Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-103).

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-140).

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2004. / Vita. This is an electronic reproduction of TREN, #033-0709. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-103).

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1995. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [54]-56).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, November, 2008. / Release of full electronic text on OhioLINK has been delayed until December 1, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-221)

This thesis examines and analyzes the extant archaeological, historical, and literary evidence for the beliefs and practices of the Greenland Norse, their influences, and their evolution over time. By critically examining previously held assumptions about the cultural, climatic, and religious conditions of Greenland during this time the available data is placed in its proper context and reveals the geoconceptual world of the Greenlanders and their place in it. This interdisciplinary approach illustrates the extent to which the physical environment and location of Greenland played a role in the transition from a collective of enterprising colonists to an established Christian community over the course of almost 500 years. Specific questions addressed within include: 1 ­ How does archaeology challenge, support, or augment the historical and literary narrative of Greenland’s transition into a Christian place?; 2 – What are the physical correlates of the Greenlanders’ beliefs and practices, and how have they been interpreted? This thesis finds that the development of Christianity was driven by the Greenlanders’ increasing perception of their place in the world as one of marginality and spiritual danger.

The current way of “doing” inclusive education in many US public schools includes re-imagining the spaces where a young person is receiving their educational services. Still, many schools and programs are set up to provide specialized educational services in a specific place. Most often, this place is outside of the general education classroom and deemed to have rehabilitative properties. Therefore, research that draws on the lived experiences of people in restricted educational programs is needed to understand more clearly how policies of inclusion and exclusion are not only enacted, but lived by the people inhabiting those spaces. By designing a qualitative study that is an ethnographic narrative inquiry, this project describes restricted educational programs from the perspectives of the people who occupy them. This study draws on the words and experiences of participants within restricted educational programs to explore what a concerted focus on the spatial dimension illuminates about these spaces and youth learning. Taking an iterative approach this study used ethnographic methods such as, participant observation and open-ended and semi-structured interviewing to inquire alongside educators who work with young people with disabilities and young people who are court involved in restrictive educational programs. The methodological choice to collect data at two separate restricted educational programs, one in-school and one after school was intentional to investigate the nature of the label “restrictive” and its spatial properties. The research demonstrates that spaces are dynamic and fluid but often limited by the socio-spatial location such as, during or after school. Often it is the adults within each respective space who engage in practices of teaching and learning which either limit youth or provide youth with more expansive curricular possibilities. More consistently youth engage in practices, which add to the dynamic nature of how spaces are socially produced. From this an understanding of the project of inclusive education emerges which demands concerted attention be paid to the spatial dimension of inquiry, one that requires educators, more broadly, to participate in reflexive practices related to understanding their own socio-spatial position along with the socio-spatial position of the youth with whom they are constructing spaces.

This study focuses on the Salvadoran diaspora, by implementing the concepts of marginality, collective action and the Third Space together with hybridity theory. Characteristics of marginality faced by the diaspora and methods used to defy them are explored, through a qualitative analysis of previously published research. The results of this study are that members of the diaspora have challenged their position of marginality, and that the methods of defiance studied are two types of collective action. I argue that is it hybridity which opens a Third Space for defiance to existing power-structures by conjuring new negotiations against marginality.

The purpose of this ethnographic case study was to explore the construction and alteration of Roanoke Virginia's cultural imaginary, as well as the engagement of marginal groups and their concerns in those processes. This research examined these issues through the experiences of key actors involved with the creation of Roanoke's first city-wide arts and cultural plan and the creation and growth of the Roanoke-based Marginal Arts Festival (MAF). Cities around the globe are increasingly engaged in transnational projects of place identification, reconfiguration, and attraction: attracting capital, residents, workers, tourists and attention (Cronin & Hetherington, 2008; Hague, 2005; Jensen, 2005, 2007; Pine & Gilmore, 1999; Zukin 1995). Moreover, cities undertake various kinds of identity projects: on-going, dynamic processes through which spaces are produced and reproduced by conscious strategies of place making and identity building (Nyseth & Viken, 2009). Such initiatives are concerted efforts to establish or extend a particular idea, or imaginary, of a city. This study focused on one kind of urban identity endeavor that has become widespread during the past two decades: the effort to shape and market a creative, culture-rich place, to project a specific urban cultural imaginary. This analysis also responded to a straightforward problem, that of the manner through which people, in places pursuing arts and culture as a primary focus for development, come to terms with differing understandings of art and its role in development. This study identified four principal future paths for the analysis of cultural imaginaries and the practice of cultural development: studying and supporting civic tinkering activities, recognizing the relevance of localized imaginaries and urban identity projects, valuing full participation in the project of the city, and conducting place-specific and critical analyses. / Ph. D.

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