This thesis is an investigation of the Australian university as place. It is an historical analysis of three generations of Australian undergraduate students and their attachment and sense of belonging to the university (Baby Boomers born 1946-1961, Generation X born 1962-1977 and Generation Y born 1978-1993). This thesis specifically looks at place as being experienced through the university campus (built form) and place as experienced through connections with people (teachers, students, professionals and as alumni). This thesis presents literature reviewed and respective theoretical frameworks regarding the history of universities, place theory and its related constructs and generational social theory. In addition to my own heuristic contribution in which I connect my university experiences to the university as place, the thesis documents the experiences of three living generations of Australian undergraduate students through 36 qualitative in-depth interviews and analyses their perspectives on how they experienced the university as place while they were students. It examines the trajectory of the university experience from 1964 when the Baby Boomers first entered the university system to the current university experience with students from Generation Y. The thesis is also a comprehensive blend of progressive commentary from in-depth expert interviews selected from demography, higher education, youth, campus planning, and society. The thesis demonstrates that the university as place can be manifested in attachment to the built form, significant and meaningful connections with members of the university community. However, how each generation felt connected, why they were attached to certain places, who they formed significant relationships with, when they most felt like they belonged, and what they considered meaningful in their undergraduate years at university differed. The thesis contends that generational perspectives on the university as place are inextricably linked to the attitude and beliefs of the generational cohort to which one belongs.

This thesis is an investigation of the Australian university as place. It is an historical analysis of three generations of Australian undergraduate students and their attachment and sense of belonging to the university (Baby Boomers born 1946-1961, Generation X born 1962-1977 and Generation Y born 1978-1993). This thesis specifically looks at place as being experienced through the university campus (built form) and place as experienced through connections with people (teachers, students, professionals and as alumni). This thesis presents literature reviewed and respective theoretical frameworks regarding the history of universities, place theory and its related constructs and generational social theory. In addition to my own heuristic contribution in which I connect my university experiences to the university as place, the thesis documents the experiences of three living generations of Australian undergraduate students through 36 qualitative in-depth interviews and analyses their perspectives on how they experienced the university as place while they were students. It examines the trajectory of the university experience from 1964 when the Baby Boomers first entered the university system to the current university experience with students from Generation Y. The thesis is also a comprehensive blend of progressive commentary from in-depth expert interviews selected from demography, higher education, youth, campus planning, and society. The thesis demonstrates that the university as place can be manifested in attachment to the built form, significant and meaningful connections with members of the university community. However, how each generation felt connected, why they were attached to certain places, who they formed significant relationships with, when they most felt like they belonged, and what they considered meaningful in their undergraduate years at university differed. The thesis contends that generational perspectives on the university as place are inextricably linked to the attitude and beliefs of the generational cohort to which one belongs.

This thesis tells two intertwined stories about stories about nature. One, theoretical, asks what stories and histories do and why storytelling matters in place-making and policy-making. The second questions the effect of narratives of pristine nature on place-meanings in southwest New Zealand, serving as a case study to illustrate the abstract relationships of the first. Throughout reflexive consideration of my research journey as academic storytelling contributes to my theoretical arguments. Narratives help humans make sense of time and their place in the world. Stories and histories both shape new and reflect current understandings of the world. Thus narratives of nature and place are historically, geographically, and culturally specific. Place-meanings result from the geography of stories layered over time on a physical location. In the iterative process of continually re-presenting landscapes in specific places, negotiation between storytellers with variable power shapes physical environments and future place-meanings. This thesis uses the pristine story to explore these links between stories and histories, place-meanings, and policy decisions. From the arrival of New Zealand's first colonists to today's perceived "clean green" landscape, narratives distinguishing timeless nature from human culture have influenced policy-making in multiple ways. Focusing specifically on understandings of the conservation lands now listed by UNESCO as Te Wāhipounamu South-West World Heritage Area, I trace the origins and evolution of three dominant narrative strands - world heritage, national parks, and Ngāi Tahu cultural significance. Using post-colonial understandings of conservation as cultural colonization, I consider how the pristine narrative obscured Ngāi Tahu understandings of the area. I explore how the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 has begun to shift place-meanings by altering power-geometries between storytellers. Participant-observation in Department of Conservation visitor centres, however, illustrates that legislated stories and storytelling processes are expressed differently in representations of land in specific locations

Master of Visual Art (Sculpture) / This paper is a brief consideration of the nature of my art practice. It seeks to discover the importance of memory to the spatial, emotional and political constructs that inform my understanding of place. Within the broader context of the Australian immigrant experience, history and personal memories are explored by looking into the notion of domestic space as embodied by the house and its relationship to the home. The female role in the family is discussed in terms of the commonly understood stereotypes associated with home in western society. By traversing a range of ideas from philosophical and scientific domains, with a focus on contemporary art, the significance of memory is highlighted as the thread that holds these notions together.

