In the research for this project I investigate several prominent definitions and examples of fantasy in contemporary visual art, notably associated with the Freudian “uncanny” and the Surrealist “marvellous”. In the dissertation I propose a sub-genre of fantasy: the Visionary Fantastic. The mode of this sub-genre, I claim, is manifest in the work of several contemporary artists. It is also a concept I find useful in describing and directing my own artistic practice during this project. The adopted research methods include: / - Surveying a number of concepts, theories and literature on fantasy, I have drawn upon a number of writers, noting two seminal essays, “The Uncanny” (1919), by Sigmund Freud and “The Surrealist Manifesto” (1924) by André Breton, and definitions by theorist Tzvetan Todorov. / - Investigating the subject by discussing elements of the Visionary Fantastic in the practice of six contemporary artists whose work has been of considerable significance to my practice. Fantastic art can hardly be referred to as an autonomous area and does not refer to a particular movement in art. Given that it rather possesses a system of inclusion based upon certain selective principles, these artists address elements of the Visionary Fantastic yet do not approach the concept of fantasy as their exclusive concern. / - Discussing the processes in my practice, addressing the subject loosely within tropes of Utopia (– Arcadian lands, fantastic communities and marginal societies), Obsession (– techniques of detailed repetition, miniscule facture), Monstrosity (– formidable creatures, instinctual domains, hybridity) and Enchantment (– meditative, mediumistic and altered states of mind). / The disciplines I have applied in the work for the end exhibition include painting, printmaking and drawing. The outcome, a selection of works produced within this research, will be displayed as a cohesive body of work. It addresses myriad fantasy manifestations within the four principles discussed in the dissertation.

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In the tumultuous atmosphere of the decades leading up to the Civil War, the combined effects of religious millennialism, technological revolutions, and the growth of a capitalist economy led numerous Americans to propose radical schemes for transforming their society. At least a hundred cooperative colonies were founded in the 1830s to 50s, leading Ralph Waldo Emerson to famously observe that it seemed every "reading man" had a "draft of a new community in his waistcoat pocket." This dissertation explores a unique strain of mid-nineteenth-century utopianism that featured geometrically distinct architectural and urban plans. These schemes include a square land reform grid and radial republican village proposed by the National Reform Association, phrenologist Orson Fowler's octagon house, Henry Clubb's anti-slavery vegetarian Octagon Settlement Company, a hexagonal city published by the anarchist Josiah Warren, and an ovoid house and circular institution of Equitable Commerce proposed by the Spiritualist John Murray Spear and his followers. I also analyze Thomas Jefferson's octagonal houses and square land grids as precedents for the nineteenth-century utopian projects. The creators of these plans were motivated to embrace geometric forms in part because of an emerging functionalist view that regarded the built environment as capable of not just representing but also directly shaping bodies and minds. At the same time that the geometric utopians spoke a language of functional effects, however, they also, consciously and unconsciously, used their plans as aesthetic and rhetorical devices to convince and inspire potential converts. Social reformers employed geometric diagrams to convey an affect of transparency at a time when many antebellum Americans saw the levers of political and economic power as increasingly mediated and remote. By exploring the links between utopians' ideas about architecture and causes such as phrenology, Spiritualism, anarchism, land reform, abolitionism, vegetarianism, and spelling and writing reform, I construct a deeper context for these geometric utopian projects that recovers some of their radical, imaginative, and critical spark, while shedding new interpretive light on the visual culture of mid-nineteenth-century radical reform movements.

This study examines the instructional leadership practices of 5 elementary principals as self -reported in recorded semi-structured interviews. The seven claims of instruction leadership as identified by Leithwood, Day, Sammons, Hopkins, Harris, Leithwood, Gu, Brown, Ahtaridou and Kington (2009) were used to frame the interview protocol which is designed to develop a deeper understanding of each principal's practices as instructional leaders in their schools. The data indicated that these principals were committed to their work and undertook specific leadership practices to accomplish school initiatives. However, two leadership practices, distributing leadership and acting as a visionary leader, were not revealed in the data. These findings may indicate a need to study the impact of the dual role of manager and instructional leader and of divisional culture on the work of school principals. In addition, there is no reference within the model with respect to what constitutes good teaching and learning and therefore it is not useful in determining and/or assessing leadership behaviours related to these areas. As such, Leithwood’s model may benefit from closer examination in order to provide a broad and clearly articulated set of guidelines for assessing instructional leadership practices.

