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Thesis advisor: Susan M. Shell / The 21st century has witnessed jarring set-backs in the spread of the liberal democracy around the globe, as well as domestic challenges to the liberal form of government where it has been long established. By interrogating the root principles of the liberal theory of progress, this study aims to account for both the overwhelming success of the liberal progress in the latter half of the twentieth century, as well as its mounting failures in the early twenty-first century. It is argued that the liberal theory of progress rests on an unstable synthesis of two competing modern political philosophies, which are identified as ideology and the philosophy of history. The latter offers a theory of mankind’s historical development toward reason, while the former provides a blueprint for the construction of the rational state. Before these modern philosophies were synthesized in the liberal theory of progress, they emerged in opposition to one another, in the works of Thomas Hobbes and Giambattista Vico. The first chapter introduces the political philosophy of Hobbes’ Leviathan, and examines Hobbes’s teaching about nature and art, power and public opinion, culture and civil religion. On this basis, the Leviathan is shown to inaugurate the ideological form of politics, of which liberalism is one example. Chapter two defines ideology and traces its history, demonstrating the common source of all modern ideologies in a foundational egalitarianism that replaces the natural politics of rule. Chapter three addresses the modern philosophy of history, inaugurated by Vico’s New Science. An account of the genesis of this philosophy is presented and contrasted with Leo Strauss’ account. The fourth chapter considers Vico’s political teaching and his opposition to the modern theories of natural law, including especially that of Hobbes. Rejecting the view that Vico should be characterized as an enemy of the Enlightenment, this chapter examines his teaching about the historicity of human nature as reflected in religion, justice, poetry, philosophy and the political cycle of human history, and concludes with a discussion of the “barbarism of reflection,” in which all progress is said to comes to an end. These studies of Hobbes and Vico indicate the points of greatest tension within the liberal theory of progress, and prepare the way for a future critical study of liberal theory of progress in Kant and his successors. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

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Thesis advisor: Susan M. Shell / This study looks to the philosophy of Immanuel Kant to investigate the relationship between anthropology (i.e., an account of the human) and politics, and, in particular, to think through what sort of human being liberalism at its best (or most civic-minded) requires or seeks to form. Chapter II turns to Kant’s idea of historical progress to draw out the link between his account of the human and his liberal republican politics. The role of hope, as a necessary product of our reason, proves to be central both to Kant’s politics and to the question of human nature. For Kant, we are above all defined by our striving to remake the world.Focusing primarily on the A Preface of the 1781 edition, Chapter III argues that the Critique of Pure Reason can be understood to be advancing a “transcendental anthropology” (which is distinct from Kant’s later anthropology from a “pragmatic point of view”) in that it seeks to provide “the conditions of the possibility” of human experience. The tension between freedom (or morality) and nature (or self-interest) emerges as the defining characteristic of human life. Chapter IV takes up Kant’s attempt to bridge this “gulf” between freedom and nature in the third Critique, specifically by examining Kant’s aesthetic theory to understand how the human being might be represented indeterminately through a regulative principle of reflective judgment. It argues that employing his aesthetic theory, Kant offers throughout his late writings symbolic or even poetic images that depict the human being’s unity and the moral striving toward such unity. Chapters V and VI consider two such images. The former returns to the question of progressive history. Now integrated into Kant’s critical system through an “as if” postulation of reflective judgment, the idea of history encourages an “admiration” and gratitude for the natural order that counteracts the harmful moral and civic effects of reductive materialism. In Chapter V, however, we face Kant’s less sanguine notion of “radical evil,” an apparent obstacle to progress that emerges from within his own philosophy. And yet, I argue that one can understand radical evil as a symbol of Kant’s striving human being by reading it in light of the aesthetic framework provided in the CPJ. In this way, the symbol of radical evil helps us make sense of the strife inherent in our moral experience and provides a noble, or even heroic, image of the human. The conclusion raises the question of whether the idea of progress, and the anthropology underlying it, can still grip us today and, if not, whether liberalism can do without something like the sober hope Kant seeks to inspire. As Kant himself saw in 1789, hope, when unrestrained, becomes destructive of the world it aims to overcome. Even so, Kant reminds us of the inevitability of hope’s role in human life and politics. Nonetheless, in light of the ambivalence of hope, and in the spirit of Kant’s rational questioning, one might still wonder whether the end of reason is to remake the world. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

The opera, The Pilgrim's Progress, was written by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1949. "The Seven Songs" are analyzed for performance, examining the elements of music and text of the songs, including melody, harmony, form, vocal line and accompaniment, with the intent of forming conclusions in regard to their usefulness as singular selections, or as a group, for performance.

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The concerns society has expressed regarding the education of children have prompted educators to relentlessly search for instructional methodologies and organizational designs to maximize student achievement. One instructional organizational design that has surfaced is looping. Looping is the process wherein the teacher remains with the same group of children for a period of two or more years. Looping has been tried at all grade levels with a single teacher or with a team of teachers and with the same students over a period of years. The purpose of this study is to investigate the implementation of looping in four schools and to provide a descriptive account. A case study approach was used. Teachers and principals at four elementary schools using looping were interviewed regarding their experience. Data were analyzed using a qualitative approach for emerging themes. These findings indicated that schools implement the looping concept to build relationships, for instructional advantages, extended time and to lessen anxieties. Also, schools implemented the looping concept by doing an indepth study of the concept and by allowing teachers and parents to participate voluntarily. Finally, specific outcomes as a result of the implementation of looping were as follows: parents were knowledgeable about school functions and the overall program of studies; students had a safe haven; and teachers felt that looping gave them more time with their students. / Ed. D.

