The present work examines the debate about the permissibility of conversion in the Parsi community of India. It explores the historical development of the debate with a focus on the main groups and their ideologies. It shows that both of the sides of the debate aimed to formulate their convictions in a Westernized language for a greater social prestige, while in both cases largely preserving the traditional endogamic rules in practice.

Using a year 2000 national racial poll conducted by the New York Times, I analyze Whites' approval of interracial marriage. I utilize the contact hypothesis, as originally formulated by Gordon Allport, to develop a conceptual model of White's attitudes toward interracial marriage. Specifically I propose and develop an additional dimension of the contact hypothesis, which accounts for the context in which interracial contacts occur. I do so by examining several specific social settings in which White respondents report experiencing contact with Blacks. The contexts examined are ordered in terms of the type of contact they likely provide, from close, personal contact to superficial and hierarchical contact. The results indicate that the type of contact engendered by a variety of contexts is an important factor in determining attitudes about interracial marriage. The contacts in most of the social settings are associated with friendship, yet a majority of the contexts are also related to approval of interracial marriage even when extraneous factors such as friendship, age, gender, income, political party, frequency of religious service attendance, and region are controlled for statistically. The findings provide support for the consideration and utilization of the context of contact as an additional dimension of the contact hypothesis.

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This thesis is about measuring social acceptance of the American public on the increasing trend of intermarriage in the United States. It outlines U.S. Census data in the areas of population, educational attainment, regional data, and marriage data. It analyzes popular and influential media from 1960 to 2011 including: marriage of Guy Smith and Peggy Rusk, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Star Trek, Jungle Fever, The Joy Luck Club, and modern television shows such as Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, Modern Family, and New Girl.

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個體為了適應及被地主社會所接納，會嘗試消除各方面的疑慮。本研究主要在探討嫁給台灣人的韓國女性如何適應台灣這個新環境，這些韓國女性又是如何在適應過程中消除疑慮。人類總是在不斷地遷徙和移動之中，兩個不同文化的成員，若有直接或間接的接觸，時常會造成其中一個或甚至兩個社會的變遷，並引起文化特質逐漸地散佈。因此，這種變遷的過程，稱為「傳播」。 對於日增多行的跨文化婚姻，雖然韓國和台灣隔著海洋，但如今嫁給台灣人的韓國女性可以擁有更多消息（資訊），且可與原有國家文化社團或社會組織保持連絡。這對來台灣之後的學習及適應台灣的新環境文化，會不會更困難或者反而更有助於適應台灣這個新環境文化呢？ 本研究是以深度訪談，探討以下各問題：這些韓國籍的台灣媳婦在適應另一環境文化時如何消除疑慮？嫁給台灣人的韓國女性在日常生活中的傳播工具使用行為對自身的疑慮消除有何影響?跨文化婚姻的韓國女性如何運用不同的疑慮消除策略來消除疑慮？傳播媒體在嫁給台灣人的韓國女性疑慮消除策略中所扮演的角色為何？ / This study takes the Korean women who married to Taiwanese as examples to explore how they adapt into new cultural environment and reduce their uncertainty。 This research, used in-depth interview method, is to discuss the following questions：1. How Korean women who married to Taiwanese reduce their uncertainty while adapting a new culture environment？ 2. How these Korean women use different uncertainty reduction strategies to reduce their uncertainty（passive、active or interactive strategies）? 3. What is the role of mass media in their uncertainty reduction strategies?

In this study, the role of selected churches and communities in the development and maintenance of inter-racial relationships, in South Africa‟s racially stratified apartheid society, was explored. The study traced the history of anti-miscegenation attitudes - from the arrival of the Dutch settlers in the Cape in 1652 - and the theological basis upon which the segregation policies of apartheid were built. The focus of the study was on inter-racial couples and children, who survived the turbulent period of apartheid. Respondents were recruited through the use of the snowball sampling method. A semi-structured interview process was the primary tool for collecting data. Nine people, representing six family units were interviewed. The results of the study indicate that some inter-racial families were able to navigate the period of apartheid and to create a counter-culture of resistance to the oppressive legislation, which criminalized their relationships while others struggled under repression. The system was detrimental to all inter-racial relationships. However, Black women suffered more and were often exploited. The level of support from churches and communities was varied but in general, people in inter-racial relationships relied heavily upon select circles of friends and family within their communities, who helped preserve the clandestine nature of their relationships. In some instances, local churches chose to confront the prevailing injustice of apartheid segregation legislation and to help families construct alternative realities, while in other instances, local churches shared in the general race prejudices of the time and did not offer meaningful support. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