This study examines the instructional leadership practices of 5 elementary principals as self -reported in recorded semi-structured interviews. The seven claims of instruction leadership as identified by Leithwood, Day, Sammons, Hopkins, Harris, Leithwood, Gu, Brown, Ahtaridou and Kington (2009) were used to frame the interview protocol which is designed to develop a deeper understanding of each principal's practices as instructional leaders in their schools. The data indicated that these principals were committed to their work and undertook specific leadership practices to accomplish school initiatives. However, two leadership practices, distributing leadership and acting as a visionary leader, were not revealed in the data. These findings may indicate a need to study the impact of the dual role of manager and instructional leader and of divisional culture on the work of school principals. In addition, there is no reference within the model with respect to what constitutes good teaching and learning and therefore it is not useful in determining and/or assessing leadership behaviours related to these areas. As such, Leithwood’s model may benefit from closer examination in order to provide a broad and clearly articulated set of guidelines for assessing instructional leadership practices.

Purpose – The purpose of this project was to extrapolate knowledge of successful leadership practices, determine what led to and nurtured what became an integrated organizational culture and identify any decisions and/or transformational events that re-defined Moffitt Cancer Center’s (MCC) course or helped propel it to levels far beyond what was originally imagined. The aims of this study were discovery of the foundational factors and events that significantly impacted the creation, growth and evolution of the center, making MCC an institution of transformational change that had achieved state and national prominence. Design – This was an exploratory study guided by a qualitative phenomenological research methodology using an interpretivist approach. Data was derived from twenty one-on-one interviews with people who had the specific knowledge and expertise necessary to obtain a better understanding of the leadership, culture and transformational events that transformed MCC into the institution that it is today. Interviewees included former and current MCC executive leaders, board members and key program directors, as well as the founder and two other former Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives. A literature review was conducted to explore founders, visionary leadership, organizational culture, and transformational organizations. Findings – Key findings included discovery of the factors and events that impacted MCC’s growth and success. The interview process revealed three foundational factors pertaining to visionary leadership qualities of the founder and others, a mission-based culture and four transformational events that set MCC on a course of independence and self-governance. The literature review, with an emphasis on founders, visionary leadership, culture and transformational institutions, revealed useful information to draw comparisons and differences in the historical context of MCC’s growth and impact. Value – MCC, created in Florida statute, existed as a private not-for-profit entity that, statutorily, served as an instrumentality of the state. As such, it had an interestingly distinct role as a hybrid organization that served a public and private sector need; while, very specifically, serving the cancer research and care needs of patients throughout the state and beyond. While the previously mentioned business literary research works are plentiful in the private and public sectors, a gap exists for hybrid organizations such as MCC. Future research could focus on organization founders who did not become part of the executive leadership structure.

The purpose of this study is to investigate municipal development activities of rural oriented areas of the west coast of Sweden. The chosen municipalities for this study are Tanum, Munkedal, Sotenäs and Orust where the aim is to give an understanding to the different municipalities work towards achieving local development and opposing depopulation. The nature of this study is primarily qualitative with a lightly deductive orientation since the presented concept of push and pulls factors of migration and the concept of governance with top down and bottom up approaches is used to understand and analyze the empirics. The empirics of this study give answer to the population situation of the municipalities, the prioritized factors for local development and methods adopted to oppose depopulation. The primary conclusion is that the problem of depopulation is handled by promoting local development through economical means in most municipalities.

This thesis examines the visionary writings of Elisabeth of Schönau, a nun of Schönau monastery, which was a double house in the diocese of Trier between 1152 and 1165. I argue that Elisabeth’s works dynamically engaged various religious audiences (monastic and clerical) in order to provide spiritual guidance to diverse types of people (monks, nuns, abbots, abbesses, and clerics). Elisabeth’s writings not only represent the self-reflection of a twelfth-century woman visionary, but also demonstrate the ways in which Elisabeth forged her spiritual authority by reacting to, and at times anticipating, the reception of her visions by her community. While Elisabeth rhetorically described herself as a passive receptor of divine knowledge, she actively worked to shape the practice of worship first within her monastic community and then, once her authority grew beyond Schönau, amongst a wider audience.