Using DuBoisian Phenomenology, a holistic methodological approach, this thesis examines race and gender in the context of DuBois' seminal essay "The Damnation of Women". "The Damnation of Women" demarks the emergence of a new dialectic and practical approach to the liberation of humanity. To that end, this study is heavily undergirded by DuBoisian scholarship. Inevitably, this research shows the connections between race, gender, the dialectic and the African Worldview to reveal the common through line of DuBoisian philosophy. / African American Studies

Learning to value ourselves as uniquely endowed, understanding our irreplaceable fit into the social and environmental fabric, and becoming active agents woven into our communities will maximize our capacity for progressive change through empowerment. There are effective practices in orchestrating learning environments for empowerment that have ancient and proven roots but have become marginalized in contemporary education. These ways focus on fostering the development of unique gifts and group cohesion, as opposed the fostering of independence and competition, the latter being two ideologies not found in Nature when it is in balance and harmony. This reversal in paradigm will reclaim our ability to critically problem-solve and evoke transformative action by increasing the diversity of perspectives and talents focused on an endeavor. Central to this research is an exploration of the strategization involved in supporting cultural, cognitive, and creative capital—the gifts endowed to humankind that enable our co-evolution with this specific regions of this planet. This research explores methods not only of maintaining the integrity of Indigenous voice through the process of research and reporting but also of using science as a tool for building community through a sense of critical Indigenous identity. It is my hope that the data contained in this research will serve as a relevant, without being transferable, model of progressive educational approaches to ameliorate science education on a local, national, and global scale. / Ph. D.

Woodlands constitute the subsistence base of the majority of people in the Sudano-Sahelian zone (SSZ), but low availability of in situ data on vegetation structure and composition hampers research and monitoring. This thesis explores the utility of remote sensing for mapping and analysing vegetation, primarily trees, in the SSZ. A comprehensive literature review was first conducted to describe how the application of remote sensing has developed in the SSZ between 1975 and 2014, and to identify important research gaps. Based on the gaps identified in the literature review, the capabilities of two new satellite systems (WorldView-2 and Landsat 8) for mapping woodland structure and composition were tested in an area in central Burkina Faso. The results shows that WorldView-2 represents a useful data source for mapping individual trees: 85.4% of the reference trees were detected in the WorldView-2 data and tree crown area was estimate with an average error of 45.6%. In addition, WorldView-2 data produced high classification accuracies for five locally important tree species. The highest overall classification accuracy (82.4%) was produced using multi-temporal WorldView-2 data. Landsat 8 data proved more suitable for mapping tree canopy cover as compared to aboveground biomass in the woodland landscape. Tree canopy cover and aboveground biomass was predicted with 41% and 66% root mean square error, respectively, at pixel level. This thesis demonstrates the potential of easily accessible data from two satellite systems for mapping important tree attributes in woodland areas, and discusses how the usefulness of remote sensing for analyzing vegetation can be further enhanced in the SSZ. / Merparten av befolkningen i Sudano-Sahel zonen (SSZ) är beroende av naturresurser och ekosystemtjänster från woodlands (öppen torrskog) för att säkra sin försörjning. Tillgången av fältmätningar av vegetationens struktur och sammansättning är mycket låg i detta område, vilket utgör ett problem för forskning och miljöövervakning. Denna avhandling undersöker nyttan av fjärranalys för att kartlägga och analysera vegetation, främst träd, i SSZ. En omfattande litteraturöversikt genomfördes först för att undersöka hur tillämpningen av fjärranalys har utvecklats i SSZ mellan 1975 och 2014, samt att identifiera viktiga forskningsluckor. Några av de luckor som konstaterades i litteraturgenomgången låg till grund för de följande studierna där två nya satellitsystem (Worldview-2 och Landsat 8) utvärderades för deras användbarhet att kartlägga trädtäckets struktur och artsammansättning i ett woodland-område i centrala Burkina Faso. Resultaten visar att Worldview-2 är en värdefull datakälla för kartering av enskilda träd: 85.4% av referensträden detekterades och trädkronornas storlek uppskattades med ett medelfel av 45.6%. Worldview-2-data producerade även hög klassificeringsnoggrannhet för de fem lokalt viktigaste trädslagen. Den högsta noggrannheten (82.4%) uppnåddes med multi-temporal Worldview-2-data. Landsat 8 data visade sig mer lämpade för kartering av krontäcke, jämfört med biomassa. Medelfelet för karteringen var 41% för krontäcke och 66% för biomassa, på pixelnivå. Avhandlingen visar att lättillgängliga data från två satellitsystem är användbara för kartläggning av viktiga trädattribut i woodlands, samt diskuterar hur nyttan av fjärranalys för vegetationsanalys kan ökas ytterligare i SSZ.