Cette thèse s'intéresse aux mariages et aux couples franco-britanniques en France au cours d'un long XVIIIe siècle, s'étendant des années 1680 aux années 1820. Afin de caractériser ces mariages, et la nature de leur mixité, nous avons choisi de les étudier selon trois approches : juridique, communautaire et socioculturelle. La première approche a exposé les différences entre le droit matrimonial britannique et français et a déterminé comment se contractait un mariage unissant deux personnes de nationalité, et souvent de religion, différente, en notant comment la justice française a su construire des réponses aux problèmes spécifiques posés par de tels mariages. Un intérêt particulier a été porté à la question de ces mariages face à la norme étatique et canonique, ainsi qu'à l'enjeu de la nationalité dans le cadre d'un mariage bi-national. La deuxième approche a étudié les pratiques matrimoniales des Britanniques de Nantes et de Boulogne-sur-Mer, en distinguant entre mariages exogames et endogames. Nous avons montré comment le choix de contracter un mariage mixte varie selon la nature de la population britannique dans la ville, selon la génération des Britanniques présents, selon le genre du conjoint britannique, et selon le rang social. La troisième approche a dressé un tableau des couples franco-britanniques, en analysant leurs rencontres, leurs choix linguistiques, religieux et éducatifs, et leurs difficultés. Nous avons ainsi montré l'émergence d'une culture familiale franco-britannique. Notre travail témoigne comment, à l'échelle des autorités, de la ville et du couple, le mariage franco-britannique a pu se concevoir comme un vecteur privilégié d'intégration. / This thesis offers a study of Franco-British couples and marriages in France during a long eighteenth century, from the 1680s to the 1820s. In order to characterise and demonstrate the exact nature of their diversity, they have been studied from three angles : legal, social and cultural. The first highlights the differences between British and French marriage law, and defines how a marriage between people of different nationalities, and often different religions, was observed. It also establishes the solutions brought to the specific problems arising from such intermarriages by the French justice system. Particular emphasis has been put on how these marriages accommodated State and canonical conventions, as well as on the issue of nationality with regard to binational marriages. The second angle examines the marriage practices of the British population in the French towns of Nantes and Boulogne-sur-Mer, differentiating between endogamous and exogamous marriages. This thesis also shows the variables governing the choice to marry into the French community: the nature of the British presence; the generation the British migrants belonged to; the gender of the British spouse; social rank. The third angle paints a comprehensive picture of Franco-British couples by analysing how they met, their choices of language, religion and schooling. From this can be established the emergence of a Franco-British family culture. This work thus indicates that Franco-British marriages can be viewed, by officialdom, local populations and the couples themselves, as a privileged vector of integration into French society.

The research in this dissertation explored the demise of African languages of South Africa, Tshivenḓa in particular. The Vhavenḓa are historically one of the ethnic groups which have been in South Africa for a long time. The economic activities at Mapungubwe have ensured that they are able to absorb some of the small groups that came to the area to conduct business with them. Due to frequent tribal clashes, the Vhavenḓa resorted, for strategic reasons, to living in mountainous areas. They also refused to work for the Europeans. This exclusion from other ethnic groups kept their language and identity pure. Ethnic clashes gradually faded and the economy called for a new lifestyle. At the same time, South Africa was developing into a nation and men from the Vhavenḓa ethnic group started migrating to various parts of South Africa in search of jobs. Some of these men were lost to their host ethnic groups. Women, however, remained as the reserve of the language. The economy, both nationally and globally, is permanently in a state of change and now male and female youth are migrating to the cities. The care of the language is thus left to senior citizens while the youth – who should be the future of the language – disappear to the cities. All these factors contributed to the demise of Tshivenḓa. This research explores the causes of the demise of African languages in South Africa, with specific reference to Tshivenḓa; and concludes by suggesting various ways in which Tshivenḓa as a language can be preserved. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

My dissertation analyzes the status of mixed offspring in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple texts to understand the diverse ways children from intermarried couples were presented in pre-Mishnaic Jewish literature. Prior to the Mishnah (m. Qidd 3:12), there is no evidence of a monolithic ruling to regulate the status of mixed progeny. My goal, therefore, is to examine the different ways mixed offspring were treated, and to better understand whether they endured any social repercussions due to their mixed lineage. In turn, I explore the diverse ways Jewish identity was constructed in antiquity, and how matters like gender, lineage, and geography were used to establish social boundaries. Within contemporary scholarship, the study of mixed progeny in antiquity has been incidental to other research topics, including the expulsion narrative in Ezra 9–10, genealogical purity, and the matrilineal principle in Judaism. To date, no comprehensive approach has been undertaken to trace the status of mixed progeny in pre-Mishnaic Jewish literature. My dissertation seeks to fill this lacuna. Following a brief introduction in chapter 1, my subsequent chapters are divided into four time periods: the pre-Persian period (chapter 2); the Persian period (chapter 3); the Hellenistic period (chapter 4); and the early Roman period (chapter 5). Within each chapter, I analyze texts generally dated to those eras that include some information about mixed offspring. In my concluding chapter, I reveal three main factors that impacted the status of mixed progeny in antiquity: genealogy, residential location, and piety. I also provide a heuristic framework to categorize my findings of mixed offspring. While there were two main responses towards mixed progeny in antiquity (accepted or rejected), not every case fits nicely into these two classifications. Therefore, the treatment of mixed progeny must be understood on a spectrum to better appreciate the nuance within each text. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)