The documentation of complete and timely as-built information related to construction projects is essential for tracking progress, planning corrective action, and analyzing the schedule. The collection of site information, however, is currently a challenging, time-consuming, and error-prone manual process. To improve the tracking of as-built information, this research focused on the development of a low-cost voice-visual framework that utilizes commonly available communication tools such as email and interactive voice response (IVR). The goal of this research was to create project-wide bidirectional communication between site personnel and head office to automate the tracking of daily site information. The research involved an in-depth analysis of the possible site events and progress-tracking needs related to construction activities. Accordingly, activity-specific email forms and logical-flow diagrams were developed as a means of facilitating site data collection. A framework was then developed that integrates several components: the developed tracking forms; a cloud-based IVR service; a customized scheduling application; and an email application. During construction, the automated system identifies eligible activities to be tracked; collects as-built details from the relevant supervisors; and uses the daily time segments of the schedule as an integrated depository for all as-built details, including progress information, events by all parties, and requests for information (RFIs), quality/safety issues, and other video/audio/drawing-markup notes. The developed system generates detailed as-built schedule that clearly show the evolution of all as-built events and their accurate timing on the daily segments for each activity. The project schedule is thus converted from a static report into information-rich, visualization media, and decision-support tool that provides decision makers with timely progress details so that they can easily follow the project progress , facilitates schedule updates, facilitates accurate schedule forensics, delay analysis, , and the planning of appropriate corrective action. The developed framework was validated though a number of case studies that demonstrated its usefulness and practicality. This research contributes to construction efficiency through the facilitation of bidirectional communication between site personnel and head office and the provision of timely and legible as-built data for decision-making. Ultimately, the research will assist construction firms to have better control over construction projects and more effective decisions during construction through improved communication.

The documentation of complete and timely as-built information related to construction projects is essential for tracking progress, planning corrective action, and analyzing the schedule. The collection of site information, however, is currently a challenging, time-consuming, and error-prone manual process. To improve the tracking of as-built information, this research focused on the development of a low-cost voice-visual framework that utilizes commonly available communication tools such as email and interactive voice response (IVR). The goal of this research was to create project-wide bidirectional communication between site personnel and head office to automate the tracking of daily site information. The research involved an in-depth analysis of the possible site events and progress-tracking needs related to construction activities. Accordingly, activity-specific email forms and logical-flow diagrams were developed as a means of facilitating site data collection. A framework was then developed that integrates several components: the developed tracking forms; a cloud-based IVR service; a customized scheduling application; and an email application. During construction, the automated system identifies eligible activities to be tracked; collects as-built details from the relevant supervisors; and uses the daily time segments of the schedule as an integrated depository for all as-built details, including progress information, events by all parties, and requests for information (RFIs), quality/safety issues, and other video/audio/drawing-markup notes. The developed system generates detailed as-built schedule that clearly show the evolution of all as-built events and their accurate timing on the daily segments for each activity. The project schedule is thus converted from a static report into information-rich, visualization media, and decision-support tool that provides decision makers with timely progress details so that they can easily follow the project progress , facilitates schedule updates, facilitates accurate schedule forensics, delay analysis, , and the planning of appropriate corrective action. The developed framework was validated though a number of case studies that demonstrated its usefulness and practicality. This research contributes to construction efficiency through the facilitation of bidirectional communication between site personnel and head office and the provision of timely and legible as-built data for decision-making. Ultimately, the research will assist construction firms to have better control over construction projects and more effective decisions during construction through improved communication.

Enligt undersökningar som har gjorts konstateras att digitala verktyg används mindre inom byggsektorn i jämförelse med andra branscher. Den digitala utvecklingen är viktig för hur byggbranschen kommer att se ut i framtiden. I nuläget finns ett intresse för att öka användningen av digitala verktyg från byggföretaget Skanska. En mobil version av tidplaneringsprogrammet Asta Powerproject finns på marknaden, nämligen Site Progress. Site Progress används för att stämma av projektets aktiviteter via mobila enheter.   Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur en digital avstämning av tidplan går till genom att använda Site Progress. Vidare analyseras applikationens användarvänlighet och målet är att komma fram till om Site Progress skulle kunna implementeras i kommande projekt.   I studien genomförs en undersökning på projekt Kvarteret Trollhättan 31, som är en om- och tillbyggnation av kontor. I början av undersökningen observerades hur avstämningen går till i nuläget på projektet. Därefter genomfördes samma avstämning med det digitala verktyget Site Progress. Undersökningen avslutades med kvalitativa intervjuer i syfte att ta del av produktionsledarnas tankar om det nuvarande arbetssättet samt deras inställning till införande av Site Progress.   Studien resulterar i att Site Progress medför att avstämning sker direkt på plats och att all dokumentation hamnar på en enhet. I nuläget går det ej att tilldela fler personer på en och samma summa i Site Progress Manager, detta kan försvåra arbetet med avstämning. För att Site Progress ska implementeras i arbetet med avstämning av tidplan krävs justeringar för att åtgärda verktygets brister.