Thesis (M.S. in architecture)--Washington State University, May 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Apr. 5, 2010). "School of Architecture and Construction Management." Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-82).

Dickens's portrayal of madness in his novels was to some extent influenced by earlier literary conventions. The third chapter broadly considers his writing within the context of a range of literary traditions, indicating ways in which the subject of insanity was handled in a variety of genres with which he was familiar. The chapter highlights themes of madness as a punishment for human misdeeds: the use of insane characters as victims of circumstance, and the restorative effects of insanity. This study will, however reveal, that although Dickens's writing draws upon a wide range of literary traditions, his novels bear his own individual stamp. Chapter Four considers ways in which Dickens was influenced by his own firsthand knowledge of madness, as experienced by people known to him, or visited by him. It highlights his attitudes towards those who were mentally afflicted, and illuminates the nature of his strongly-held views on this subject, as author and as editor. In the ensuing chapters, several key novels have been selected for a detailed consideration of ways in which Dickens's handling of madness shifted in focus as he matured as a writer. Chapter Five compares and contrasts his early treatment of this theme in Sketches by Boz, Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby, novels in which he explored the potential of madness as an expression of moral failure. The sixth chapter, whilst drawing upon some themes from The Old Curiosity Shop, highlights his experimentation with an insane central character in Barnaby Rudge. It also notes the significant contribution of the minor character, Mr Dick, within the framework of David Copperfield, contrasting the role of this benign madman with that of the deranged, malign figure of Miss Havisham in Great Expectations, characters exemplifying his portrayal of insanity in victims of circumstance, whilst also illustrating their potential effect upon other characters. The treatment of insanity in Bleak House and Little Dorrit is examined in the seventh chapter, which highlights Dickens's experimentation with insanity as an expression of human frailty and concludes with a study of A Tale of Two Cities, a novel marking the height of Dickens's achievement in his arresting portrayal of madness in both theme and character. The final chapter evaluates the significant role of madness in Dickens's novels, and draws conclusions about the reasons why he chose to describe insanity in so many forms. Whilst illuminating ways in which his portrayal of this subject shifted in focus as he mastered new technical skills, it highlights the changing uses Dickens made of insanity. Far from being a "dreadful visitation" in its literary representation, Dickens discovered that madness, a subject which fascinated him, provided him with a wealth of possibilities in exposing hidden depths of meaning in his novels, highlighting too the ways in which his own creative vision changed in its emphasis as he matured as a writer.

History and national consciousness are central to the creation and sustaining of national identity. Although much has been written on German national identity, there has been little examination of how the 60th anniversary of the Allied air campaign or expulsion of ethnic Germans are remembered from the perspective of the Germans as victims. Reflecting the changing status of the National Socialist past as it continues to affect the present, this thesis argues there were significant disparities between official and popular perceptions of national identity and memory. Presenting a focussed examination of current developments in German society and politics from a German perspective, this thesis examines why many in Germany have rejected a national identity based on a constitutional patriotism and collective atonement. Debates conducted by prominent intellectuals, journalists and academics in leading newspapers and magazines have been compared to statements from Ministers and official reports in order to ascertain the extent to which elite conceptions of national identity find resonance within Germany. Providing fresh evidence from periodicals, archive publications, eyewitness testimonies and books, this informative and arguably compelling thesis makes a significant and original contribution on how German history and identity are now being perceived and represented in Germany. Competing perceptions of the past and present warrant urgent recognition because so long as a disparate national identity and culture of remembrance continues there can be no effective reconciliation with either the German elite or with others. A greater understanding and recognition of the themes addressed however could not only encourage greater toleration, but also perhaps dispel the increasing sense of bitterness concerning recent aspects of the country's past.

Adaptation has increasingly come to be recognised as an urgent and necessary response to climate change. The ability of a system to carryout adaptation is dependent on its adaptive capacity. To date, the majority of research relating to adaptation has focused on the objective and material determinants of a system's capacity to adapt to severe and extreme weather impacts. Whereas the role that subjective factors, such as people's perceptions, beliefs and values play in that same process, has received comparatively less attention. Despite being a global phenomenon, climate change is being experienced and responded to in local places. More than just physical locations, places are often imbued with meaning by the people associated with them. This thesis argues that these meanings have implications for the ways in which people adapt, or fail to adapt, to climate change impacts. It uses the concept 'sense of place', as a means of capturing this place meaning and as a lens for exploring adaptive behaviours in three low-income urban communities in the Dominican Republic. In particular it examines the specific roles of residents' place attachment, dependence and identity in motivating and constraining adaptive behaviours. Based on qualitative research with ethnographic underpinnings, the thesis shows that the urban poor sense of place is shaped by interconnected relationships between residents and; their homes, the physical and social aspects of their communities and a range of non-community actors. These relationships are shaped by physical and social interactions with and within places, but also through the discursive construction of the locations and the inhabitants of them in public opinion. Residents continuously seek out ways to enhance their sense of place, at times as an improvement in the built environment as a means of preventing or ameliorating environmental threats and events. However, often it is enhancement, in an aesthetic sense, which is envisaged as being of equal and sometimes greater importance. Although aesthetic improvements sometimes have the resultant impact of enabling adaptation, this tends to be incidental, rather than purposeful. Despite the importance placed by the urban poor on their sense of place, these subjective determinants and adaptation in the urban environment, remain unrecognised as well as absent from local institutional and policy radars. Overall the research suggests the need for a more comprehensive approach to understanding adaptive capacities. It requires an approach which continues to measure the objective determinants but which also recognises the role of people's relationships to places in converting or failing to convert objective capacity into climate change action and in dictating the type activities that are valued and prioritised by urban poor residents themselves.

