The idea of rumours as oral history, the appeal of an apparently isolated community, and the social and economic value of small towns in present day South Africa is what attracted me to Nieu Bethesda and the Owl House. My research report is divided into three chapters: economic viability, rumour as oral history, and race relations. I look at what constitutes the Nieu Bethesda brand; how it is formulated, marketed, sold, and received, the manner in which rumours could be seen as historical sources as well as value-producing acts, and the role of race relations in determining who benefits from or is able to capitalise on the tourism generated in Nieu Bethesda. I am not interested in proving or disproving stories, but rather extracting their social value in contributing to the brand identity. Nieu Bethesda is a microcosm that allows us to understand the broader South African context as well as the relationship between ideas of the country and ideas of the city. My fieldwork took place during March, June, July and September of 2013 as well as preliminary fieldwork conducted in November and December of the previous year. The methods used include participantobservation, in-depth interviews, and documentation through photographs.

My thesis is an exploration of the emotional connection we have with architecture. The inspirations for the Grief and Healing Sanctuary were the healing experienced at quiet spaces of reflection and my father's stories as a Navy Vietnam shipboard combat veteran. I designed a building to provide a place for healing and to deal with grief. The building was designed for patients and their families being treated at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Not all families leave as they arrive. The families, many from out of town, need a place to reflect, pray, cry, or laugh. This need was reinforced by my father's stories of his transition from normal life to the extremes of combat to life back as a civilian. No one comes out unaffected, and there is not always a place to go and reflect. The Grief and Healing Sanctuary provides these spaces for all people who have these needs. / Master of Architecture

Thesis (MArts(ReligionStudies) -- University of South Australia, 2002.

Thesis (MArts(ReligionStudies) -- University of South Australia, 2002.

Applied research project (D. Min.)--School of Theology and Missions, Oral Roberts University, 2003. / Includes abstract and vita. Translated from Korean. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-196).

Applied research project (D. Min.)--School of Theology and Missions, Oral Roberts University, 2003. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-173).

Bibliography: pages 177-190. / This ethnographic study of Nieu Bethesda, a village in the Eastern Cape district of South Africa, is the product of a total of five months of fieldwork. The research was conducted between 1993 and 1995, a period that spanned the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994. The ethnography explores the effects of apartheid on life in Nieu Bethesda. It traces the dynamic interactions between social life and worldviews as these were manifested in the village. Geographically isolated, and to a large extent cut off from mainstream politics, the processes and effects of apartheid in this village have taken an idiosyncratic form. The research suggests that racial stratification has been remarkably resilient throughout the history of the village. Such stratification must be understood in terms of ideas shaped both during and before the apartheid era, rather than solely in terms of state action or the violence of apartheid. Ideologies of segregation have found their expression in paternalistic practices on the part of Whites, and the relations of dependence thus generated may account for the apparent lack .of overt opposition to apartheid. However, the thesis acknowledges the multiplicity of voices in the village, and negates the notion of a shared set of ideas and values sanctioned by the population of Nieu Bethesda. Subtle change has taken place in the 1990s, only some of which is attributable to the demise of apartheid. In addition, factors such as the provision of electricity and a dramatic increase in tourism have reduced the isolation of the village, and networks of mutual support link the people of Nieu Bethesda with other parts of South Africa. It is suggested that change in the foreseeable future is more likely to originate from the increased communication that such networks make possible, than from changes in legislation, or improvements in material conditions, resulting from development projects.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Film and Television, August 2017 / Located in the town of Nieu Bethesda in the Karoo desert, the Owl House is a fascinating heritage museum that was once the home to outsider artist, Helen Martins. Much work has been created about the eccentric Helen Martins and her unusual home, and appears in the form of books, films, music and plays. The content of these works follow a similar pattern, and it is the aim of this research and film to explore a less literal interpretation of the Owl House, and its creators, Helen Martins and Koos Malgas. The Owl House is re-imagined through the lens of an experimental essay film, juxtaposing footage of the creative eastern imagery of the Owl House (in South Africa) with actual footage of the east (India, Thailand and Laos). In exploring these binaries, an investigation of theory of the landscape, home, mobility and hermeneutics takes place. Furthermore, these theories and concepts are looked at in relation to the politics of an apartheid, and later, a democratic South Africa. The Owl House is therefore analysed as the collaboration of the white, female Helen Martins, and the coloured, male Koos Malgas. / XL2018

Spoiler Alert! The purpose of this essay is to analyze how religion and life philosophies are expressed and which funtion they have in the video- and computer game Fallout 4. This purpose will be achieved by looking into the religious movements that exists in the game. The method used is a thematic description with comparative appropriation and the essay was based on the following issues: Which God-image and cosmology characterizes the movements? How are the movements organized? Which ethical and political bases does the movements rest upon? In which way(s) are the movements presented, in a negative or positive way?   The basic conclusion is that the game contains several movements which are all different in some ways. Some are more similar than others while some are more different. The most common property is the belief of something itself, they are all expressing some kind of belief. The movements degree of organization varies. Some are far more structured than others. They do all have different purposes and goals which also make their ethical och political bases varying. The movements are mostly presented in some negative way but some are also presented in postive ways. The way the movements are presented in are therefor also varying.

While considering the role of media in shaping and examining histories, we must also grapple with formal limitations in approaching and understanding the past. The thesis aims to bring video games into critical conversations regarding history, memory, and nostalgia by considering the similar and unique perspectives the medium can bring alongside film, television, radio, and literature. Player positionality and interactivity within the unconventional, non-linear game storytelling form allows for different engagements with history. Focusing on the futuristic, post-apocalyptic role-playing game Fallout 3 (2008), this study interrogates the game’s nuanced presentation of genre as a cultural mediation of the past, the negotiation of memory with history, and our problematic assumptions about technology and narratives of progress. While the study finds games may provide rewarding and potentially critical explorations of history, the self-reflexive nature of video gaming emphasizes the medium’s possibilities, limitations, and implications as a cultural product shaped by the very forces constructing history. / text