Thesis advisor: Ernesto Livon-Grosman / This dissertation takes a literary and cultural studies model to explain the textual representation of these unique islands since their discovery until present day. The main argument suggests that the depiction of this crucial space for modernity in Western thought, given the rhetoric of travel and fiction writers, deploys the insular area with the intention of conceiving new forms of political displacement and identity endeavors in addition to those of the nation building project that took place in the mainland. As a result of colonial enterprises, scientific excursions, exile, tourism, journalistic pieces, expeditions, etc., travel writings of the Galápagos record the experience of reshaping this space à propos of a theory of travel and travel writing mediated by narratives that complement the formation of the state and its national imagery. The insular space functions as a vacant signifier where travelers are able to communicate their own signified upon narrating the experiences of their journeys. This phenomenon creates a profound conceptual and political division between the identity of the isles and the nation of Ecuador, and the findings of this study can be extrapolated to a historical specificity of explorations and representations that deal with narrative constructions of highly condensed spaces throughout Latin America as a whole, if one can claim they are a case study of an "unfinished" modernity. This separation created a rupture leading to fundamental variations in the manner in which local inhabitants and foreign entities interpret the insular province nowadays. The literature of the Galápagos reflects the scale of friction, migratory tendencies into the islands, and how global interests prevail in the appropriation of the space, reshaping the subjective individuality of the host culture. The first chapter examines texts of discovery written during the colonial enterprise of Spain. Given the anthropological void in the Galápagos, these initial pieces of writing emphasize the monstrosity of the landscape and the biota, but also portray a possibility to find riches. This description ignites a dichotomist infernal-paradisiacal appraisal of the archipelago, and recreates it as a warped textual space which, in turn, develops an imagery that demonstrates the flexibility of the deserted island: writers set forth almost any form of representation that favors imperial interests. The second chapter analyzes travel literature written in English during the nineteenth century. These texts define the islands as a world within itself rather than as a province of Ecuador, and have a major impact on its imagery given the authority of its writers. In the midst of Latin-American independence, the nation-building project, and the quest for a cosmopolitan state, foreign texts are detached from the social and political reality of the entourage, and transmit a fallacious notion of desertedness, which allows for future occupations of transcontinental scope. These books also create a bilingual literature that preludes the migratory movement and touristic commerce that currently defines this province. The final chapter focuses on three books written by local authors and how they combat or appropriate previous insular narratives providing a native perspective. A historiographical novel, defined as a "foundational fiction" that portrays the Galápagos as a prison and pirate hideout, exhibits the violent environment of the newborn Ecuadorian Republic. This piece generates a fissure in the international community that regards the islands as paradise and still is, therefore, largely ignored. A second narrative shows how the Galápagos occupation of the United States during World War II is crucial for interpreting and understanding the archipelago during the twentieth century. It preludes current international interests that dominate policy-undertakings, particularly the ones concerning tourism, environmental, and geopolitical endeavors. Finally, a quarto book exemplifies how texts have enticed and caused not only a critical political and national divorce between the nation and the insular region, but also a market-oriented global milieu triggering migration towards this zone. The discussed works include Tomás de Berlanga's "Carta a su majestad describiendo su viaje" (1535), Sarmiento de Gamboa's Historia de los incas (1572), Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle (1839), Melville's The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles (1854), Manuel Bilbao's El pirata del Guayas (1855), Bolívar Naveda's Galápagos a la vista (1952), and Hugo Idrovo's Galápagos: huellas en el paraíso (2005). I use critical theory from Adorno, Bartkowski, Bloom, De Certeau, Deleuze, Edmond, Mignolo, Molloy, Musgrove, O'Gorman, Pratt, Sommer, Todorov, Van den Abbeele, and others to show the impact of the construction of an imaginary space that morphs incessantly and responds more to writers' interests than to the inherent qualities of the isles. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Romance Languages and Literatures.

