The built environment is a product of man’s rationales and understandings of space. It is on the basis of these understandings that man builds, to facilitate his ways of life. These “understandings”, are the discourses that each individual is born into and the “ways of life” are the cultural practices resulting from these discourses. Architecture being a product of cultural discourse is intended to facilitate cultural practices. Post 1994 South Africa, has inherited a Johannesburg inner-city built environment, which is predominantly a product of apartheid and colonial discourse. During this era, black people were marginalised and excluded from the inner city, both physically and through architectural representation. The inner city was built in accordance with western (white) discourse to facilitate western cultural practices. Today the inner city is predominantly inhabited by black people, who were excluded and marginalised in its conception. Post colonial theorists assert that, while black people have embraced “modernity” and “western urbanity”, it has not resulted in a complete acceptance or appropriation of western cultural practices and discourses. Due a process termed “post colonial hybridity” these people merge the two seemingly irreconcilable cultural discourses and practices to form new cultural hybrids. The consequence of hybridity in the inner-city is; while the appropriated western cultural practices and discourses are inherently reflected and catered for, the retained aspects of black cultural practice and discourse remain marginalised. The built environment, which is meant to facilitate and reflect, negates and marginalises aspects of black discourses and cultural practices. “To be truly expressive, a building should grow out of its natural, social, and civilization context. It should reflect not only the personal values, needs and interests of its dwellers but also its relation to its natural and architectural site. Thus the formal organization of a building cannot be imposed on a people from the outside; it should originate from the context of human life in the given region. In this origination the process of spatial articulation results from a thought- full grasp of the dynamic interaction between the material elements of the architectural work and the human vision which guides this activity.” (Mitias 1994:103) In order to make a contribution to the creation of a more inclusive built environment this paper proposes the development of a hybrid building prototype that would facilitate and reflect the hybrid cultural practices and discourses of the city’s black inhabitants. The building prototype named the “Inner City Ritual Centre” aims to facilitate some of the marginalised practices of black people living in the city and to reflect some of the excluded spatial understandings of black people. The paper proposes a method of practice that utilises postcolonial hybridity, to include excluded and marginalised practices and discourses into the architectural representation of the city. This paper uncovers and highlights a few of these discourses and practices and demonstrates how the use of postcolonial hybridity in architecture would result in a more inclusive built environment.

Context: Despite the many initiatives implemented over the past decades as part of the global priority on child survival, there still exists high infant mortality in Southern Africa. Although studies have examined factors contributing to poor child health outcomes including the effect of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, there is paucity of studies on the possible effect of infant feeding practices on infant mortality in the region. This study examines the association between infant feeding practices and infant mortality in Southern Africa. The need to reduce infant mortality is a global health concern hence the United Nations through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) declared the reduction of infant and child mortality as one of its major targets by the year 2015. Methods: A merged dataset from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys for Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe was analysed in this study. A total number of 13, 218 infants born in the last five years preceding the surveys whose information on infant feeding practices was available formed the analysis sample. The outcome variable was infant mortality and infant feeding practices which had the categories, no breastfeeding, partial breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding was the main explanatory variable of the study. Other explanatory variables used in the study pertained to maternal demographic and socioeconomic characteristics as well as the infants’ bio-demographic characteristics. The Cox Hazard Regression Model was employed to examine both the unadjusted and adjusted effect of infant feeding practices on infant mortality in Southern Africa. Results: Although, exclusive breastfeeding was quite low (12%), its mortality reduction effect was significant, and infants who were exclusively breastfed exhibited a 97% lower risk of dying during infancy compared to no breastfeeding in the region. Further, variations exist by country in the levels and patterns of both infant mortality and infant feeding practices. Country, highest educational level, marital status, sex of child, preceding birth interval and birth weight were the significant predictors of infant mortality in Southern Africa. Conclusions: Overall, the study found that any form of breastfeeding whether exclusive or partial breastfeeding greatly reduces the risk of infant mortality, with the mortality reduction effect being higher among exclusively breastfed infants in the Southern African region. Thus, in order to reduce the upsurge of infant mortality, there is need to step up the effectiveness of child nutrition programmes that promote breastfeeding and put emphasis on exclusive breastfeeding of infants in the region.

