The Ph.D. focuses on the recent conflict in Sri Lanka that ended on 19 May 2009 with the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), otherwise known as the Tamil Tigers, and the death and disappearance of between an estimated figure of 75,000 and 146,679 Tamil civilians and LTTE combatants from that year. The research is based on narratives from oral histories taken largely from survivors of the civil war in order to produce a graphic novel to convey the story of a family whose experiences are paralleled among many other people from the Vanni in north-eastern Sri Lanka. Multiple methodologies were deployed from working closely with an illustrator, Lindsay Pollock, to focus groups and semi-structured and structured interviews listening to survivors' testimonies and experiences based in Chennai, London and Zurich with those people who are currently going through, or have recently gone through, the asylum process. The thesis and in particular the graphic novel can contribute to the formation of a compelling and engaging 'human rights culture' (Galchinsky 2012) both in terms of representing the bloody conflict in Sri Lanka, and the ordeals and dilemmas faced by displaced persons in other countries in its aftermath. As opposed to human rights law which is based on a vertical axis, Galchinsky states that human rights culture is based on a horizontal appeal to a shared humanity. While universalist understandings of human rights and the holistic conception of culture implied in his proposal are questionable, the horizontal axis of enquiry and representation informs this research - ranging from the fieldwork period that led to the collation of testimonies to the production of the graphic novel, to its sharing with research contributors for their opinions and formative feedback, and to its wider dissemination. The accompanying graphic novel is hybrid in terms of the combination of text with illustrations and photographs, and with regards to a fusion between the 'fictional' with 'factual' - both deemed here as conventions of representing and engaging with real-life events. Even though the nuance of multiple perspectives offered by research interlocutors may be simplified in the narrative of the graphic novel, there are clear theoretical and methodological advantages that, to date, have not been considered in the Sri Lankan context for this kind of literature. These include the ability to retain the anonymity of interlocutors while highlighting the compelling recollections of their experiences, the potential to foster a 'sympathetic imagination' across social and other demarcations that can constitute the creation of meanings that offer a particular way of seeing, feeling and thinking about one's relationship with oneself, others, and with society in general (Salgado 2007), and the possibilities for a collaborative approach with interlocutors. The written thesis provides the contextual and ethnographic foundations for the graphic novel that also elaborates upon the self-reflexive and participatory methodologies and ethical concerns of creating the novel itself. The graphic novel enables a wider career in terms of its readership amongst research contributors as well as others, and its role in promoting educational awareness and humanitarian advocacy on the recent conflict.

The 21st century has seen an unprecedented rise in the volume of comics and graphic novels being produced and consumed and in scholarly interest in the form, with the interdisciplinary field of Comics Studies rising to become a vibrant global community with a significant body of work and an established academic infrastructure. Alternative comics and graphic novels - those outside of the superhero genre-dominated corporate publishing structures of Marvel and DC - have driven this rise and the ensuing legitimation of the form. What defines the specific nature of alternative comics and what they are is the particular work and labour of alternative cartoonists. This work is, in turn, characterized and defined by specific tensions between auteurism (driven by neoliberalism and late capitalism's veneration of the individual and the entrepreneur) and collective production (driven by the sociological perspective of works of art always being the product of many hands). This thesis is an attempt to present specific examples of where these tensions are exhibited and, as a result, to offer new accounts of the specific nature of comics work. It is also an attempt to move away from the formalism that has dominated the field of comics studies and to move towards an understanding of comics as cultural work, informed by an understanding of comics through their creators and an approach that allows comics practice to inform comics theory. Each chapter of this thesis examines a specific aspect of the culture of working in contemporary comics, contextualised within neoliberal political economy and consistently bridging the gap between auteurism and collective production. These include the portrayal of art school and comics' engagement with institutions; the direct portrayal of work itself in alternative comics; the use of colour in comics, which here facilitates a reading of the effects of the technical conditions of production on the content and construction of comics; and finally, the effects of digital culture and new disruptive technologies on the production, distribution and consumption of comics, and how this contributes to a present and future understanding of the figure of the auteur cartoonist. Drawing these chapters together, the thesis concludes with a presentation of the auteur cartoonist as one who drives the contemporary culture of comics and graphic novels in the emerging dialectic of comics work. Comics work is thus situated as a political act and a site of resistance and rebellion through collective production.