This thesis provides an analysis of Manteño site abandonment in the cloud forest of Manabí, Ecuador. First, the types, frequency, and distribution of artifacts at site C4-044 were recorded, mapped, and compared to levels of phosphate in the soil to determine activity areas. The obtained evidence allowed me to make general approximations of the site’s pre-abandonment behavior. Then, the archaeological data together with environmental and bioarchaeological information from the region were assessed to propose the mode of departure from site C4-044. Through ethnography and ethnoarchaeology, a recent historical account of abandonment in the cloud forest was obtained as well, providing additional insight regarding adaptive strategies and behavioral choices to changing contextual circumstances. The culmination of this evidence shows a gradual mode of abandonment from site C4-044 in the cloud forest that was planned and executed accordingly. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Shrimp mariculture expansion in developing countries has been criticized for its ecological destruction and the resulting social conflicts. In Ecuador, shrimp pond development particularly affects rural, coastal communities. This study addresses the environmental and social effects of shrimp farming in two Ecuadorian villages, Muisne and Bunche. Interview and survey responses indicate that locals have an overall negative view of the industry. In some instances, such as increased class marginalization through reduced access to subsistence collection areas, shrimp farming directly results in conflict. However, the data also demonstrates that ponds are only one of various stressors on mangrove ecosystems. Furthermore, mariculture provides benefits to the community, including increasing employment opportunities, the local economy, and shrimp availability. In spite of these benefits, local negative perception suggests modifications to existing regulations and educational programs are necessary to minimize impacts and help the community understand the multiple factors affecting their ecosystem and livelihoods. / by Mary C. Crider. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Articula una mirada cualitativa y cuantitativa a la problemática de la capacitación docente y su repercusión en el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes, estudio que ha permitido analizar y comprender la influencia que tiene la capacitación docente en el aula, además permitió valorar el criterio que los docentes tienen acerca de su capacitación y la incidencia en su desempeño laboral. El universo estudiado fue limitado a los docentes y directivos de la institución, y a los estudiantes de los novenos y decimos años de educación básica de la Unidad Educativa Asaad Bucaram de la ciudad de Arenillas, provincia El Oro, Ecuador, en al año 2014, se utilizó la encuesta y la recolección de datos como técnicas investigativas, logrando por su intermedio el cumplimiento del objetivo central que fue conocer y determinar el grado de capacitación del docente y su influencia en el aprendizaje, resultado final que permitió evidenciar que además de la capacitación puede existir otros factores que influyen en el rendimiento del estudiante. Finalmente y ante el resultado de la capacitación nula que recibieron en los últimos años los docentes de la muestra, se recomienda la implementación de un plan continuo de capacitación docente, capacitación que permitirá un desarrollo en la calidad educativa y rendimiento académico de los estudiantes del Centro Educativo. / Tesis

Determina en qué medida la productividad empresarial influye en la competitividad de las medianas empresas manufactureras textiles del Cantón Quito, provincia de Pichincha del Ecuador. En el marco metodológico se menciona que se trata de una investigación transversal de tipo descriptivo-correlacional. La selección y la determinación del tamaño de la muestra se hicieron según la intención o la experiencia del investigador. A este tipo de muestreo se lo conoce como muestreo discrecional, intencional, estimativo u opinático. La recolección de los datos se hizo a través de 139 encuestas, que se aplicó a las empresas medianas del cantón Quito, realizadas en el primer semestre del año 2015. Para el procesamiento de los datos se utilizó el programa estadístico digital SPSS. En lo relacionado a los resultados, se aplicó el coeficiente de correlación de Pearson, determinándose que la productividad empresarial influye de manera positiva y moderada con un coeficiente de 0,450 en la competitividad de las medianas empresas textiles del cantón Quito. En la conclusión general se menciona que la productividad empresarial influye de manera positiva y moderada en la competitividad de las empresas medianas manufactureras textiles, ya que el crecimiento de estas empresas en el mercado local se mantiene moderado. / Tesis

Publicación a texto completo no autorizada por el autor / Determina la relación de la gestión administrativa en el desempeño docente de la escuela “San José”. Investigación de tipo aplicada, de nivel descriptivo y asume el diseño correlacional. La población y muestra está conformada por la totalidad de directivos, docentes, estudiantes, administrativos, siendo un total de 310 individuos, el tamaño muestral elegido de forma intencional no probabilística siendo un total de 173 individuos de la unidad de análisis. Se aplica dos instrumentos: un cuestionario para medir la gestión administrativa, que consta de 27 ítems y mide las dimensiones: gestión de recursos académicos, gestión de los recursos humanos, gestión de los recurso materiales, gestión de los recursos financieros; una encuesta, consta de 31 ítems y mide las dimensiones: Nivel académico, gestión pedagógica, relaciones interpersonales, valores morales. Ambos han sido validados mediante juicio de expertos y presentan un adecuado nivel de confiabilidad: 0,803 y 0,819 respectivamente. Los resultados demuestran que existe una relación positiva entre la gestión administrativa y el desempeño docente, de la escuela escuela “San José” del cantón Piñas, provincia El Oro, Ecuador durante el año escolar 2014. / Tesis