Butoh and Surrealism share some common features, three of which are: duality, symbolism and the manipulation of time. This project is an examination of the intersection of these elements and the development of a movement practice using these three, shared focusing lenses of Butoh and Surrealism, culminating in a performance. The methodology of this study sought to generate movement through improvisation and studio exercises based upon a melded Butoh/Surrealist universe developed through applied research in the convergent elements of duality, symbolism and the manipulation of time. The elements that I distilled ultimately informed movement choices shaping a movement offering; a generated example of what could happen when this choreographic process is applied.

Orientador: Fernando Bastos / Banca: Alvaro Lorencini Junior / Banca: Lizete Maria Orquiza de Carvalho / Banca: Eduardo Adolfo Terrazzan / Banca: Silvia Regina Quijadas Aro Zuliani / Resumo: Este estudo buscou, inicialmente, identificar o perfil dos professores que trabalham com conteúdos de ciências, com o intuito de propiciar situações reflexivas, à luz de proposições teóricas e metodológicas. Para tanto, foi aplicado um questionário a onze professoras do ensino fundamental das séries iniciais em uma escola pública do interior de São Paulo, Brasil. Este questionário norteou as atividades posteriores com a finalidade de propiciar a reflexão sobre a prática pedagógica desses professores, procurando compreender os aspectos relacionados ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem, particularizando as ações da atividade docente. Foram analisadas as ações educacionais relatadas pelas professoras, na tentativa de se verificar a ocorrência de situações pedagógicas consideradas problemáticas, tais como, problemas em ensino e aprendizagem, no método de ensino, no estabelecimento e valorização da relação professor-aluno e na interação desses professores com seus pares. Foram elaboradas atividades com Grupo de Trabalho, formados pelos próprios professores que foram todas filmadas e transcritas. Para a análise e apresentação dos dados, foram elencados eixos e sub-eixos temáticos de análise, com tópicos de analise retirados do questionário e transcrições das atividades. Os dados apontaram os professores do estudo são profissionais com defasagem na sua formação e que não participam de cursos de capacitação. Apresentam dificuldade em trabalhar conteúdos de ciências na prática e recorrem a livros didáticos para sanar suas dúvidas e dificuldades. O conteúdo de ciências que apresenta maior dificuldade em trabalhar é sexualidade. Participam de cursos promovidos pela Diretoria de Ensino, porém consideram esses cursos muito teóricos e pouco práticos e que não... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The objective of this study was to identify, first of all, the profile of the teachers who work with sciences, in order to provide some reflection, when facing theoretical and methodological propositions. Thus, a questionnaire was applied to eleven teachers of elementary school, who teach the basic years in one public school based in the interior of São Paulo state, Brazil. This questionnaire has guided the posterior activities, in order to lead to the reflection about the pedagogic procedures of these teachers, trying to understand the aspects related to teaching and learning processes, specifying the procedures of the teachers. The educational approaches described by the teachers were analyzed, in order to verify the incidence of pedagogic situations, considered as problematic, such as: problems concerning teaching and learning, teaching methods, stabilization and appraisal of teacher- student relationship and the interaction of these teachers among themselves. Some activities were elaborated with the Group of Work. These activities were filmed and transcript. For the analysis and data presentation, some topics and sub-topics which needed to be analyzed were listed, presenting subjects for analysis, which were obtained from the questionnaire and descriptions of the activities. The data showed that the teachers which were analyzed, are not updated professionals and do not attend recycling courses. They also have some difficulties in working with sciences practices and search for didactic books in order to clarify their doubts and problems. The topic in science which presents more difficulty to explain is sexuality. They attend courses provided by the Board of Educational Teaching, but they consider these courses very theoretical and not very practical and state that they are not related to the context that the students belong to. They do not get support from teaching theories and consider their own practices in the classroom as theory. / Mestre

Thesis advisor: Joseph O'Keefe / This qualitative case study examined the leadership practices of principals and how central office administrators (COAs) support those practices in one Massachusetts school district. Through the conceptual framework of distributed leadership, this study examined perspectives about the impact of the Massachusetts Model of Educator Evaluation (MMSEE) on principals and how they understood their leadership practices and assessment within the MMSEE. Data included semi-structured interviews with principals, artifacts from the Massachusetts Department of Education, and documents that highlighted how COAs support principals. Findings indicated that principals relied on leadership practices common to distributed leadership such as collaborative work with staff and COAs, and building organizational structures to support instructional improvements. While principals recognized support of their leadership practices from COAs, they expressed inconsistency with expectations and supports given. The study recommends continuation of the professional development plans about instructional goals for principals. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