On définit et on réalise un systeme capable de choisir et de contrôler les actions de plusieurs robots à aptitudes différentes pour qu'ils collaborent à l'exécution d'une même tache. Le systeme a trois principaux composants : un générateur de plans d'actions qui favorise le parallélisme des actions, un programme d'allocation de ressources qui affecte les robots disponibles aux actions des plans engendres, un programme de contrôle qui vérifie que les plans d'actions sont exécutes comme prévu lors de leur génération et qui s'efforce de faire face aux incidents comme par exemple la panne d'un robot

Graphic texts, or graphic novels, have spent many years on shelves with comic books about superheroes and adventurers. They officially gained notoriety in 1992 with Art Spiegelman’s Maus, and at this time, critics and scholars began to take notice. However, graphic novels have not been fully adapted by academia. Graphic novels have the ability to offer new levels of instruction and learning in upper-level classrooms.The following is a study in the multitude of uses of graphic text in academia. Chapter 1 looks at the history of graphic text to understand the present and future of graphic novels. Chapter 2 focuses on literacy issues to develop a basis for the use of graphic novels in the classroom. Chapter 3 offers a method of using graphic novels to broaden a students’ understanding of plays. Chapter 4 moves on to a study of graphic novels as works of literature. Through this look of historical data and an analysis and discussion of the modern form of graphic novels, we will come to the conclusion that graphic novels can be useful assets in the classroom when they are taken from the shelf of comic books and used to their full potential.

LaRossa, Jaret, Gadgil, and Wynn (2000, 2001) conducted a content analysis of 495 comic strips published on Father’s Day and Mother’s Day in the United States from 1945 to 1999 in order to determine whether the culture of fatherhood and gender disparities in the media had changed over the past half-century. Drawing on their research, I conducted a similar kind of analysis of 246 comic strips published on Father’s Day and Mother’s Day in Japan from 1950 to 2004. By comparing and contrasting the results in the two studies, I show how comic portrayals of families have changed in Japan and in the United States, and demonstrate the value of analyzing comic strips in cross-national research.

The research in this thesis was conducted to investigate the initial stage of passing maneuvers on a rural, two-lane, two-way (RTLTW) highway with centerline rumble strips (CRSs). Four measures of effectiveness were used: (1) number and type of erratic movements by a passing vehicle, (2) number of and time between centerline encroachments of a passing vehicle, (3) gap distance of a passing vehicle, and (4) centerline crossing time. Data were collected for a before-and-after analysis at one site, in Comanche County, Texas. The test section was on US 67 from Comanche, Texas to the county line south of Dublin, Texas. The posted speed limit for this RTLTW highway was 70 mph during the day. CRSs were installed along approximately 15 miles of US 67. Only one test design for CRSs was installed. The design specification was for a CRS to be milled to a 0.5-inch depth, 7-inch length, and 16-inch width. This specification was developed from current state practices throughout the United States. CRSs were installed continuously through passing and no-passing zones, and they were spaced at 24 inches on-centers. Pavement markings were striped over the CRSs. Data were collected using an innovative data collection system developed by the author through the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI). This system was mounted to a four-door sedan, and it consisted of four concealed cameras that recorded the entire passing maneuver around the data collection vehicle. Data were collected at three different speeds during the daytime. The speeds were 55, 60, and 65 mph (15, 10, and 5 mph, respectively, under the posted speed limit). Based on the assessment of the four MOEs, the overall finding of this thesis was that driver performance during the initial phase of passing maneuvers was not negatively impacted after the installation of CRSs on US 67. The caveat is that differences in the weather conditions may have influenced the results. The weather was dry with clear skies at the study site during data collection prior to the installation of CRSs; however, the weather consisted of intermittent rain during the data collection after the installation of CRSs.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-139). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-139). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Literature, Communication, and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Chair: Mazalek, Alexandra; Committee Member: Bolter, Jay; Committee Member: Knospel, Kenneth; Committee Member: Murray, Janet; Committee Member: Winegarden, Claudia Rebola. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis (M.A.)--Tennessee Technological University, 2009. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Feb. 25, 2010). Bibliography: leaves 87-90.