The global increase in the number of mass gatherings and crowded events has brought with it new emergencies and unintended consequences for public administrators and first responders. Crowd managers attempt to overcome these challenges by enhancing operations, alleviating financial losses, keeping event organizers safe from liability and, most importantly, keeping the attendees safe. Effective communication among and between officials and guests has been identified as a key element in this process. However, there is a lack of risk communication studies, especially about heterogeneous crowds that congregate at religious events. With this gap in mind, this research aims to investigate the use of major communication channels available and/or preferred by Muslim pilgrims in Makkah, Saudi Arabia during Hajj to gauge their effectiveness in communicating risk information. This annual religious pilgrimage was chosen because it attracts over 2 million pilgrims from more than 140 countries, most of whom speak different languages and belong to different cultures but perform the same rituals at the same time. This dissertation seeks to answer three broad research questions: “what are the most popular communication channels used by pilgrims,” “what are the weaknesses of the current communication strategies,” and “what can be done to improve risk communication among pilgrims, and between pilgrims and authorities to enhance crowd control and crowd management strategies.” The protective action decision model (PADM) is used as the theoretical framework to understand the influence of six factors (environmental cues, social cues, information sources, channel access and preferences, warning messages, and receiver characteristics) on risk communication. In collaboration with the Transportation and Crowd Management Center of Research Excellence (TCMCORE) of Saudi Arabia, a convenience sampling strategy was employed to interview 348 pilgrims in the Prophet’s Mosque area, during the Hajj of 2013. The surveys were conducted in Arabic and English and included pilgrims from different backgrounds and countries. Data analysis included an evaluation of the correlation between the use of risk communication channels and receiver characteristics, message content, and information sources. Findings highlight low percentages in the overall use of communication channels. It also demonstrated an over-dependence on channels that foster the passive top-down communication strategy (such as TV stations, messages at mosques, billboard, text messages, and pamphlets), while marginalizing channels that foster the horizontal and bottom-up strategies (such as bilingual staff outreach and social media). The findings also show the differences in risk communication channels used by pilgrims from different socio-demographic groups. The study concludes that adopting bottom-up and horizontal strategies is key to effective risk communication. Additionally, crowd managers must recognize the importance of social media and use this medium more proactively. They can also work towards increasing the overall effectiveness of risk communication channels by addressing the impact of information sources, channel access, and receiver characteristics to better suit the needs of pilgrims. Finally, the study states the limitations and future research directions.

Historical area is the unique place to a certain context because it contains the most valuable culture on the site and also keeps recording its history. While the increasing pressure from developing tourism and booming population seriously impacts the old site resulting in culture lost. This thesis investigates a typical historical area in Xi’an in a logical process. The process starts with analysis from local fabric as urban scale to living unit as family scale to make a clear view on local culture lost. According to the context, set up appropriate criteria to select typical site to make sure the solution can be well integrated into similar scenario. Then, based on the analysis, generate possible conceptual responses. Finally, design from a modular unit, to courtyard space and to the final block prospect, and make sure the final solution in every step could not only solve the problems, but also accommodate the local life style. The whole design process appropriately integrates the concept of shared space in dealing with the overload urban and living density. The application of the phasing study makes the whole research and design process more sustainable and feasible.

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Southern Appalachian attitudes about the religion of Islam and Muslim adherents are influenced largely by mass media's representations. With more than 80% of Appalachia’s population following Protestant Christianity, exposure to Islam in daily life is limited. Media outlets offer the greatest exposure to information about the religion and its adherents. This thesis examined the region's media representation of Islam and Muslims to determine what images are most often portrayed. Research following a twoyear span of reporting in Southern Appalachia studied substance, word frequency, imagery, and editing used in articles that focused on Islam and Muslims. Through the use of content analysis examining rural and metropolitan news circulated in the area, the study found significant use of negative words and phrases in reporting about Islam and Muslims. Newsroom editing of articles also had a considerable damaging effect on how reports represented Islam and Muslims.

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This diploma thesis discusses phenomena of parallel legal norms applicable in the Great Britain. There is guaranteed enforceability of those parts of the Islamic law, which deals with family and inheritance matters in the United Kingdom. This phenomenon is result of decades lasting process going back to the colonialism. Given the current events such as so called migration crisis in the Europe and self-declaration of "Islamic State", the question of religious law of minorities become priority theme of public discourse and is also topic of common debates between critics and advocates of normative diversity. Crucial incident that influenced public debate, especially reflection of success rate of immigrants' integration, had been the London bombings of 7/7 2005. In the thesis are presented specific examples of clash of British Common Law and the Islamic Law. The force of disintegration is Salafism that affects Muslim minorities and which is imported to the UK primarily from Saudi Arabia. The online Fatwas, a very problematic issue, is dealt with in the end of the thesis as well. Given the impossibility to regulate influence of the internet, online fatwas have profound effect over vulnerable youngsters. Keywords: Islam, Islamic Law, Great Britain, Sharia, Islamic Family Law, Islamic Inheritance Law,...

