Thesis (Ph. D.)--Syracuse University, 2005. / "Publication number AAT 3176990."

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Syracuse University, 2005. / "Publication number AAT 3182636."

Thesis (M.A.R.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 51).

Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- The Institute for Clinical Social Work, 1995. / A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Institute of Clinical Social Work in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Drawing from an extensive and unique data set acquired by combining a cross-national comparative approach and a mixed methods methodology, this thesis examines the contributions of Facebook to citizens’ political participation in Italy and the UK. In the last decade there has been a proliferation of academic studies investigating the links between digital technologies and citizens’ political participation, with an increasing number of publications focusing on social networking websites (SNSs). Within this specific sub-field, research has produced contrasting evidence. Some scholars stress the positive impact of the Internet and SNSs on political participation (i.e., optimists), while others minimise their mobilising power, emphasising their tendency to reinforce existing participatory trends (i.e., normalisers) or highlighting their limited or even negative influence on political participation (i.e., pessimists). The present research differs from the majority of investigations in this area in three ways. Firstly, the data for this study were gathered mostly in a non-electoral period and thus the contributions of Facebook to citizens’ political participation were assessed independently of the electoral process, which usually occasions a rise in political participation. In addition, this research tackled two conceptual weaknesses characterising many Internet and political participation studies: the failure to consider political participation as a multidimensional phenomenon and the over-generalised approach to Internet and SNS usages. It did so by differentiating between political communication and political mobilisation activities, and three Facebook non-political usages, i.e., information, interpersonal communication, and social recreation. Thirdly, in response to the lack of cross-national comparative studies in this subject area, the contributions of Facebook to citizens’ political participation were examined in the different contexts of Italy and the United Kingdom. This thesis makes four main contributions to the field of political communication, and more specifically to the strand of research examining the impact of digital technologies on political participation. The first contribution is the Particularised Model of Facebook Political Participation. The model identifies a number of factors mediating the links between Facebook and political participation, demonstrating the relevance of both external, context-related factors related to the British and Italian media and political landscapes, and more personal, subjective ones such as self-presentation, pre-existing levels of political engagement, and the nature and size of the Facebook network. Secondly, this study sheds light on the ways that Facebook functions as a political platform, establishing that dynamics typical of both new and traditional media are in action on this SNS, and that Facebook holds the capacity to activate a virtuous circle, thereby generating an information-led mobilisation. The third contribution is the Dual Routes of Exposure Model which offers clarification on the alleged tendency of digital technologies to promote selective exposure and, consequently, political fragmentation and polarisation, and shows that Facebook can operate as a potential antidote to such trends. The fourth contribution is to the polarised debate between optimists, normalisers, and pessimist, with the present research further highlighting the sterility of such a debate and indicating potentially fruitful approaches for the development of the field.

This PhD research project builds on thirteen years of enquiries as an academic practitioner, developing/critiquing interactive audio-visuals. This approach interweaves theory and practice so that both build on each other. It responds to the need for principles that inter-relate people, digital technologies and environments. The concept of “responsive environments” (RE) is offered as a starting point for the development of principles focusing on people within these environments. A responsive environment is “responsive” in the sense that some form of computer technologies are present and sensing/recording/reacting to people, and an “environment” in the sense that these activities are located in a place and that that place matters in terms of setting the scene, housing the technology and providing a context for the users/visitors. Common themes were extracted from the literature review to draw together previous and, for the most part, separate attempts at theory/practice relating to RE. These themes were complemented by research into contemporaneous activities in the areas of Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and Locative Media to provided enhancements to the development of three practice projects. These enhancements together with the incorporation of Moore and Anderson’s concepts of “patient”, “actor”, “reciprocator” and “referee” as roles available to those encountering REs led to specific research questions regarding roles, positions, opportunities for repurposing content, learning experiences, the use of sound, visuals and presence, and the assessment of values represented in and through a responsive environment. In each case these questions shift the emphasis of the research towards the experiencing of REs and what they enable rather than the technologies used only. The use of Schwartz and Halegoua’s concept of the “spatial self” further focuses attention of the value in connecting digital expression with real spaces through an RE. This has led to a proposed conceptual framework and principles of practice that can be applied in the area of study of RE to nurture opportunities for participants and protagonists. The latter term is proposed as a means of acknowledging opportunities to make content/concepts in an RE as well as obtain and use them by participation. These opportunities are supported by both synchronous and asynchronous interactions through digital layers using online social media platforms. These platforms enable the archiving of content in a digital layer and/or possibilities for continued social interaction through a digital social layer in relation to the responsive environment. The incorporation of synchronous and asynchronous interactions through digital layers is a major contribution to the concept of REs. A further contribution is the use of the pioneering work of Gordon Pask in both the practice and theory of cybernetics as informing the concept of REs. Pask provided a formulation that expressed how content/concepts could be produced through relationships between people, computers and environments. This approach has been mirrored in other disciplines thus giving additional credence to its value. This discovery provides the impetus for further research, by academic practitioners and others, in this developing area of study.

