In this dissertation, I examined the lived experiences of eight first-generation Iranian immigrants (six women and two men) enrolled as full-time undergraduate students in predominantly English institutions of higher education in Montreal. Using the key principles of phenomenology and critical ethnography, and through a series of open-ended, in-depth interviews, I explored the situated meanings of education in the lives of these men and women. The findings of my study show that the participants' perceptions of higher education seemed to be greatly influenced by their cultural values and beliefs. They perceived "education'' as social and cultural capital which secures their status and prestige within their families and communities. They also identified economic advancement, upward social mobility, personal fulfillment and easier access to Canadian higher education as factors that significantly influenced their decisions to pursue their undergraduate degrees. The study revealed that the women emphasized the crucial role of education in securing their financial and intellectual independence from the men in the household. They held the belief that being an "educated woman" contributed to having a stronger voice and a more authoritative space within the family. / The results of my study suggest that the voices of these men and women were linked to the issues of "agency", "critical thinking", and "belonging". The participants talked about their lives as "immigrants" and members of a marginalized minority group. While some openly talked about the existence of "covert" or "hidden" racism in Canadian society, they all expressed contentment with their lives in Canada when compared to Iran. They articulated their awareness of the conflicting concepts of gender roles existent in the traditional Iranian culture and the culture of the host country, and viewed western values of women's education and career development as a positive factor in pursuing their academic aspirations. / Highlighting the significance of individual narratives and lived experiences of first-generation immigrant students, this study may contribute to broadening our understanding of issues faced by immigrant students in institutions of higher education. Furthermore, the insights from the lives of these men and women may have important implications for educators, administrators, and faculty staff in order to create more accepting and culturally sensitive campuses.

The vowel systems of five selected Iranian Balochi dialects are investigated in this study, which is the first work to apply empirical acoustic analysis to a large body of recorded data on the vowel inventories of different Balochi dialects spoken in Iran. The selected dialects are spoken in the five regions of Sistan (SI), Saravan (SA), Khash (KH), Iranshahr (IR), and Chabahar (CH) located in the province Sistan and Baluchestan in southeast Iran. The aim of the present fieldwork-based survey is to study how similar the vowel systems of these dialects are to the Common Balochi vowel system (i, iː, u, uː, a, aː, eː, oː), which is represented as the vowel inventory for the Balochi dialects in general, as well as how similar these dialects are to one another.  The investigation shows that length is contrastive in these dialects, although the durational dif-ferences between the long and short counterparts are quite small in some dialects. The study also reveals that there are some differences between the vowel systems of these dialects and the Com-mon Balochi sound inventory. The Common Balochi short /i/ vowel is modified to short /e/ in these dialects, and a strong tendency for the long /eː/ and /oː/ to become the diphthongs ie and ue, respec-tively, is observed in some of the investigated dialects, specifically in KH, which shows heavier diphthongization than the other dialects. It is also observed, especially in SI, SA, and CH, that the short /u/ shows strong tendencies to shift towards a lower position of an [o] vowel. In SI and SA, this shift seems to be a correlate of syllable structure, with lowering occurring mostly in closed syllables. It is possible that Persian, as the dominant language in the area, has had an influence on these dialects and caused a lowering tendency among the higher vowels.  The vowel systems in these dialects differ slightly from each other. Phonemically, the pairs e/eː, a/aː, u/uː, and the long vowels /iː/ and /oː/ are suggested for IR; the pairs a/aː, u/uː, the short /e/ and the long /iː/ as well as the diphthongs /ie/ and /ue/ substituted for the long /eː/ and /oː/, respectively, are suggested for KH; and finally the pairs e/eː, a/aː, o/oː, and the long vowels /iː/ and /uː/, which make a more symmetrical inventory, are suggested for the SI, SA, and CH dialects. In general, the vowels in these dialects show a range of phonetic variations. In addition, processes of fronting, which is most common in coronal contexts, and nasalization, which mostly occurs in nasal envi-ronments, are observed in the data researched.

Thesis (M.A.(St.Art.Hist.))--University of Adelaide, Master of Arts (Studies in Art History), 2004? / "November 2004" Bibliography: leaves 102-108.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 321-332).

Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Peter Garretson, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, Program in Asian Studies. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 13, 2005). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1957. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 524-529).

Thesis (M. A.), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1998. / Bibliography: leaves p. 52-56.

Thesis (doctoral)--Uppsala universitet, 1994. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-208).

No description available.

This research study was developed to investigate a group of Outstanding college personalities in Iran. The purposes of the study were: (a) to identify a "frequently nominated" group and an "infrequently nominated" group of University of Isfahan students based on the social criterion of "outstanding personality development"; (b) to determine whether or not "friendship nominations" unduly influenced the selection of "frequently nominated" students; (c) to determine whether or not "frequently nominated" and "infrequently nominated" students could be reliably differentiated on stressful life events, developmental histories, mental health adjustment, expressed needs, and descriptive data; and (d) to present a summary of the most striking and consistent findings on personality development of the "frequently nominated" students. This study concludes that 1. A "frequently nominated" group and an "infrequently nominated" group of normal Iranian student personalities, based on the social criterion of "outstanding personality development," can be identified and statistically differentiated. 2. "Outstanding" Iranian student personalities have greater affiliative capacities than other normal Iranian student personalities. 3. "Outstanding" Iranian student personalities possess ego strength, as evidenced by their desire to make decisions from inner self evaluations and to break parental standards, to a greater extent than other normal Iranian student personalities. 4. "Outstanding" Iranian student personalities do not practice self—sacrifice. 5. "Outstanding" Iranian student personalities are actualizing their capacities to a greater degree than are other normal Iranian student personalities. 6. "Outstanding" Iranian student personalities are not free from stressful situations, problems, or inner conflicts.