Åre är en liten kommun i Jämtland med massiv turism under vintersäsongen. Orten har haft en stadig tillväxt under 1900-talet och är idag Sveriges främsta alpina ort. Vinterturismen i Åre har bidragit till att det har investerats stora summor i liftar, boende och affärslokaler. Åre har en av världens bästa skidanläggningar och med bra trafikförbindelser kan man smidigt ta sig dit. Syftet med min studie är att undersöka hur turistnäringen integrerar med det lokala samhället i Åre. Underlag som jag använt mig av är en enkätundersökning samt intervjuer. Under studiens gång har det påvisats att hållbarhetsfrågor brister i Åre. Det ekonomiska värdet tenderar att prioriteras framför de socio-kulturella och miljömässiga värdet. Vintersäsongen präglas av skidsugna turister och trängsel är en faktor här.

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El Sistema i SödertäljeFostrar musiker, skapar människor?El Sistema in SödertäljeEducate musicians, creates People? Syftet med min studie är att jag ville undersöka om musikskolan El Sistemasarbete med två av Södertäljes skolor med olika sociala förhållanden kunde bidra till en ökad integration stadsdelarna emellan. Jag tittade också på hur verksamhetens huvudsyfte nämligen att fostra och skapa identitet fungerade. Vägen till resultatet bleven resa bland engagerade lärare och inspirerande elever som med stark vi känsla musicerar och umgås tillsammans.Det blev kanske inte den revolutionerade integration mellan områdena som i alla fall jag hade hoppats på men det har bytts såväl telefonnummer som matrecept under de gemensamma träffar (Vänstays) som elever och föräldrar kommer till en gång i veckan. Jag kom efter veckorna tillsammans med barn, lärare och föräldrar fram till att den fostrande och identitetsskapande verksamheten hade satt tydliga spår i elevernas handlande och förmågan till samarbete.Men det jag också upptäckte var att det starka identitetsskapandet bidrog till att öka klyftorna i skolorna mellan de barnen som deltog i El Sistema och de elever som inte gjorde det. Att musiken blev ett slags maktmedel eleverna emellan. Sen har de kortsiktiga effekterna dock varit övervägande positiva. Till exempel så har ungdomarna i en av stadsdelarna hjälpt polisen när El Sistemas alla instrument blev stulna. Detta hade nog inte hänt om inte verksamheten fungerar som ett slags socialt lim mellan såväl El Sistemas deltagare som deras vänner och släktingar som blivit involverade och intresserade genom att verksamheten bedrivs i samma lokaler där ungdomar och vuxna samt polisen håller till.

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This paper examines the different components and usage of today’s urban public spaces. During the process I have used three different methods. First I made some studies of how public spaces have been used from a historical perspective. The aim was to get a better, broader understanding of the basics. Then, to examine the usage of a public space, Uppsala Central Railroad Station was chosen as the specific area of interest. The railroad station has then been observed and the result thoroughly analysed. The study has then been complemented by quantitative interviews with three key individuals that has been, or are active in the shaping of Uppsala Central Station as a public space.By doing this research of this public space I ́ve come to the conclusion that public spaces are full of complexity and that its formations can vary in many different ways. When studying Uppsala Central Railroad Station I ́ve come to the conclusion that it is a public space with many different usages and components such as a place for commerce, integration and a foundation for expressing democracy. A major conclusion from the study is that to keep a public space open to use from all different aspects, it takes common planning and corporation from all involved parties from the very beginning when planning and constructing a public space.

