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<p> <i>Fossoli di Carpi: The History and Memory of the Holocaust in Italy</i> analyzes the role and function of an Italian deportation camp during and immediately after World War II within the context of Italian, European, and Holocaust history. Drawing upon archival documents, trial proceedings, memoirs, and testimonies, <i>Fossoli di Carpi</i> investigates the distinct functions of Fossoli as an Italian prisoner-of-war camp for Allied soldiers captured in North Africa (1942-43), a Nazi deportation camp for Jews and political prisoners (1943-44), a postwar Italian prison for Fascists, German soldiers, and displaced persons (1945-47), and a Catholic orphanage (1947-52). This case study shines a spotlight on victims, perpetrators, Resistance fighters, and local collaborators to depict how the Holocaust unfolded in a small town and how postwar conditions supported a story of national innocence. My dissertation trains a powerful lens on the multi-layered history of Italy during the Holocaust and illuminates key elements of local involvement largely ignored by Italian wartime and postwar narratives, particularly compensated compliance, the normalization of mass murder, and the industrialization of the Judeocide in Italy.</p><p> The buoyancy and longevity of the <i>"brava gente"</i> myth in popular Holocaust memory has obscured Italian participation in the Judeocide. This study of a camp, from its origins to its postwar functions, exposes not only the pattern of silence that facilitated mass murder, but also the national and international political sources of that silence. Italy's wartime past is far from a single-note narration of benevolence. This emerges clearly as we scrutinize a decade of uses of Fossoli.</p>

The majority of interpretations of literary animals focus on the animals' metaphoric or symbolic significance, overlooking the actual animal, which often completely disappears behind its metaphoric or mythological representation. Such traditional interpretations of animals expose the dominant anthropocentric focus of the humanities in general, and literary studies in particular. Yet, even as textual representations a lot of literary animals still exhibit some basic species-specific characteristics. By analyzing selected Russian fairytales through the animal studies perspective I will show that in a lot of Russian fairytales animals exercise their agency, retain their animal specificity and are involved in complex companionate relationships with humans. Such portrayal of animals in Russian fairytales warrants identifying traditional Russian worldview as ecosystemic – in which humans are positioned on an equal plane with other living beings. Given the insufficient number of interpretive works on Russian fairytales, and the lack of work on fairytale animals, the present application of animal studies to Russian folktales can be one of the first steps to filling this niche. / Les analyses des animaux dans la littérature se concentrent pour la plupart sur la signification de l'animal métaphorique ou symbolique et negligent par là même l'animal réel qui disparaît souvent derrière sa représentation métaphorique ou mythologique. Ces interprétations traditionnelles révèlent l'anthropocentrisme qui domine dans les sciences humaines en général, et les études littéraires en particulier. Pourtant, les animaux dans la littérature retiennent encore des caractéristiques spécifiques à leur espèce. En analysant certains contes de fées russes du point de vue des études animales, je vais montrer que les animaux gardent leur capacité d'être agent, qu'ils conservent leur spécificité animale et qu'ils sont impliqués dans des relations complexes comme compagnons des humains. Cette représentation des animaux dans les contes de fées russes montre que la vision traditionnelle du monde russe est écosystémique – c'est-à-dire que les humains sont sur un même plan d'égalité que les autres êtres vivants. Compte tenu du nombre insuffisant d'analyses sur les contes de fées russes, et du manque d'analyses sur les animaux dans les contes de fées en général, la présente étude représente une étape importante pour combler cette lacune.

<p> Nations sharing similar historical, linguistic, and social backgrounds tend to cluster around the same cultural values systems. However, changing socioenvironmental conditions drive cultural values systems to change over time. This study compared changing cultural values in Poland in the postcommunist era with values in the Czech Republic and Slovenia, using factorial ANOVA of published data from the European Values Survey and World Values Survey. The hypotheses were: (a) cultural values in Poland have moved from traditionalist values toward secularism; (b) Poland's rate of cultural values movement was more moderate than either the Czech Republic or Slovenia; and (c) the higher degree of religiousness in Poland mirrored the slower rate of movement toward secularism. The study participants were 20,038 adults from the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovenia. Findings showed 10 of 19 cultural values in Poland showed moderate movement toward secularism, confirming that traditional cultural values in Poland had decreased. However, the findings also showed cultural migration in Poland preserved strong traditional family and religious values despite the influence of far reaching social, economic, and political changes. This study revealed two important points: (a) as cultural values within groups of nations change, cultural values in similar clusters of nations tend to move in the same direction, and (b) deeply held traditional values tend to preserve the differentiation between nations, even as process of cultural values change continues.</p>

<p> Earlier studies on Hadrian's Wall have focused on its defensive function to protect the Roman Empire by foreign invasions, but the determination is Hadrian's Wall most likely did not have one single purpose, but rather multiple purposes. This makes the Wall more complex and interesting than a simple structure to keep out foreign intruders. Collective research on other frontier walls' functions and characteristics around the empire during the reign of Hadrian are used to compare and determine the possible function or functions of the Wall. The Wall not only served political purposes, but also had economic and social uses as well.</p>

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This thesis analyses the extent to which particular electoral system features and rules affect the opportunities for, and proportionality of, the representation of certain far right and regionalist at various sub-national levels in key European Community member states. The thesis employs data provided in a unique data base at the University of Plymouth. This data includes a wealth of information concerning shares of the votes and shares of the seats for as many identifiable parties as possible in a range of sub-national elections in the post World War Two period and measures the proportionality of elections using three indices of proportionality. Various authors have previously attempted to identify which electoral features are primarily the cause of disproportionalty at the national electoral level. Within this thesis we will test their claims at various sub-national levels in several west European states. We will also assess the impact of these electoral features upon the representation opportunities of certain far right and regionalist parties, as we have examples of these parties being both 'small' and 'large' at the sub-national level.