The thesis seeks to analyse media discourse of four print media in Great Britain and in France in the time period between January 2014 and November 2015 to determine what changes in media discourse occurred after the terrorist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris and how were the domestic Muslim communities affected. Thesis draws on the theories of securitization, Critical Discourse Analysis, Discourse Historical Analysis and media studies. The two countries are contrasted in terms of their approaches to integration (multiculturalism and assimilation). Corpus consisting of articles drawn from online databases of two French and two British national newspapers is analysed.

1 Abstract The aim of this thesis is to analyze the contemporary Turkish foreign policy and to determine whether it is becoming increasingly distant from the West. To answer this question, the thesis maps and analyzes the Turkish international relations with the three main geopolitical regions of the Turkish foreign policy direction: the European Union, central Asia and the Muslim world, especially the Middle East. The direction of the Turkish foreign policy is also illustrated by the empiric part of the thesis - a quantitative event data analysis of the second half of 2012. The analysis leads to the conclusions that negotiations for accession to the European Union gives the impression that Turkey is not being invited. In central Asia Turkey promotes itself in the economic and culture areas only. The contemporary Turkish foreign policy, when Turkey increasingly identifies itself with an Islamic identity, is becoming more independent and its main focus is on the Middle East region. Turkey's ambition is to represent the whole Muslim world. Despite this fact, it cannot be said that Turkey is completely breaking away from the West. On the contrary, Turkey is now closer to the West, facing the increasing influence of Iran.

Diploma thesis "Islamic civilization: A comparison of representative interpretations" presents theoretical and historical approach to comparative study of Islamic society by interpretation and comparison of principal scholars in which the author lays emphasis on basic social patterns of this society in long-term and dynamic development as well as on its role within modernization transformations. The main goal is to contribute by selective reflexion to understanding of the long-term historical experiences, its peculiar world views and institutional patterns as well as the ways it participates in history of the world. For this purpose the author employs interpretations and comparisons of the selected authors with particular focus on conception of Muslim society in the writings of Ernest Gellner. The first part is engaged in definition of Islamic civilization concept as one of the largest socio-cultural complexes in Eurasian macro-region. The second part focuses on political traditions and transformations as well as to some extent on economic structure of Islamic civilization. The last part pursues Islamic society as prospective alternative modernity in comparison to diverse conceptions of Islam interpretations proposed by other social science scholars.

Bibliography: pages 204-228. / Historically Muslim women have been marginalised in the examination of Islamic texts and Muslim society. This has resulted in the non-recognition and silencing of women's perspectives as well as the concealment of some of the traumatic realities experienced by groups of Muslim women. Exacerbated by pervading social and religious notions of "private" families, the incidence of wife battery within Muslim societies have been largely hidden violence against wives is seen as the manifestation of a sexist and patriarchal ideology. This study examines the manner in which Islamic gender discourses inform and impact upon the phenomenon of violence against women. The related tensions between patriarchal and egalitarian Islamic perspectives are explored. This study involves a two-fold feminist analysis of gender ideology in religious texts and contemporary Muslim society. At the level of textual studies, I applied a feminist hermeneutic to medieval and contemporary Qur'anic exegetical literature. The examination of medieval period focused on the exegesis of Abu Jafar Muhumammad b. Jarir al-Tabari (839-922), Abu al-Qasim Mahmud b. Umar Zamakshari (1075-1144), Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149- 1210). The study of contemporary exegetical literature concentrated on the approaches and exegeses of Fazlur Rahman and Amina Wadud-Muhsin. Hermeneutical debates on violence against wives were focused on the interpretations of the Qur'anic notion of female nushuz (Q.4:34). In examining contemporary Muslim society, I employed feminist qualitative research methodology. I interviewed a number of women from a South African Muslim community in the Western Cape. Here, the sample consisted of eight women with whom open-ended in-depth interviews were conducted. The interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed. I found that interweaving levels of religious symbols and discourses shaped normative understandings of gender relations. This in turn had implications for both structural and practical discourses of violence against women in Muslim societies. Islamic gender ideology spanned the continuum from patriarchal to feminist approaches. Misogynist religious understandings reinforced the husband's right to control and coerce his wife, even if this implied the use of force. On the other hand, egalitarian Islamic perspectives prioritised the Qur'anic ethics of equality and social justice and rejected the violation of women. I argue that Islam provides numerous resources for the pro-active empowerment of women and the promotion of the full humanity of women.