Globally tourism is one of the biggest industries and its role is considered key in economic development. In South Africa, tourism is one of the main economic drivers. Thus, tourism contributes to the gross domestic product, generates foreign exchange and provides sustainable employment opportunities. In order to facilitate local economic development (LED), local destination marketing organisations (DMOs) need to ensure that their operations are geared towards optimising the economic advantages related to tourism growth and development. As a result the DMOs must be strategic and well-managed. One way of achieving this is to ensure that the board of directors and specifically the non-executive directors (NEDs) practise good governance. In South Africa, three (3) types of DMOs are found, namely those that are funded by local government and incorporated into the municipality. The second type of DMOs is funded by the private sector. The third type of DMOs is those funded by both the local government and the private sector. In this case, the DMO has an agreement with the local government in terms of what their mandate is and what the agreed outcomes would be. A board of directors, comprising both executive directors (EDs) and nonexecutive directors (NEDs) is responsible for the governance of the local DMO. The main research problem of the study is the attributes and experience of the nonexecutive directors that serve on the boards of DMOs in accordance with developmental standards of best practices. In order to address the main problem, the following research objectives were formulated: To identify best practice by examining the literature as to how NEDs are prepared to serve on boards of both listed and non-listed organisations. To determine whether any policy frameworks provide guidance to NEDs serving on DMOs in South Africa. To examine whether any training or preparatory programmes exist specifically for NEDs in DMOs. To investigate whether NEDs should have specific attributes that would improve their governance of DMOs. To develop a set of recommendations that would assist NEDs to play a more effective role when executing their responsibilities. In order to address these research objectives, a quantitative research methodology was adopted sampling all the DMOs in South Africa that could be identified and were governed by a board of directors. For this purpose, a self-completed questionnaire was distributed to the board of directors of DMOs and specifically the non-executive directors. The results of the study indicated that no guidelines existed that DMOs could follow to better prepare the NEDs of local DMOs. Furthermore, no policy frameworks provide guidance to NEDs serving on local DMOs. The only guidelines that exist are generic guidelines of the King IV Report for NEDs of listed and non-listed organisations. In addition, Pike (2016:108) listed a number of characteristics of good governance. The study also revealed that no training or preparatory programmes exist for the NEDs of local DMOs. Finally, the study highlighted five (5) attributes that NEDs consider as critical in fulfilling their obligations. These include the empowerment of NEDs, the commitment of NEDs, communication with NEDs, job satisfaction of the NEDs and the need for NEDs to understand policy frameworks relevant to their tasks.

Comprising a novel and complementary discourses, this thesis blurs the traditional distinctions between critical theory and creative practice, and contributes new insights into the practice, craft, and theory of the contemporary novel. It stages a praxical enquiry in which the creative texts perform a triple function: as original literature, as documents of process, and as critical enquiry. In so doing the texts add to our understanding of how life history and gender influence literary production, and delineate the nexus of fiction/biography/autobiography, both in terms of the individual writer negotiating the matrix of self and other, and in terms of the author in a wider social and historical context. The main apparatus for this investigation is a work of prose fiction that exploits the ability of the novel to sustain a critical exploration while simultaneously delivering a satisfying narrative. It is a composite text that, I will argue, works as historiographic metafiction to dramatise key events in the apparently disparate lives of three women who are separated by historical and social context. The relationship between the three women becomes visible as the narratives gradually reveal their connections. Via this structure, layers of resonance accrue as the themes outlined above are worked through in this fictional space. Alongside the novel, complementary discourses present the poetics that have been developed in its production. They examine the critical and historical context of my work, articulating insights gained into the novelist’s craft, the nature and purpose of the writer's tool kit, and its relationship with the author's life history. The complementary discourses conclude by offering responses to questions about the interactions between gender, genre and creative processes, before proposing future lines of enquiry into the nature and possibilities of the novel.