This thesis examines public relations in Saudi Arabia as an occupational group. The thesis investigates the knowledge public relations practitioners possess, and how Saudi culture and public communication factors affect public relations practitioners. The thesis offers insights into the cultural background of the country, public communication and public relations practice in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, it provides an analysis of theories of the profession and the relationship between the profession and public relations occupation. For the purposes of this research, in-depth unstructured interviews were used to collect data from 27 practitioners. A constructivist paradigm was utilised to examine the Saudi practitioners’ perceptions of knowledge, culture, public communication. Moreover, the thesis has followed a socio-cultural approach and theories of the profession to investigate the empirical data. The thesis has several contributions to knowledge. Firstly, it brings an understanding of the role of the state in the process of professionalization. Using Vygotsky’s theories the thesis has found that educational institutions influence PR practice and this results in lack of progress and limited opportunities for change, learning and career movement. Secondly, the thesis found that there is disconnection between theories that are taught in universities with PR programmes and PR practices. The thesis found that there is a problematic nature of abstract knowledge, which determines the disconnection between communication theories and PR practice. Moreover, there is a disconnection between the practice immersed in culture and that cultural practices are stronger than professional practice. Finally, the thesis has contributed to the literature by finding out that ethics in Western countries are regarded as something that is developed by a professional body in a way that relates to society, however in Saudi Arabia the Muslim values and ethics are implemented directly in the work context and ethics is not developed by a professional body.

Orientador: Orlando Francisco Lopes / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Matematica, Estatistica e Computação Científica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-14T12:11:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Borges_MarciaAparecidaAncheazzi_M.pdf: 1613436 bytes, checksum: e8d71bcdb597791eb280411b8705ecdc (MD5) Previous issue date: 1977 / Resumo: Não informado. / Abstract: Not informed. / Mestrado / Mestre em Matemática

This thesis examines Albert Camus's 1937 lecture 'La nouvelle culture méditerraneeime', using a multi-contextualist version of the intellectual-historical approach to textual interpretation developed by Quentin Skinner. Whereas Skinner rejects text-centred and crude socio-historical approaches and focuses on the argumentative context of previous texts on the same subject, I argue that different parts of the text need to be placed in different contexts - argumentative, biographical and socio-historical - for its significance to be properly understood. I also supplement Skinner's approach with the complementary approaches of J.G.A. Pocock and Reinhard Koselleck, which focus on discourses and concepts respectively. Discussing humanist and postcolonial approaches to Camus's lecture, I show that both are ultimately unsatisfactory, whether at the textual or the contextual level. The humanist contextualization of the lecture in terms of French discourses on the Mediterranean fails to take adequate account of the colonial context, and the postcolonial contextualization of the lecture in terms of French discourses on Algeria fails to take adequate account of both the lecture's political context and Camus's position on the colonial issue. Camus's attitudes are compared and contrasted with those of Gabriel Audisio, his greatest influence in the lecture, and those of Maurras and Henri Massis, his polemical targets. The lecture is shown to intervene in three overlapping debates: on the Mediterranean, culture and the East/West question. Although Camus does not address colonialism in the lecture itselL his other activities at the time demonstrate his commitment to native Algerian civil rights. I show that at the biographical level, the attitudes he expresses in the lecture were influenced by both his family background and by other thinkers, especially Jean Grenier, Nietzsche and possibly Balcunin. These attitudes had a profound impact in turn on his later thinking, notably in L 'J-lomme révolté and during the Algerian war.

The primary intent of this research has been the analysis of network television newscasts, with the purpose of understanding the relationship between the network organization and the news product, specifically in times of institutional change. This study focuses on the years 1984-87, which represent a period of virtual transformation of the American broadcast industry. As all three networks came under new management, there were major changes at the news divisions and accompanying responses were anticipated in the newscasts. The present investigation was designed to examine the behavior of the nightly network newscasts which accompanied the shifts in the network organizations. A systematic content analysis was designed to measure components of the network nightly newscasts for the four years from 1984-87. Using the Vanderbilt News Abstracts, almost 40,000 news stories were coded on forty-five different format and content variables. By measuring each of these variables, it was possible to describe the behavior of the network news system at given points and track its evolution over time, thereby leading to answers about the impact of organizational change on network news. Major findings include the trend toward fewer, longer stories and reports in the average newscast. The anchors did fewer tell stories, but conducted more interviews. Domestic news was sacrificed for increased coverage of international news, and the biggest cuts came from local news. The networks used fewer correspondents and expanded their use of 'remote' correspondents covering news from a secondary location. The newscasts increased the number of sources speaking on-camera and all but eliminated network commentary. There was no significant change in the coverage of story topics or the proportion of government-related news. In conclusion, there were clear changes in the newscasts which correlate with the events of the four years of the study.