Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis concentrates on how nativism, through a series of discriminatory policies over the span of fifty years, influenced the creation of the Japanese American internment camps during the Second World War. By using the experiences of the first—and second—generations of Japanese immigrants, my thesis explores how nativism supported the creation of laws meant to preserve racial homogeneity, cultural superiority, economic segregation, and national security from the Japanese immigrants living in California during the end of the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century

Text in English / This study offers a fine-grained analysis of James Cameron’s film, Avatar (2009), on several theoretical fronts to provide a view of the film from a cognitive cultural studies perspective. The insights gained from cognitive theory are used to situate the debate by indicating the value cognitive theories have in cultural criticism. The critical discourse analysis of Avatar that results is a vehicle for the central concern of this study, which is to understand the diverse, often contradictory, meaning-making exhibited by Avatar audiences. A focus on the construction of empathic responses to the film’s messages investigates the success of this polysemy. Ihe central propositions of the study are that meanings and interpretations of the experience of viewing Avatar are made discursively; they are situated in definable traditions, mores and values; and this meaning-making takes place in a cognitive framework which allows for the technical reproduction and reception of the experience while providing powerful, emerging and cognitively plausible narratives. In an attempt to situate the film’s commercial success and its plethora of awards, including an Oscar for best art direction, the analysis takes a critical view of Cameron’s use of cultural stereotypes and the framing of the exotic other, and considers the continuing development of these elements over the whole series and product line or, as Henry Jenkins (2007) defines it, “transmedia”. In drawing the theoretical boundaries of the methodologies used in this study and in arguing for their complementarities, the study contributes to a renewal of Raymond Williams’ (1961) mostly forgotten claim of the cross-disciplinary cognitive dimension of cultural studies and demonstrates an affirmation of this formulation as cognitive cultural studies. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (Art History)

The issue of undocumented immigration has recently taken center-stage in the media and national politics in the United States. A large population of undocumented youth grows up with legal access to public education through high school, following the Supreme Court decision of Plyler vs. Doe, but faces legal and economic barriers to post-secondary education. Following high school, undocumented Hispanic/Latino youth legal protections end, greatly limiting chances for upward mobility through traditional post-secondary education pipelines. In some cases, knowledge of future barriers to post-secondary education leads to a decline in educational motivation. The current political atmosphere makes this study a bit of a moving target as the Obama administration recently passed a reprieve. This reprieve, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Process (DACA) does not confer any legal status or open any future path to citizenship. It does, however, grant eligible applicants a work permit, and the opportunity to travel, work, and attend school with a sense of security. The purpose of this thesis is to better understand the perceptions and understandings of undocumented Hispanic/Latino youth and their pursuits of higher education in. It is primarily concerned with the educational issues and opportunities facing these students. This research explores the impact of Hispanic/Latino students' perceptions of legal status barriers on their educational attainment experiences. The different opportunities and obstacles present in access to post-secondary education for undocumented Hispanic/Latino students residing in the United States are examined. This study focuses on the time period just after high school graduation, a critical stage in these students' lives, when undocumented status is particularly consequential. Knowledge about students' perception of their educational progress sheds light on their educational attainment experiences; it illuminates important factors associated with their individual educational experiences. Interactions with teachers, school authorities, their parents, siblings, peers, and other authority figures could be described in connecting personal interpretations and emotional responses to specific events in their lives that they feel helped or hindered their educational progress. Knowing how undocumented Hispanic/Latino youth identify and understand the factors that facilitate or impede their navigation of post-secondary education, will further inform educators and researchers alike. This study offers the possibility of identifying additional factors for educators, researchers, and our communities that hinder or facilitate the educational navigation and success of undocumented students. This type of research is significant as this marginalized population lives and works within the American society; the successes and struggles of these students impacts the United States as a whole. Moreover, these students possess amazing potential; we need to better understand and serve this population in order to both improve their life experiences, and to benefit from their input and abilities.

