inom modebranschen. Studiens syfte är att granska information och kommunikation som görs genom modeföretags hållbarhetsrapporter utifrån modellen The Seven Sins of Greenwashing. För att studera undersökningens syfte ställs följande frågeställningar; (RQ1) Hur fungerar The Seven Sins of Greenwashing som en teoretisk modell för att analysera stora kommersiella företag inom modebranschen? och (RQ2) Hur uttrycker svenska modeföretag sitt hållbarhetsarbete genom deras hållbarhetsrapporter? Förekommer greenwashing utifrån modellen The Seven Sins of Greenwashing? För att besvara studiens syfte och forskningsfrågor har studien utgått ifrån kvalitativa innehållsanalytiska metoder och tematisk kodning utifrån ett på förhand givet kategoriseringssystem av innehållsliga områden kopplade till The Seven Sins of Greenwashing. Studiens resultat kunde identifiera greenwashing i företagens hållbarhetsrapportering utifrån The Seven Sins of Greenwashing främst genom otydliga, vaga och irrelevanta påståenden som användes i hållbarhetsrapporterna för att uttrycka och beskriva företagens hållbarhetsarbete. Slutsatser dras om att TerraChoice (2009) konsultmodell The Seven Sins of Greenwashing fungerar som ett analytiskt verktyg och ramverk för denna typ av akademiska studier. Slutsatser kan också dras, genom användandet av modellen, att samtliga företag som ligger till grund för undersökningen på olika vis greenwashar i sin hållbarhetskommunikation. / This research study is a qualitatively investigative study of Swedish fashion companies sustainability communication based on an evaluation of the consulting model The Seven Sins of Greenwashing. The study aims to investigate how The Seven Sins of Greenwashing works as a tool and framework for analyzing Swedish fashion companies sustainability communication and whether greenwashing occurs in their green marketing with the help of The Seven Sins of Greenwashing. The theoretical perspective of the study aims to respond in a holistic way to the research concepts and studies that relate to greenwashing, e.g legitimacy, isomorphism and decoupling. In our study, we have chosen to shift the focus from the customer and the customer's relationship to sustainability to instead critically examine and analyze the fashion brands' green marketing and communication of fashion products. Thus, organizations constitute our analytical perspective, as more and more fashion companies use green marketing as a way to prove themselves sustainable towards consumers. We have identified a research gap for qualitative studies that examines greenwashing from an organizational perspective, and with the use of The Seven Sins of Greenwashing as an analytical tool within the fashion industry. The purpose of the study is to examine information and communication made through fashion companies sustainability reports based on the model The Seven Sins of Greenwashing. To study the purpose of this study the following questions are asked; (RQ1) How does The Seven Sins of Greenwashing work as a theoretical model for analyzing large commercial companies within the fashion industry? and(RQ2) How do Swedish fashion companies express their sustainability work through their sustainability reports? Does greenwashing occur based on the model The Seven Sins of Greenwashing? We have addressed the study's purpose and research questions with qualitative content analytical methods and thematic coding based on a pre-given categorization system of content areas linked to The Seven Sins of Greenwashing. The results of the study were able to identify greenwashing in the companies sustainability reporting based on The Seven Sins of Greenwashing mainly through unclear, vague and irrelevant statements that were used in the sustainability reports to express and describe the companies sustainability work. Conclusions are drawn that TerraChoice (2009) consulting model The Seven Sins of Greenwashing serves as an analytical tool and framework for this type of academic study. Conclusions can also be drawn, through the use of the model, that all companies that form the basis of this study in different ways greenwash in their sustainability communication.

The thesis deals with the evaluation of real investment project of SEVEN-K s.r.o. company which intends to invest in a new production line for nickel plating. Theoretical part of the thesis involves summary of basic analysis, phases of investment decision process, aspects affecting the investment evaluation and dynamic methods of evaluation.Beginning of practical part is an introduction of the analyzed company followed by financial analysis which determines its economic health. After introduction of investment into the new technology of chemical nickel plating including its inputs, the investment evaluating methods are performed. At the end there is a single-factor sensitivity analysis. The goal of the thesis is to provide recommendations to the management of SEVEN-K s.r.o. company in terms of realizing or rejecting the investment.

This study examines Hawthorne's use of symbols, particularly flowers, in The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. Romantic ideals stressed the full development of the self¬reliant individual, and romantic writers such as Hawthorne believed the individual would fully develop not only spiritually, but also intellectually by taking instruction from the natural world. Hawthorne's heroines reach their full potential as independent women in two steps: they first work together to defeat powerful patriarchies, and they then learn to read natural symbols to cultivate their artistic sensibilities which lead them to a full development of their intellect and spirituality. The focus of this study is Hawthorne's narrative strategy; how the author uses symbols as a language his heroines use to communicate from one generation to the next. In The Scarlet Letter, for instance, the symbol of a rose connects three generations of feminine reformers, Ann Hutchinson, Hester Prynne, and Pearl. By the end of the novel, Pearl interprets a rose as a symbol of her maternal line, which links her back to Ann Hutchinson. Similarly in The House of the Seven Gables Alice, Hepzibah, and Phoebe Pyncheon are part of a family line of women who work together to overthrow the Pyncheon patriarchy. The youngest heroine, Phoebe, comes to an understanding of her great, great aunt Alice's message from the posies her feminine ancestor plants in the Pyncheon garden. Through Phoebe's interpretation of the flowers, she deciphers how the cultivation of a sense of artistic appreciation is essential to the progress of American culture.

To the modern critic, La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus aventuras y adversidades poses many problems. One cannot arrive at the book's precise meaning because the author remains unknown. If critics were to know who wrote the book, they would identify similarities between the book and the author's life to approximate the book's moral, or its lack of one. Additionally, some commentators view the book as incomplete or unfinished; although the author developed the first three tratados, the final four tratados seem short and incomplete. Does this diminish the book's purpose? Can the readers still fruitfully discover the book's meaning in an "incomplete" story? Modern critics have utilized the book's artistic elements, such as its linguistic structure, themes and temporal structure, to arrive at an interpretation of it. Others have compared the book with classical European folklore and other period literary works. This thesis proposes a synthesis of the latter two approaches. This thesis will analyze, using irony and foreshadowing, how the seven tratados correlate or fail to correlate with the seven deadly sins.