During the 1980s, it was frequently claimed that spatial patterns of archaeological and contemporary settlements were closely related to the social nature of the societies which had created and modelled them (Hietala 1984; Hillier & Hanson 1984). Despite a decade of alternative claims, such theories are still widely accepted although in many cases the emphasis has shifted from economic factors to symbolic or social ones. The presence of a class-based social system is one of the major characteristics of Iranian society during the Sasanian era (224-651 CE). This social system was based upon the official religion of Sasanians - Zoroastrianism - and had a major impact on most aspects of Iranian society during this period. The far-reaching impact of this social system on architectural space and urban infrastructure is clearly representative of a class-based society. The collapse of the Sasanian world, accelerated by Arab invasions (641 CE), severely reduced the dominance of Zoroastrianism within Iran, heralding a fundamental change in the social life of its people. These changes, accompanied by the acceptance of a new religion, have been the focus of several researchers over the last decades (Kennedy 2001). In contrast to Sasanian society, Early Islamic social structure was characterised as one of equality and its urban forms as ones with little differentiation as typified by Medina (Zarrinkub 1993). The aim of this dissertation is to test the above assumptions and models with reference to a single urban site - the city of Barn. Selected due to its Pre-Islamic and Islamic occupations, its excellent state of preservation allows a full testing of the above assumptions through archaeological analysis. The results of this research indicate a continuation of patterns of Sasanian space and society into the Islamic period. In addition, the space and society of Bam, documented in this research, provides an important step towards a further understanding of the social and spatial organisation of Sasanian and Early-Islamic cities, as well as providing a foundation for additional research in this field.

This diploma thesis is focused on engaged art in the Prague public space after 2000. The theoretical part deals with the characteristics of engaged art and artivism and places them in the context of civil society. It describes the participants dealing with engaged art in Prague after 2000, the topics of the participant's interventions and the tactics they use for their implementation. The empirical part offers, based on biographical research and ethnography, an perspective of the participants. It describes their motivations leading to the creation of interventions, their relationship to public space and to the audience. Work deals with the goals of their activities and focuses on their own concept of success. Last but not least, the thesis is focused on the political orientation of the participants. The thesis thus provides a comprehensive view of contemporary engaged art and pursues on its important role in our society.

Public space is one of the most essential components of urban spaces, as the notion refers to the society and its values. Besides, public spaces provide the society with an opportunity of expression and identification / they have the potential of signification and of orientation of citizens

Abstract available in pdf file.

This thesis is a theoretical and empirical inquiry into ‘deliberative peacebuilding’, seeking to explain the ‘failures’ and ‘successes’ of peacebuilding in East Timor and Somaliland. While warfare has increased globally since the end of the Cold War, the UN has made efforts to build peace (e.g. Boutros-Ghali 1992). While peacebuilding has become an internationally applied set of ideas and practices, one of the theoretical gaps is deliberation. This research thus conceptualises ‘deliberative peacebuilding’, and associates this with peacebuilding in the non-Western, post-colonial, and (post-)conflict context. This research identified East Timor and Somaliland as its case studies. Despite similarity in the ‘legitimation problem’ with vertical (state-society) and horizontal (‘modernity’-‘tradition’) inequalities/differences based upon cultural and historical backgrounds, East Timor and Somaliland undertook different approaches in a decade after the end of their civil wars. While East Timor accepted UN peace operations, Somaliland rejected them. Yet both experienced similar transitions to make political order between ‘failure’ (political de-legitimation/societal dissent) and ‘success’ (political legitimation/societal consent).Accordingly, this thesis poses two questions: 1) what caused the UN to have ‘failed’ (to prevent the ‘crisis’ from recurring in 2006) in East Timor, and 2) what caused East Timor and Somaliland to have experienced ‘equifinality’ (making similar progress along different paths) in building peace (in East Timor from 1999 to 2012 and in Somaliland from 1991 to 2005). Findings, among others, include different paths in transition: a ‘hybrid’ path with external intervention in East Timor and an ‘agonistic’ path without it in Somaliland. Asymmetry in power relations urged deliberative agencies to address the ‘legitimation problem’ differently.

(in English): Śaratcandra Caṭṭopādhyāẏ is one of the most beloved Bengali authors, but has so far received only a very limited academic attention. The thesis briefly introduces the author's life and subsequently analyses his work using the terms and methods of contemporary narratology. Its primary goal is to contest traditional critical views of Śaratcandra as an overly emotional author for bored housewives. Śaratcandra intriguingly uses various literary devices (especially his narrators and focalisation) to enhance intimacy between the reader and the characters which finally leads to the reader's greater emotional involvement in the presented events. His usage of types of characters also innovatively combines ancient Indian types, real-life observations and western literary forms. The author juxtaposes characters in order to introduce a critique of social, religious and gender inequality, and to add an emotional argument to Īśvarcandra Vidyāsāgar's intellectual and legal endeavour. It is also possible to interpret Śaratcandra's work and the author himself - in contrast to Rabīndranāth Ṭhākur and Baṅkimcandra Caṭṭopādhyāẏ - as one of the most important modern descendants of the Mahābhārata tradition of Indian literature.

In my diploma thesis am focusing on a concept of novel sutdent housing, as current dormitories do not respect recuirements of young adults. That is why I have decided to bring up the issue, and to propose a possible solution.

In my diploma thesis am focusing on a concept of novel sutdent housing, as current dormitories do not respect recuirements of young adults. That is why I have decided to bring up the issue, and to propose a possible solution.