Faculty of Humanities School of Humanities and Social Sciences 0215594h ameck98@yahoo.com / Music has always played an important role in the lives of mankind; the quest for freedom by black people across the world is a typical example. During the days of slavery and later the civil rights struggle in the US, the struggle for independence by African states and the fight against Apartheid, music was used as an instrument of resistance. Through music, black South Africans emerged from conscious and subconscious subjugation to rescue their psyche from alienation. Today they express their cultural self-confidence in ways very different from the generations with firsthand experience of apartheid. Conflict has always been an important contributor to music of resistance. Over the past hundred years, however, violent attempts by men to dominate each another have intensified (The two Great Wars and the Cold War, genocides, ethnic and religious clashes). In this same vein, so too have efforts to thwart such attempts. Conflicts exist at all levels, within and between individuals, communities, nations and cultures. For a society still in the process of transformation, conflict in South Africa has also taken a new dimension with focus now on social conflict (for example Crime, drugs, poverty and the generation gap) in the field of daily life also including racial conflict, affirmative action, ethnic conflict, economic conflict and others with less and less focus on political conflict. The benefit of post- 1994 South Africa is the freedom of expression it offers. This is a freedom that, 20 years ago, was a luxury for blacks living in a country torn apart by apartheid; a freedom to have pride in themselves, a freedom to express their cultural selfconfidence. The first place this freedom became visible was on the music scene in the form of new infectious, irresistible form of dance and music. Musicians use their music as a medium to demonstrate most of these societal conflicts that exist in South Africa. Peace researchers, peace workers, and others have worked over several decades to promote an alternative culture and an alternative approach to dealing with conflicts – one based on recognising the positive, constructive, and creative opportunities available in any conflict situation. In this regard I would like to dwell on music as a creative way of dealing with conflict.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) affect 1 in every 88 U.S. children. ASDs have been described as neurological and developmental disorders impacting visual, motor, and visual-motor integration (VMI) abilities that affect academic achievement (CDC, 2010). Forty-five participants (22 ASD and 23 Typically Developing [TD]) 8 to 14 years old completed the Bender-Gestalt Test, Second Edition (BG II), Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, 5th Edition (VMI-V), NEPSY Second Edition (NEPSY-II), Test of Visual Perceptual Skills-3 (TVPS-3), Navon Task, Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition, Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, Second Edition, Behavior Assessment Scale for Children, Second Edition, and Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire. Three hypotheses examined whether students with ASDs were more likely than TD peers to have: (1) a visual processing bias; (2) fine motor difficulties; and (3) VMI difficulties. Additional hypotheses analyzed the relationship between (4) local processing bias and fine motor difficulties on VMI ability and (5) local processing bias, fine motor difficulties, and VMI difficulties on academic achievement. A series oft-tests indicated the TVPS-3 (p=.72), Navon Task (p= .78), BG-II (p = .39), and VMI-V (p = .14) were not significantly different between groups. Students with ASDs demonstrated increased difficulty compared to TD students on the NEPSY-II (p = .01) and slower completion time on the Navon Task (p = .01). Regression analyses for VMI indicated the best predictors for the BG-II (p < .001) were the TVPS-3 and Navon Completion Time; the best predictor for the VMI-V (p< .001) was the TVPS-3. Regression analyses indicated that VMI-V predicted all domains of academic achievement. In addition to VMI-V, fine motor skills related to writing achievement, and BG-II related to math achievement. Based on the results, the speed of processing plays an important role on VMI skills and academic achievement, more so than the local processing bias. Although this study may have been impacted by homogeneity in the participants, it investigates a relationship between visual processing biases, fine motor difficulties, visual-motor integration and academic achievement that has received little attention in the literature. Findings can inform the development of more effective interventions for academic functioning for students with ASDs.

­­­Recent brain scan research has found evidence of reactivation in brain regions that suggest a reactivation of the whole experience for the subject trying to remember. Such a reactivation is seen to represent a multimodal integration of the memory representation in the brain. The purpose of the study was to test the existence of audiovisual integration in episodic memory. This was done by comparing reaction times when audiovisual information was old, new or both old and new. Results indicated quicker rejection when there was both old and new information presented in comparison to when information was all new, indicating a reactivation of the whole experience of the presentation in the learning phase, i.e. a facilitation process based on audiovisual integration in episodic memory. An extension of the study could be to increase the retention interval testing for a different type of consolidation.

Integration är ett debatterat ämne inom olika samhällskontexter. Ofta rör forskning i ämnet ekonomiska och politiska spörsmål. Immigranters dåliga utsikter på den svenska arbetsmarknaden har länge varit en svårighet att komma till rätta med, inte minst för de immigrerande kvinnorna. I centrum för denna studie står kvinnor födda i östra Afrika. Syftet har varit att skildra deras upplevelse av det svenska arbetslivet. Dels beträffande vilka aspekter som underlättar deras anställningsmöjligheter men även deras upplevelse av att vara anställd. Sex semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med förvärvsarbetande kvinnor. En tematisk analys av datamaterialet resulterade i fem övergripande teman. De teman som utgör studiens resultat är problemfokuserad copingstrategi, socialt stöd, informella strategier, horisontell segregering och etnisk diskriminering med underteman som antisvart rasism och fördomar. Studiens resultat står i huvudsak i samklang med tidigare forskning inom ämnet, vilket påvisar att både individuella och samhälleliga insatser är av största betydelse för en lyckad integrering.

The diploma thesis Integration of Foreigners in the Czech Republic deals with the social integration of immigrants into Czech society with respect to structural, cultural, interactive and identifying dimensions. These are the crucial factors influencing their stay in the Czech Rebublic. The empirical part concerns perception of Czech reality through the eyes of selected foreigners from different countries living in the Czech Republic. Their findings are collected by qualitative research. During the interview, they provided detailed information about their stay in the Czech Republic and thus revealed issues which they deal with in the host country. It came out that a significant aspect of integration is not only the similarity of cultures but also foreigners' subjective feeling of integration.