<p> This study examines the factors that influence national decisions about developing nuclear fuel cycle technology, and the central question for this study is why countries have developed different national nuclear fuel cycles. Prospect theory is used as the basis of an analytical framework for studying nuclear fuel cycle decision making. In essence, prospect theory states that nations are risk averse when in a gains domain and risk acceptant when in a losses domain. This study hypothesizes that a country's nuclear fuel cycle decision making is determined by the frame of reference and domain (either gains or losses) and that security concerns are a factor driving policy behind all nuclear programs. </p><p> A structured, focused comparison of Indian, Japanese, and South Korean nuclear fuel cycle decision making was conducted in order to test the hypotheses. Major nuclear fuel cycle decisions made between approximately 1950 and 1990 in each country were analyzed. The results verified this study's hypotheses. Decisions were mostly made according to the tenets of prospect theory, and security concerns (national security or energy security) were a driver for the nuclear programs in all three countries. The study also emphasized that nuclear fuel cycle technology is strategic and highly valued by countries and that national leaders are involved with making major nuclear fuel cycle decisions. </p><p> Prospect theory proved to be a more powerful analytical tool than existing theories of nuclear weapons proliferation. Prospect theory accounts for a country's capabilities, intentions, and situational and temporal context. In this way, prospect theory gives a holistic view of how all nuclear technologies fit into strategic interests and how a country's leadership's frame of reference with regard to strategic interests influences the direction of nuclear fuel cycle decision making. Prospect theory on its own does not offer a model or predictor of nuclear fuel cycle technology development, but it illuminates how leaders viewed nuclear fuel cycle decisions and why certain decisions were made.</p>

<p> The <i>Wanling lu</i> is an important text in the history of Chan and Zen Buddhism. The text contains the teachings of a Chan Master in the lineage that would become the orthodox in China during the Song dynasty, and later spread to Japan and Korea. According to traditional accounts, the text originated from the notes taken by the government official, Pei Xiu, during a visit with Chan Master Huangbo in 849 C.E. Recent scholarship has called the traditional accounts of the origins of this text into question, though the text can still be reliably dated to the Tang dynasty. The <i> Wanling lu</i> was first translated into English in 1958. In this thesis, I summarize the history of the text and include biographical material concerning the text's central figure, Huangbo. I also provide my own translation of the Wanling lu with annotation, replacing the outdated 1958 edition.</p>

<p> This thesis analyzes the evolution of the Sino-Japanese conflict over ownership of the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands since the end of the Cold War. It argues that the 2012-2013 confrontation following the nationalization of the islands by Japan is the result of a process of conflict escalation that played out during repeated cycles of tensions over the previous two decades. Tensions reached a first peak in 1996 after Japanese activists built a lighthouse on one of the Senkaku/Diaoyu. Another confrontation would have erupted in 2004 after Chinese activists landed on one of the islands were it not for the intervention of Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro. After both events, nothing was done to prevent future confrontations, which allowed the conflict to fester and enter a downward spiral. This process resulted in worsening mutual perceptions and more assertive domestic audiences on both sides, which pushed Chinese and Japanese leaders towards increasingly confrontational attitudes, eventually resulting in two serious incidents in 2010 and 2012 that brought bilateral tensions to a new post-WWII high.</p>

<p> This is a case study that focuses on the socio-cultural and historical contexts that influenced the studio art practice of three Post-80s Generation student artists attending the Chinese Art School in Beijing. This study is grounded on the idea that the creation of art is determined by an interplay between multiple factors within the milieu (of what makes it understood to be &ldquo;art&rdquo; by the majority) and their influence on the artistic creation, which is non-assertive and invariably established in relation to others that happen to share and coexist within this processual context of doing and learning art making. On the other hand, the notion of a <i> context</i> in this study refers to a notion of &ldquo;genealogies&rdquo; where contexts are distanced from descriptions based on a horizontal platform or a lineal chain of events. Rather, in line with the methods that emerge from arts research and practice, this project operates on a &ldquo;messy&rdquo; yet sensible horizon of interconnections that transcend fixed notions of time and space.</p><p> While sixteen participants took part in data collection, the main focus is reserved to three student-artists. Data collection was conducted in the month of June in 2010 and 2011. Interviews and studio visits were the two methods applied for data collection. Data or narratives collected from the three research participants pertaining to the development of their studio art practices provided three avenues of interpretation: first, through the students&rsquo; own idiosyncratic accounts of their work and their student experience; secondly, through the lens of art as a collective entity from both the perspective of the participants and the researcher; and last, through a summative analysis, offering a number of possible explanations.</p><p> Through an analysis of the students&rsquo; artistic production and their art educational experience, this study aims at offering art educators, both within as well as outside China, with a discussion that illustrates the history and the stories of the Post-80s Generation student artists in the Chinese Art School.</p>