Publicación a texto completo no autorizada por el autor / Analiza cómo la capacitación profesional del docente universitario se relaciona con el desempeño académico como tutor en la Universidad Técnica de Babahoyo. Resalta la importancia de la capacitación profesional, ya que representa una vía esencial de la formación continua del profesor universitario, por ser esta una herramienta de carácter metodológico que les posibilita potenciar sus niveles de formación para desempeñar el conjunto de actividades que demanda la educación superior contemporánea. / Tesis

How has the party affiliation of presidential candidates impacted presidential elections in Ecuador? Historically, how have political party candidates and outsiders performed in elections and how has this changed over the last 20 years of democratic history? This case study attempts to answer fundamental questions about the connections between parties and electablility of presidential candidates. In a country with an inchoate party system and a history of populism, personalist candidates have always had relatively high levels of electoral success. Yet, it would seem that preference for unaligned candidates is increasing. After years of domination by political party candidates, the Ecuadorian people elected two political neophytes to compete in the final round of the 2002 elections. Both campaigned as outsiders, with strong opposition to the party system, and both created personal political parties that served as electoral vehicles. The dependent variable, the success of outsider candidates in the 2002 elections, appears to come from three main independent variables: a history of weak and highly ineffective parties, voter alienation from institutions due to continuing political and economic crises, and a political culture that revolves around personalist and populist presidents. Because of these evident trends, outsiders in Ecuador have found favorable situations for messages of opposition to the political system. In addition, appeals to alienated citizens, based on a personal campaign, have proven successful in Ecuadorian elections. Parties appear to become increasingly irrelevant in the executive sphere. After a brief historical orientation, this thesis discusses the impact of the presidencies of Abdala Bucaram (elected 1996, impeached 1997) and Jamil Mahuad (elected 1998, overthrown 2000) as important background for the 2002 election. The hypothesis is that in 2002, alignment with traditional political parties damaged candidates in the presidential elections. This thesis analyzes the presidential candidates that participated in the 2002 campaign, and concludes that affiliating with a traditional political party was a liability for a presidential candidate in the 2002 elections.

Determina los principios activos de valor real y/o potencial, de la especie forestal nativa Tarqui (Hedyosmum luteynii Todzia), en el bosque de Jacarón, Juan de Velasco, Chimborazo, Ecuador, por considerarse una especie vegetal con posibles propiedades medicinales cuya infusión de hojas frescas ha sido utilizada ancestralmente para controlar afecciones asociados al tracto digestivo y respiratorio. En el caso del Tarqui (Hedyosmum luteynii Todzia) no se han encontrado reportes sobre su actividad etnomédica. Para la realización de esta investigación se seleccionaron hojas desarrolladas de Tarqui (Hedyosmum luteynii Todzia) del bosque de Jacarón. En el tamizaje fitoquímico fueron identificados saponinas, fenoles y terpenos en mayor cantidad y pocos flavonoides. En el análisis del aceite esencial fueron hallados 28 compuestos, los cuales equivalen al 98,62% del total de los constituyentes. La mayor parte de estos compuestos son monoterpenos hidrocarburos naturales (83,21%). En orden de abundancia se encuentran: “α- felandreno (32,72%), α-pineno (13,20%), (Z)-β-ocimeno (10,99%), silvestreno (6,51%), biciclogermacreno (5,05%), 1,8-cineol (4,95%), (E)-β-ocimeno (3,88%) y germacreno D (3,20%)”. El aceite esencial de Tarqui (Hedyosmum luteynii Todzia) inhibió el desarrollo de bacterias Gram positivo (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923) y Gram negativo (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Klebsiella. Pneumoniae ATCC 10031 y Pseuodomona aeroginosa ATCC 27853), pero no exhibió actividad contra Enterococcus faecalis. Los resultados de las pruebas in vivo sugieren que el extracto acuoso de Tarqui administrado de manera oral a ratones modelo evidencia que no existe efecto tóxico visible por no mostrar alteraciones en la bioquímica sanguínea de los ratones. El x-felandreno y  pineno, identificados en el aceite esencial de Tarqui, serían los responsables de los usos etnomédicos como broncodilatador y anti-inflamatorio como lo demuestra el presente estudio, abriendo la posibilidad de la producción de los llamados fitofármacos. / Tesis

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Florida, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references.