Invasive alien species (IAS) pose a serious threat to global ecosystems, economy and human and animal health. The spread of IAS leads to a global depletion of biological diversity, through homogenization of landscapes and reduced genetic variation within species. Canadian goldenrod (Solidago canadensis L.) is an IAS that occurs widely throughout most of Sweden and it is considered to be one of the country’s most problematic terrestrial IAS. The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of the Canadian goldenrod in Värmland county, Sweden, in relation to land use type and soil moisture category. Species observation data was retrieved from the Analysis Portal for Biodiversity Data. National Land Cover Database (NMD) and SLU Soil Moisture Map were used to investigate which land cover and soil moisture classes Canadian goldenrod had been associated with. Results of this study shows that there is an association between Canadian goldenrod occurrence and land cover class, which implies that land cover seems to have an effect on the spread of the species. The area of land cover classes within reported observations of Canadian goldenrod was not proportional to the area of respective land cover classes within Värmland county. Land cover classes such as other open land, artificial surfaces and forests were most commonly found within Canadian goldenrod observations. This indicates that this species occurs with higher frequency on other open land and artificial surfaces, which corresponds with the literature findings. Moreover, the area of certain soil moisture class within reported observations of Canadian goldenrod was not proportional to the area of respective soil moisture class within Värmland. Among soil moisture classes, mesic-dry soil was most commonly found within goldenrod observations. This did not confirm the hypothesis that Canadian goldenrod occurs more commonly on wet-moist soils. The literature shows that this species has a great ability to adapt to different environments. The outcome of this study suggests that Canadian goldenrod might prefer certain land use categories more or less affected by human activity. This is consistent with previous studies about abundance and spread of invasive species and indicates that human activity is an important factor contributing to the spreading of IAS. / Invasiva främmande arter (IAS) utgör ett allvarligt problem för globala ekosystem, ekonomi och människors och djurs hälsa. Spridningen av IAS leder till en global utarmning av biologisk mångfald, genom homogenisering av landskap och minskad genetisk variation inom arter. Kanadensiskt gullris (Solidago canadensis L.)  är en IAS som förekommer vitt spridd över så gott som hela Sverige och bedöms vara en av landets mest problematiska invasiva terrestra arter. I denna studie kartläggs utbredningen av kanadensiskt gullris i Värmlands län, i syfte att undersöka om utbredningen kan kopplas till viss typ av markanvändning eller markfuktighet. Artobservationsdata hämtades från Analysportalen för biodiversitetsdata. Nationella Marktäckedata (NMD) och SLU Markfuktighetskarta (klassad) användes för att undersöka vilka marktäcke- och markfuktighetsklasser kanadensiskt gullris associerats med. Studiens resultat talar för att det finns ett samband mellan förekomst av kanadensiskt gullris och marktäckeklasser, dvs. marktäckning verkar påverka utbredning. Arean av marktäckeklasser inom rapporterade observationer av kanadensiskt gullris var inte proportionell till arean för respektive marktäckeklasser inom Värmlands län. Marktäckeklasserna övrig öppen mark, exploaterad mark och skog var vanligast förekommande inom kanadensiskt gullrisobservationer. I studien indikeras att kanadensiskt gullris oftare förekommer inom klasserna övrig öppen mark och exploaterad mark, vilket överensstämmer med litteraturen. Dessutom var arean av viss markfuktighetsklass inom rapporterade observationer av kanadensiskt gullris inte proportionell till arean av respektive markfuktighetsklass inom Värmland. Bland markfuktighetsklasser var torr-frisk vanligast inom kanadensiskt gullrisobservationer. Detta bekräftade inte hypotesen att kanadensiskt gullris har en högre förekomst inom klassen fuktig-blöt, men stöds av litteraturen som talar om artens anpassningsförmåga till olika fuktighetsnivåer. Resultatet av denna studie tyder på att kanadensiskt gullris verkar föredra platser som mer eller mindre påverkas av mänsklig aktivitet, något som går i linje med tidigare studier gällande spridning och förekomst av invasiva arter och lyfter vikten av den mänskliga faktorns betydelse i spridningen av IAS.

The aim of this literature study was to investigate the effects of biofouling in the Baltic Sea. This was done to increase environmental awareness and understanding of the importance of a sustainable marine environment. A systematic search in selected databases resulted in the study being based on tio research articles. The overall results of the study show that biofouling demonstrate negative effects, but the effects are not fully understood to date and the focus is still on economic aspects. Furthermore, it was observed that the studied organizations are currently focused on greenhouse gas issues, but they have also been paying attention to biofouling problems in recent time. The literature study provides important insights into the effects of biofouling.