This article analyzes practices in Brazil´s Ministry of External Relations (MRE) in order to understand the decision making process for foreign policy of the Lula administration (2003-2010) through the lens of practices. More specifically, it seeks to understand if purported operational changes in the ministry during that time have had a concrete effect on foreign policy or are symptomatic of priorities within the administration. The research finds that despite sweeping social change promised during the campaign, the ministry´s structure remained stable even as it expanded - even favoring the use of presidential diplomacy in order to expedite proceedings - but that regular bureaucratic processes were circumvented by the most senior officials in dealing with sensitive topics with a tacit division of tasks. The article concludes by suggesting that diplomatic practices were not significantly changed during the Lula period but that the relative clout of rank and file diplomat has diminished. Procedural negotiations such as trade agreements have mostly escaped the change in the decision-making process because they were not picked up by Itamaraty´s hands-on leadership. / Esse artigo analisa as práticas do Ministério das Relações Exteriores do Brasil (MRE), buscando entender melhor o processo decisório da política externa dos governos Lula (2003-2010) pelas práticas. Especificamente, trata-se de avaliar se supostas mudanças operacionais no ministério durante este período tiveram um efeito concreto sobre a politica externa ou são sintomáticos de prioridades para o governo. O trabalho considera que a despeito de grandes mudanças sociais prometidas durante a campanha, a estrutura do ministério permaneceu estável incluso durante sua expansão - até favorecendo o uso de diplomacia presidencial a fim de acelerar os processos - mas que os processos burocráticos regulares foram evitados pelo mais alto escalão quando se tratava de temas sensíveis, com uma divisão de tarefas tácita. O artigo conclui por sugerindo que as práticas diplomáticas não foram modificadas profundamente no período Lula. Porem, a importância relativa dos diplomatas comuns diminuiu. Negociações técnicas, como acordos comerciais, escaparam em parte dessa mudança de processo decisório porque não foram retomadas pela liderança, muito ativa, do Itamaraty.