<p> This dissertation reports the results of a cross-sectional investigation into the bicultural identity and Khmer language competence of Cambodian refugees (N = 41) deported to Cambodia by the United States government for committing an aggravated felony. This group was expected to have been an Americanized group as most arrived to the US before age 12 (S. Keo, personal communication 12/29/2009) and to manifest high rates of psychopathology secondary to war trauma under the Khmer Rouge and stressors from violent, poor US communities where they grew up (Marshall, Schell, Elliott, Berthold, &amp; Chun, 2005). Differences in individuals' well-being and reported growth following deportation were expected to correlate with reported integration of internal ethnic identities and competence in Khmer (Cambodian) language. Results indicate limited relationships between main variables. Implications for future research are discussed.</p>

<p>Over the past two decades, a substantial literature has focused on the geopolitics of strategically located Central Asian energy supplies. Some analysts have even regarded the international competition over the regional oil and gas as a New Great Game among the developed West, Russia, and the emerging Asian energy importers. Much less attention has been paid to the means employed by the various competitors in achieving their interests in the Central Asian hydrocarbon sector. This Master Thesis analyzes the competition over the energy resources in Kazakhstan between two regional powers Russia and China for the period from 1991 to 2011. The study assesses the concept of power in its political, economic, and military terms as a way to achieve desired outcomes in the regional energy sector. The analysis concludes that economic statecraft is the dominant tool used in securing interests in the Central Asian oil and gas sector and thus allows China's economic clout to guarantee favorable energy deals. At the same time, the results suggest that Russia's soft power along with the traditional military engagements help to secure other strategic interests in the region apart from the energy sector. </p>

<p> Bruce Lee is a martial arts action star whose enduring screen image has lasted many decades beyond his death, and this is partially due to the numerous clones that came out after the star's premature death in 1973. These clones and various spin-offs of Lee's life's works resulted in the phenomenon dubbed "Bruceploitation." As time passed, the Bruceploitation phenomenon slowed down, but more recently there has been an interest in Bruce Lee's life with various films and television series that attempt to tell the life story of the actor, especially with his family's involvement. While earlier forms of Bruceploitation films strove to exploit Lee's image for financial profits, these more recent works do not seem to exploit Lee in the same way. In particular, Bruceploitation in more recent works aims to exploit the martial arts star's narrative to associate his persona with specific ideologies. I argue, however, that the more recent television series by China Central Television, <i>The Legend of Bruce Lee,</i> is in fact following in the legacy of Bruceploitation in that this category of texts is not only about making money without the consent of the star, but it is rooted in the act of exploitation, which redefined the image of Bruce Lee in a national Chinese context. Although the CCTV series may not look for financial profits as its main goal through the perpetuation of Lee's narrative, it is exploiting his image for ideological purposes. In particular, the series exploits Lee's image to assert national Chinese power in a global context, which can be seen through the production practices, circulation of the series, and the construction of specific scenes throughout the series. </p>