The analysis of cultural policy in the last decade suggests that creativity and the arts in general are extensively used in political agendas as means of capitalizing on the forecasted socio-economic potential of creative/artistic activities (e.g. Flew, 2005; Garnham, 2005; Hartley, 2005; Hesmondhalgh, 2007). Although some critical studies have highlighted instrumentalism, short-sidedness and practice/practitioners’ averse policy-making and intervention planning (Belfiore, 2004, 2009; Caust, 2003; Oakley, 2009; Newman, 2013), so far only very few studies have exposed the experiences and voices of particular groups of creative workers in the different national (country-specific) contexts to support this criticism. There has been a significant lack of studies that aim to understand how creative workers experience and cope with the changing policy context in their work. In particular, the voice of non-artists has rarely been considered when seeking a better understanding of the sector’s dynamics. This thesis explored the Scottish cultural sector through the eyes of cultural leaders. The study was carried out during a time of significant transformation to the funding structure, processes and relationships in the sector, catalysed by the establishment of a new funding agency (the funder). It focuses on cultural leaders’ understandings of an increasingly politicised cultural landscape that constitutes the context of their work. The thesis also looks at the influence of these understandings on the leaders’ role responsibilities, as well as the essence and the sustainability of the cultural sector. The empirical work for the thesis followed a qualitative research approach and focused on 21 semi-structured interviews with cultural leaders and industry experts based in Scotland. These individuals were purposefully chosen as a group of stakeholders who are able to engage in discussions about the cultural sector in the context of recent changes in the governance and financial subsidy of Scottish (publically funded) arts. The research findings illustrated the importance of leaders’ values and beliefs, which reflect the purpose of their work and shape their enactments in the sector. In particular, the intrinsic motivation, artistic ambitions, social and civic responsibilities of leaders emerged as crucial qualities of their work roles. The findings revealed a discrepancy between these artistic and civic concerns of cultural leaders and the socio-economic expectations of the funder, which contributed to a great deal of unproductive ('inorganic') tensions for which leaders had to find coping mechanisms. Bourdieu’s (1977, 1992) theoretical concepts were used as a starting point in understanding the cultural sector as a cultural field, and cultural leaders as actors enacting their work-related practices in the evolving socio-political and economic system of cultural production. However, upon further analysis of the data, the notions of a ‘worldview’ and ‘stewardship’ emerged and were used to better explain the greater complexity of work in today’s cultural sector. This thesis thus builds upon Bourdieu’s concept of ‘field’ and ‘artistic logic’ and explains the changing cultural sector as a holistic cultural field where cultural leaders enact their stewardship-like work responsibilities from within a strong and dynamic artistic worldview.

With Islamophobia on the rise in Canada, it may reasonably be expected that social work, a seemingly care-oriented profession, would have effective support readily available for the Muslim community. However, rather than the Muslim community experiencing social services as a place where such support can be accessed, their interactions with these services demonstrate the ways that Islamophobia seeps into social work settings amidst discriminatory assumptions about Muslims and a lack of religiously informed care. In response, informed by an Islamic worldview and drawing upon decolonial thought and community-based participatory research principles, this study aims to centre Islamic ways of knowing, being, and doing in considering how mainstream social services and social work practice can most effectively support the Muslim community. Emerging from interviews with five Muslim community leaders and scholars were four key themes: the role of Islam in the lives and well-being of Muslims; anti-Muslim sentiment and the devaluing of Islamic identity in mainstream social work education and practice; the need for Islamically informed care; and reimagining social work from an Islamic worldview. The findings reveal significant challenges for the Muslim community in accessing and receiving effective support from mainstream social services, while also underscoring important considerations for enhanced social work practice with Muslims. Implications and recommendations for the social work profession, social work education, and the Muslim community are discussed, alongside suggestions for future research and action, with an emphasis on the importance of contributions from Islam and Muslims to elicit meaningful change. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