This dissertation explores informal means of convening various foreign policy professionals in conflict resolution discussions, taking two quite different case studies: the Pugwash Conferences, a long-standing transnational non-governmental organization; and the Ottawa Dialogue, a more recent suite of projects. Although conventionally viewed through the rubric of ‘Track Two’, this thesis instead tackles the subject of unofficial diplomacy through a conceptual framework derived from critical and sociological work in International Relations theory. By taking a practice-based approach, the research reveals that what is actually done in the spaces of unofficial diplomacy not only has a diplomatic purpose at root but in fact can be seen to reproduce a diplomatic logic in how certain tasks are performed. The dissertation shows the intrinsic liminality of these informal, unofficial activities to the corridors of power and policymaking and, in this way, helps elaborate how the emergent landscape of diplomacy is impacted by various actors and changing practices. To understand why such processes appear around international conflict, the thesis calls attention to investigating how they are used by those who participate. The approach brings into focus the constitution of professional social networks that emerge in spaces left out of limelight, where various experts contest, debate, and refract policy knowledge. Through the eyes of these non-traditional actors, the thesis problematizes diplomacy as a solely state-based authority, insisting that we must look to the close imbrication of government representatives in putatively non-state activities to understand their contribution to global governance. Developed through an immersion and engagement of ten years with the very people who do the work, this project brings together several theoretical and methodological perspectives to make sense of a complex data-set and bridge a number of disciplinary gaps.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar boas práticas trazidas pela doutrina internacional durante o processo de solicitação de refúgio em razão de orientação sexual e/ou identidade de gênero a fim de recomendação de aplicação das mesmas no Brasil. Inaugura-se o trabalho realizando uma revisão histórica do instituto do refúgio bem com sua internalização no Brasil através da Lei 9.474/07. Além disso, o estudo a explorar como se dá a caracterização da perseguição para esse tipo de refúgio. Costura-se, por meio dos critérios de concessão de refúgio por grupo social, religião e opinião política o embasamento das decisões que vem concedendo refúgio LGBTI. Na análise da valoração das narrativas e situações imperantes sobre a situação de lésbicas, gays, bissexuais, trans e intersex no país de origem, busca-se práticas que não violem direitos humanos e garantam direitos. Utilizou-se para tanto do método de pesquisa bibliográfico, buscando-se na doutrina internacional e nacional práticas que possam vir a garantir direitos durante o processo de solicitação de refúgio. Obteve-se como resultado a estruturação de boas práticas utilizadas em outros países. Concluiu-se através do presente trabalho que o processo de refúgio por razão de perseguição por orientação sexual e/ou identidade de gênero possui atravessamentos de diversas ordens e enfrenta desafios que merecem aprofundamentos teóricos e empíricos sobre como se dá a declaração do status de refugiado. / This work aims to analyze good practices brought by international doctrine during the process of requesting refugee’s status based on sexual orientation and / or gender identity in order to recommend their application in Brazil. The work is inaugurated by carrying out a historical review of the refuge institute and its internalization in Brazil through Law 9.474 / 07. In addition, the study explore how the characterization of persecution for this type of refuge occurs. Through the criteria of granting refuge by social group, religion and political opinion, the bases of the decisions that have been granting LGBTI refuge are sewn. In the analysis of the assessment of the narratives and situations prevailing on the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex in the country of origin, practices are sought that do not violate human rights and guarantee rights. It was used for both the method of bibliographic research, researching in international and national doctrine practices that may guarantee rights during the process of requesting refuge. As a result, the structuring of good practices used in other countries has been summarized. It was concluded through the present work that the process of refuge due to persecution due to sexual orientation and / or gender identity has crosses of several orders and faces challenges that deserve theoretical and empirical deepening on how the declaration of refugee status is given.

This dissertation examines the ethnicization of Islam among a specific ethnic group in China, namely the Hui. It is based upon sixteen months of multi-sited fieldwork conducted in China's Henan Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region from 2010 to 2012. I argue that the particular ethno-imaginary of the Hui and their positioning vis-à-vis the Han majority - that they are both non-Han and more Han than the Han - are predicated upon a particular sexual economy. Islam is situated in an imagined dissymmetrical exchange of woman as that whose presumed truth can procure for the Hui the feminine "Han blood." The "nativization" of Islam among the Hui, i.e. its supposedly never complete "sinicization," occurs through the figure of the Han woman. In Part I of this dissertation, I trace the itinerary of this figure in both historiographical narratives of the Hui in the early twentieth century and the organizational variations of their contemporary life as Muslims in a swiftly-changing China. In Part II, I move to a more general level, and study two major institutions in the Chinese state's governance of ethnic difference, namely ethnic regional autonomy and ethnic cadre. I situate them within the socialist tradition and unpack their specificity in contrast to other political configurations in the governance of ethnic difference (e.g. liberal multiculturalism). I suggest that this socialist governance of difference is defined by a biopolitical logic, and argue that the link to sexuality that is intrinsic to the concept of biopolitics renders the Hui a particularly privileged site for exploring the complex relationship between the socialist politics of ethnicity and the socialist governance of sexuality.

This study investigates reputational penalties for two main types of corporate scandals in China: accounting scandal vs. corruption. Compared with U.S. firms that experienced an average of 41% drop in firm value if accounting scandal was disclosed, I find that accounting scandals are less destructive to firm value in a relationship-based economy such as China. However, while pure accounting scandals are relatively innocuous in China, I find that corruption charges against the firms' senior executives have serious consequences. I explore several explanations for such difference in market reaction to the two types of scandals, including political network effect, accounting write-off effect, corporate governance effect, incentive effect, and executive turnover effect. My empirical evidence provides consistent support to the political relationship explanation which indicates that the damaged social and political networks and the ability to contract caused by the corruption charges would have a more negative impact on firms' operations and performances. Although my results do not fully eliminate all the other alternative explanations, they are likely to be a less important reason for the stronger reputation penalties for corruption charges than accounting scandals in China. / Zhang, Fang. / Adviser: T.J. Wang. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 72-11, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-61). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.