<p> The present work comprises a detailed study of specific terms of discourse in the pre-twelfth century sources of esoteric "Tantric" Shaivism, both scriptural and exegetical, some of which are still unpublished and others of which are published only in the original Sanskrit. As a dissertation in South Asian Studies using the philological method, the primary purpose of the study is to ascertain the range of meanings of certain technical terms of great importance to the theology and practice of the &Sacute;aiva religion, namely <i> &amacr;ve&sacute;a, sam&amacr;ve&sacute;a,</i> and <i>&sacute;aktip&amacr;ta. </i> The work focuses on both the independent meaning and the intersection of these key terms, incorporating also the terms <i>d&imacr;k&dotbelow;s&amacr; </i> and <i>vedha</i> in the latter endeavor. The intersection of these terms constitutes a complex set of relationships, a nexus of ideas that lie at the very heart of the &Sacute;aiva tradition and which, due to the latter's widespread influence, came to be important in Tantric Buddhism and later forms of Hinduism as well. This thesis contends that <i>sam&amacr;ve&sacute;a </i>&mdash;meaning the fusion or commingling of one's self with the energy of one's deity and/or the consciousness of one's guru&mdash;is <i>the </i> key term that distinguishes Tantric Shaivism from mainstream (esp. Vaidika) Indian religion. This constitutes a reinterpretation and overcoding of the earlier meaning of <i>&amacr;ve&sacute;a,</i> i.e. self-induced controlled possession by a deity. </p><p> <i>Sam&amacr;ve&sacute;a</i> is important to all forms of Shaivism, whether dualistic and ritualized (the Siddhanta) or nondual subitist charismatic forms (the Kaula). This thesis further contends that a philological study of <i>sam&amacr;ve&sacute;a</i> and related terms like <i> &sacute;aktip&amacr;ta</i> demonstrates that <i>religious experience </i> (or evidence thereof) was considered central and indispensable to initiatory Shaivism throughout the medieval period. <i>&Sacute;aktip&amacr;ta </i> was requisite to receive the basic level of initiation, and in the Kaula branch of the tradition, <i>sam&amacr;ve&sacute;a</i> denoted forms of religious experience that were necessary for aspirants to demonstrate in order to receive higher-level initiations. The former term is still commonly used in many Hindu communities today to designate a "spiritual awakening" or initiatory experience that is transmitted by a qualified guru. </p><p> Part One of this work is a comprehensive overview of the nature and structure of the Shaiva religion, providing important context to what follows. Part Two studies the key terms of <i>(sam)&amacr;ve&sacute;a, &sacute;aktip&amacr;ta, </i> etc. in a) early Sanskrit literature generally, b) &Sacute;aiva scriptures, and c) the abundant exegetical literature based on those scriptures. </p>

<p> Very few urban elementary African American and Hispanic students have access to foreign language programs. Thus, students of color have historically been under-represented in foreign language study. At the same time, urban elementary foreign language programs for economically disadvantaged African American and Hispanic students might level the playing field for these students and help prepare them to participate more fully in a global economy and community in the future. The present case study is based on a mixed methods approach using logic model and overlapping spheres of influence theory to examine the impact of the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School (BRCPS) Chinese language and culture program on its stakeholders (students, parents, school teachers, administrators, and board members). A sequential explanatory strategy is used to investigate stakeholders' perceptions and attitudes toward the BRCPS Chinese language and culture program. It further reveals discrepancies between the stakeholders' perceptions/attitudes and their racial backgrounds, working length of time and involvement with BRCPS, SES (Socioeconomic Status), grade connection, and gender. It also identifies the factors that influence BRCPS students' motivation and interest in learning Chinese. This study, therefore, finds out that the majority of the BRCPS stakeholders are satisfied with BRCPS Chinese language and culture program. The biggest challenge identified is Chinese teachers' lack of classroom control and the difficulty in maintaining positive student discipline in Chinese class. Stakeholders suggest Chinese language should be taught as a core curriculum rather than as a specialist subject. They also suggest that all the stakeholders should work together to value Chinese learning.</p>

<p> This dissertation commences a critical examination of the issue of historical representation and draw on the fieldwork surrounding Bopiliao Historic District in Taipei to explore how the imagination and authentic sense of heritage influence the designation of historic sites and the way in which people use authenticity to negotiate their position in the progress of place making. The buildings cannot speak for themselves. Historical significance is not a given but something that needs to be interpreted and constantly reimagined. A sentimental yearning for a former time and place is not enough to explain the establishment of this historic district with twists and turns and the ambivalence over it expressed by the host community. </p><p> The first empirical chapter describes the historical background, preservation process, and the status quo of Bopiliao Old Street under the influence of the government-supported film <i>Monga</i>, which causes considerable controversy over heritage and culture representation and affects public image of the site and the host community. The second empirical chapter illustrates how an old urban neighborhood has been narrated, interpreted, and eventually certificated and accepted by the public as cultural heritage based on various social groups' heritage imagination and practice. The third empirical chapter examines how the stakeholders construct and employ the idea of authenticity to justify their viewpoint of cultural heritage and to strive for their position in the progress of place making. </p><p> My research seeks to contribute to the sociological literature on historic representation, heritage interpretation, and the construction of historical authenticity by exploring the increasingly central role played by media, activists and the locals. The tangible heritage is the production of the interaction between historic relics and the host community. Historical representation in the cinematographic media became a stimulus urging civil resistance to the existing official forms and strategy of historic preservation. Tourism continues to highlight the impact as well, for the opinions of the visiting tourists play an important role in reinforcing the image of destination. The contradiction in the sense of authenticity among social groups implies the existence of entirely different images of cultural heritage. The conflict represents the struggle of establishing local identity in contemporary Taiwan society. It is argued that the preserved heritage never denotes a successful end; rather, it is a start of the dialectical place-making process.</p>