本文是關於臺灣讀經運動之研究。讀經運動始於1990年初，由台中師院王財貴教授發起，發展至今已有十多年，估計參與過之學童數超過百萬，活動遍及全臺灣各地，甚至蔓衍至世界各地的華人社群。讀經運動雖然以讀最有價值的書為訴求，在實質上是民初以來儒家發展的新階段。包括主要的推廣者王財貴，乃是知名新儒家學者牟宗三的學生，實際的讀經活動中則以儒家經典為主皆說明這是以儒家為主的運動。此論文之預設是視經典為宗教傳統的一個重要現象，儒家為華人之重要宗教傳統，它提供華人意義和作為華人之世界觀。 首先藉由歷史發展，說明讀經運動與1912年教育總長蔡元培廢止讀經，1935年和1953年等讀經問題之關聯。這些歷史說明儒家經典從被視為宗教經典，轉變為「文化」傳統的歷程，它是知識分子有心的造作，加以反宗教的潮流和時尚下完成，而政治力的介入和運用，使得儒家的發展憑添變數。其次，簡述推廣者之主要推廣歷程和理念，敘述讀經發展成社會運動的轉折、建立組織的過程以及讀經運動的現況，並且指出這些過程或現象與宗教的關聯，以及其全省分佈之狀況，接下來則證明讀經運動以儒家經典為主，而經典的定位問題與儒家之宗教性有關，最後，指出當代讀經運動的推廣者與支持者，對儒家經典的建構，以及讀經活動與社會規範、儒家的宗教定位等之關聯。 經由描述當代讀經運動的發展歷程，反映出儒家傳統如同各宗教傳統一般，有類似的特徵，包括有（一）儒家經典成為善書，推廣讀經被視為善行。（二）有著聖人和聖典。經典被人們認為必然蘊含倫理道德。（三）經典代表秩序感，有永恆和全面的知識內涵。（四）、讀經有其經驗層面等。華人社會各宗教團體或人士之投入，即在於儒家傳統乃是華人之世界觀，它提供華人意義，如同盧克曼宗教社會學意義下之隱形宗教，儒家傳統是華人宗教之底色。因此，儒家傳統於宗教研究中，有必要以別於單一傳統等相關概念加以理解，儒家傳統在華人之宗教生活中扮演重要的角色。 / This thesis is about a Confucian movement which is called “Du Ching “(讀經) in Taiwan. Du 讀 means reading literally. In actually, Du ching include reciting, memorizing, chanting etc. Du ching movement which started by a professor Wang tsai guei （王財貴）in Taichun about 1991. The movement developed to the whole Taiwan in a decade and over millions of pupils had attended it. “Reading the most valuable book” is Professor Wang’s appealing slogan though. Actually, almost all of the pupils who attend the movement use Confucian scriptures. Beside, Wang is the famous Confucian scholar Mou Tzung san’s follower. So, this movement can be seen as a Confucian movement. My assumption is Confucianism which is a religion to Chinese. As a world view to Chinese, Confucianism provides meanings. First, I will show the history of Confucian scripture’s changing in 1900s. In the history, people can find how the scriptures was shaped by Confucian intellectuals by intention from religious texts to cultural texts. The politician influence made this changing violently. Second, I describe the ideas of Professor Wang about du ching and the movement’s key process. To show how did people organize themselves to promote Confucian scripture? And what are people’s practicing about the scriptures? Lastly, I will point out the du ching movement’s promoter and supporter’s idea about Confucian scriptures is part of imaginations. The imagination is connected to the social order and people moral state. The core of the imagination is Confucius not the scriptures which some students think of. By the history what Confucian scripture met in early modern era and the du ching movement in modern Taiwan, it reflects Confucianism as well as the other religions, it has the same character. It comprises Confucian scriptures and classics as moral books, sainthood holly books, moral and order phase, as if an encyclopedia, experimental phase etc. In summary, Confucianism is the worldview of Chinese. It is the basic tone of Chinese religious life, as the sociology Thomas Luckmann said “ the invisible religion”. However, Confucianism still plays an important role in Chinese communities globally.

Bioethics deals with the ethical problems arising from the developments in life sciences and biotechnologies. Western autonomy-based philosophical framework has dominated the approach of mainstream Bioethics. Yet, many of the assumptions implicit in the Western framework that makes claim to universal validity may not be shared by non-western cultures. Moral pluralism poses a challenge to a common bioethics. Pluralism is understood as a descriptive term, which refers to the existence of different outlooks - moral or religious in a given society. It is simply another word for diversity. Within most western societies, the principle of autonomy sometimes implies that every person has an atomistic right to self-determination. In most African culture, however, the person is viewed as a relational self, one whom social relationships and inter-dependence rather than individualism provide the basis for moral decisions. Through a critical analysis of the Principles of Biomedical Ethics by Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress; the Foundations of Bioethics by H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr.; and the Morality of Pluralism by John Kekes, the author addresses two challenges. The first one concerns the possibility and desirability of a common bioethical framework in a society with a diversity of moral visions. The second deals with what could be the contribution of African thought, philosophy, and culture to such a project. By exploring some of the worldviews of the Igbo of South-eastern Nigeria, the author shows that different cultures have different significances in bioethical analysis. He argues that an acceptable bioethical framework should be sensitive to the cultural realities of the people where it is employed and contextual in its application. At the same time, it should take account of the common morality feature of human experience. He formulates three prima facie common morality principles as meeting the challenge of Bioethics within the African context.