Alien fish have been implicated in the decline of Rana draytonii (California red-legged frog) and Pseudacris regilla (Pacific treefrog) populations. Micropterus salmoides (largemouth bass) is a common sport fish that has been introduced into the sympatric range of these two anuran species; however, no studies have investigated the individual influence that this alien fish has on these two species. I conducted M. salmoides control or eradication experiments during a four year study in two ponds within the Transverse Mountain Range of Santa Barbara County, California. Changes in the densities of all life stages of R. draytonii and P. regilla were assessed through repeated visual encounter surveys. In response to the manipulations of the M. salmoides populations there was an increase in the density of both species. For R. draytonii, this salient increase in density was recorded in the larval and metamorph life stages. For P. regilla, a slight, yet steady increase in the density of adult, metamorph, and larval life stages was recorded. My results suggest that M. salmoides can be controlled or eradicated from lentic waterbodies and provides reasonable evidence that the negative effects of this species on R. draytonii and P. regilla populations can be minimized or reversed. The reversal of these effects may translate into increases in the densities and potential recruitment of these two native anurans. Therefore, my results provide tentative support that the control or eradication of M. salmoides where they cohabitate with these two species may be a viable conservation measure for R. draytonii and P. regilla populations. Since my study was performed at a very local scale and all results are strictly observational and descriptive, additional studies should be performed at a larger spatial scale and buttressed with controlled laboratory and field enclosures experiments to identify the causal factors responsible for the identified patterns.

No description available.

No description available.

Angola is a tropical country with many biogeographical units and, therefore, has a high floristic diversity. Although an increasing number of floristic studies has been carried out in Angola in recent years, the country is still considered to be underinvestigated as many species being collected were previously unknown there. Several scientific groups working in different parts of Angola contributed to this paper their data from biodiversity assessments. With this we can add 67 species newly recorded for Angola, including two new generic records and five alien species, to the almost 7,300 vascular plant taxa known so far for Angola. Most of the new records for Angola are also present in different neighbouring countries, but they are little known, and their IUCN threat status has not been assessed yet. However, ongoing fieldwork and exploration are needed to complete the floristic knowledge of the understudied country.

Les mécanismes de soft law ont joué un rôle central dans le développement de la notion actuelle de la responsabilité des entreprises transnationales en droits de l’homme telle qu’elle est définie dans les Principes directeurs relatifs aux entreprises et aux droits de l’homme, une initiative approuvé par le Conseil des droits de l’homme des Nations unies en juin 2011. La responsabilité des entreprises de respecter les droits de l’homme, telle qu’elle a été conçue par le Représentant spécial, repose sur les attentes de la société plutôt que sur une obligation juridique. Cela signifie que les entreprises « devraient éviter de porter atteinte aux droits de l’homme d’autrui et remédier aux incidences négatives sur les droits de l’homme dans lesquelles elles ont une part ». Les limites de cette approche sont importantes à moyen et à long terme. Même si l’approche pragmatique adopté par le Représentant spécial a permis de surmonter le débat au sein de la communauté internationale autour du Projet de normes sur la responsabilité en matière de droits de l’homme des sociétés transnationales et autres entreprises, elle a aussi éloigné la possibilité d’élaborer un instrument international imposant aux entreprises transnationales des obligations contraignantes en droits de l’homme. Construire la notion de la responsabilité des entreprises transnationales en matière de droits de l’homme uniquement sur les attentes de la société semble insuffisant et dangereux face aux victimes des abus de ces acteurs économiques. La responsabilité de respecter les droits de l’homme, telle que définie aujourd’hui, renforce l’acceptation d’un système international où les entreprises transnationales sont encouragées mais pas obligées à respecter les droits de l’homme, une solution qui laisse les victimes des abus dépourvues de toute action en justice et de réparation. L’objet de cette thèse est de présenter de manière succincte l’évolution de la problématique complexe de la responsabilité des entreprises transnationales du secteur énergétique en matière de droit international des droits de l’homme et de droit international humanitaire depuis son origine jusqu’à nos jours, ainsi que de comprendre les principales limites de l’approche actuelle à la question, afin d’envisager des potentielles solutions. / Soft law mechanisms have played a central role in developing the current notion of the responsibility of transnational corporations in human rights as defined in the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, an initiative approved by the United Nations Human Rights Council in June 2011. Corporate responsibility to respect human rights, as defined by the Special Representative, is based on social expectations rather than on legal obligations. It means that companies should “avoid prejudice to the rights of others and to address adverse impacts on human rights in which they are involved”. The limitations of this approach are important in medium and long term. Although the pragmatic approach adopted by the Special Representative has closed the international community debate on the Draft Norms on the responsibility for human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, it also ends the chances of developing an international instrument requiring binding obligations in human rights for transnational corporations. Setting the notion of the responsibility of transnational corporations in human rights exclusively on social expectations seems unsatisfactory and dangerous towards victims of violations committed by these economic actors. Responsibility to respect human rights as defined today reinforces the acceptance of a system where transnational corporations are encouraged but are not compelled to respect human rights, a solution that leaves victims of abuse devoid of any legal action and redress. The purpose of this PhD thesis is to present briefly the evolution of the responsibility of transnational corporations in the energy sector in human rights and international humanitarian law from its origins to our days, as well as to understand the main limitations of the current concept in order to explore potential solutions.