Possibilities of remote sensing in grassland vegetation and management interventions monitoring in the Giant Mountains Abstract The aim of this thesis was to evaluate suitability of WorldView-2 imagery for grassland associations classification in the model area of Giant Mountains. The classification was based both on the legend compiled by a botanist, and on the legend of Natura 2000. In order to eliminate the effects of other types of land cover on the classification accuracy, a mask of grasslands was created. Using discriminant analysis, the significance of spectral bands of WorldView-2, as well as signifikance of selected vegetation indices and components from Principal Component Analysis (PCA) - to distinguish particular classes of grassland vegetation were evaluated. Based on the results of discriminant analysis, classifications using neural networks method and also maximum likelihood method were performed in ENVI 4.7 version software. The results of the both method were compared Key words: remote sensing, meadows association, classification, Giant mountains, WorldView 2

Seventy years ago Erikson proposed successful identity formation in adolescence was the foundation for successful intimacy formation in young adulthood. With the extended period of identity exploration in emerging adulthood, it is unclear if intimacy formation continues to be connected to identity. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between identity in three domains of love, work, and worldview with long term views of intimacy using Marital Horizons Theory. Results from a sample of 777 college students in the Project READY dataset indicated that identity formation in love is positively associated with views of marriage, identity formation in work has no significant association with views of marriage, and identity formation in worldview is negatively associated with views of marriage. Implications for the transition into marriage and further identity research are discussed.

Orientador: Marcelo Magalhães Bulhões / Resumo: As transformações sociais e políticas do final do século XX trouxeram profundas considerações e discussões que foram incorporadas às produções midiáticas da época. Dentre essas mídias os quadrinhos já se destacavam como ferramenta política tanto na China como na Itália, e essas produções eram aprimoradas conforme a tecnologia se desenvolvia. Esta dissertação busca perceber, através de uma análise comparativa, como cosmovisão atua no processo de adaptação midiática. Tomando por obra base a narrativa Jornada ao Oeste do século XVI, italianos e chineses criaram obras distintas sobre todos os aspectos: O Jornada ao Oeste em Quadrinhos adaptação chinesa de 1962 e a produção italiana Lo Scimmiotto de 1976. As duas narrativas contam como a simbologia nos quadrinhos foi moldada por artistas que interpretam e ressignificam um acervo simbólico e cultural formando uma obra coesa e repleta de significações. Ao traçar os elementos comparativos entre as duas obras e apresentá-los quadro a quadro, argumentamos que embora o enredo da narrativa base se sustente, existe um hipertexto que só pode ser acessado ao conhecer o acervo histórico, social e cultural. Esse hipertexto se relaciona diretamente com a cosmovisão e com permanência das imagens como tratados nos estudos sobre arte de Warburg e Panofsky. Por fim este trabalho discute como os quadrinhos enquanto mídia se presta a receber este tipo de manifestação artística como nenhum outro meio de comunicação devido a sua linguagem própria. / Abstract: The end of the 20th century brought deep political and social discussions that were embodied by the media productions. Among those medium, comics started to point out as a political tool both in Italy and China, those production evolved together with the technology. The present work aims to point, through a comparative analysis, how the worldview acts in the adaptation process. Taking the 16th century literary work Journey to the West, Chinese and Italians created distinct adaptations among all aspects: Journey to West in Comics, the chinese adaptation from 1962 and the italian production Lo Scimmiotto from 1976. Both comics have shown us how the symbolic system in comic books were molded by artists, who interpreted and resignified a cultural collection of symbols creating a coherent work. By tracing those comparative elements and present them each comic strip at a time, we argue that although the original plot remains, there is an hypertext that can only be accessed by knowing the social, cultural and historical context. The hypertext is directly linked to the cosmovision and to the remnants of images as discussed previously by Warburg and Panofsky. Lastly the work discuss how comic books as a media offer itself to this kind of artistic expression as any due to his unique language. / Mestre