This investigation charts a number of complementary explorations at the site of electronic media in art practice and design and media education. Artists are increasingly using video and computer technology in the production of their work, and these shifts are reflected in the way design and media courses are taught in Higher Education. This study seeks to relate a number of often contentious issues, but complex questions are central to any debate about the use of electronic imaging technologies by artists and the implications for teaching and learning. In this respect, the thesis is informed by my dual role as an artist using electronic media and as a lecturer in video and digital imaging in the Media Department at the University of Westminster. The study is based on a particular model of action research, and seeks after the manner of Glaser and Strauss (1967) to "ground" theory in the aggregate perceptions, understandings, and artistic or pedagogical orientations of those seeking to bring order to their own experiences in the settings. The text is arranged in eleven chapters. It begins by introducing the boundaries of the phenomena under study (which is necessarily ragged and untidy and challengingly gritty, since the composite issues have yet to have attracted any clarity of exposition, and the field is in any case characterised by imaginative leaps and cross-fertilisation) and the methodological and idealogical stances adopted. Methodologically the thesis is wide-ranging and eclectic, although also contained within the kind of feminist epistomology proposed by Sandra Harding (1992), Marnier Lazreg (1994) and others. It then moves on to examine a number of focal points and issues related to the use to which electronic media is put by artists. These topics include my own sustained attempts to develop non-linear computer systems for mapping associative thoughts, and a more general and more detailed study of the principles and characteristics of these systems when they are used for holding information about knowledge domains. Following this, there is a chapter dedicated to the application of these principles to a particular knowledge domain, colour theory, with the aim of designing a computer aided learning package. The interconnections between all the topics, issues and themes studied in the text are highlighted in the middle of the thesis before moving on to more specific investigation of the issue of gender in both technological education and creativity, with an emphasis on the use of imaging technologies by women artists. The impact of these technologies in terms of shifting aesthetic values and tastes forms the basis of the final chapter, and a conclusion seeks to offer both a tentative intellectual synopsis and to indicate how the exercise has influenced and affected my work as an artist. I am aware that to some extent this arrangement challenges both the linear quality of conventional research reportage and academic distrust of promiscuously interpenetrating ideas. I trust that this form of discourse, deliberately chosen, is experienced as working within its own terms.

This thesis examines the ways in which the new financial world of early eighteenth-century London was interpreted, understood and represented through visual forms. The focus of the thesis is on the years between circa 1689 and 1763; that is from the Nine Years War, when deficit finance was first established, until the end of the Seven Years War, by which point its existence was more broadly accepted. It argues that these financial innovations had a determining impact upon the production of visual imagery, especially that produced by the London print market, and that images themselves were instrumental in the debates generated by an increasingly speculative financial world. Following an introduction establishing the aims, methods and scope of the thesis, the chapters take the form of a series of thematic studies chosen to address key issues and images. Chapter one examines the depiction of the Royal Exchange and Exchange Alley in a range of polite topographical prints and graphic satires. This allows for an overview of desirable and disreputable representations of commercial conduct. Chapter two takes as its theme the early years of the Bank of England, East India Company and South Sea Company as principal government creditors. It looks at their rivalry for a position in public finance and the image each company promoted through the premises they built between 1725 and 1734. The third chapter considers the establishment of the national debt and its early management. Graphic satires feature prominently in effecting visual retribution on those suspected of financial misconduct. In Chapter four the state lottery is examined as a form of generating revenue directly from the public and considers the part played by graphic products in questioning this government-sanctioned speculation. The fifth chapter is concerned with the representation of gaming and examines the ways in which it might be adapted to signify both virtuous and inappropriate economic conduct. The concluding chapter focuses on the response of the print market and the press to the turnaround in fortunes in the Seven Years War and how they register an apparent acceptance of the new financial institutions and developments of the preceding half-century.

The thesis is a critical examination of Danto's philosophy of art. It begins with his article 'The Artworld' where he proposes a special is of artistic identification to distinguish artworks. Danto's idea of the artworld is discussed, a historical and contextual theory of art, which arose from his attempt to explain the difference between Warhol's Brillo Boxes sculpture and an indiscernible stack of everyday Brillo boxes. It is argued that Danto unsuccessfully attempts to shore up his artworld concept with the special is. The technique of comparing indiscernible counterparts, from Danto's book The Transfiguration of the Commonplace, is examined. It is argued that the technique is philosophically redundant, but it is a redundant premise which has been added to a valid inference (Danto's historical and contextual view of art: his artworld theory) therefore, this does not make the original inference invalid. Danto's treatment of metaphor, expression, and style is shown to result in four claims. First, artworks embody rhetorical ellipsis. Second, artworks share features of metaphor: they are intensional (with an s) in structure and cannot be paraphrased. Third, a work of art expresses what it is a metaphor for by the way it depicts its subject. Fourth, artworks embody style. The conclusion, has two parts. The first part gives a summary of the criticism of Danto's theory of art: (1) there are logical inconsistencies in his concept of the is of artistic identification and in his use of indiscernible counterparts, (2) his theory suffers by being over-inclusive and (3) he uses circular arguments. The second part is based on a response to the criticism: it provides a definition of art. This has three elements. First, an argument is proposed for a spectrum of artistic presence in which all human activity and artefacts can be placed. Second, there is an acceptance of Danto's view of art (or artistic presence) being both intentional (with a t) and intensional (with an s); however, by applying these concepts to a spectrum, the problem of over-inclusiveness is avoided. Finally, it is argued there can he no wholly non-circular account of art.

In this thesis I examine the development in the theatre outside London, known as the "repertory theatre movement". I concentrate on the first three theatres founded, the Gaiety in Manchester, the Citizens' in Glasgow, and the Liverpool Repertory Theatre, all of which came into prominence between 1907 and 1917, the ten years which span the life of the Gaiety Theatre. The roots of the movement are traced to Germany and its network of subsidised theatres, and to the Abbey in Dublin, which played a crucial role as the catalyst for the movement The British background to the movement is also explored. A discussion of the theatres' structure follows, with their establishment, organisation, finances, policy and the audience they attracted, surveyed. I then consider the repertoire of each theatre analysing which plays they performed, which new authors encouraged, and why the emphasis lay on a certain kind of drama. The backgrounds of the actors and actresses who joined the repertory theatres are discussed, as are their techniques, and how they adapted to the strictures of repertory. Similarly, the directors who undertook a huge workload were forced to find a new way of working which would ensure high artistic standards, while producing a large number of plays. I shall look at this development of a new stagecraft in a historical context and evaluate its strengths and weak-nesses.

This thesis tries to provide a historical examination of the Scottish National Players, from the first proposals in 1913 until the disbandment of the Scottish National Theatre Society in 1934. The SNP aimed to produce plays of Scottish life and character; to encourage the public's taste for good drama of any kind; and to found a National Theatre. The golden years of the Players were the early and mid twenties, but by the end of the decade their ideals were crumbling away and they faced increasing dissatisfaction from the public and the press. They did not successfully fulfil any of their stated aims, but their attempts were far from being worthless. The influence of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin upon the SNP is detailed in the first chapter, along with the Player's own statements that they set out to create a similar venture in Glasgow. The Players' debt to the Glasgow Repertory Theatre is discussed. In chapters two to five a detailed history of the Players has been given. This concentrates on the policies, organisation, achievements, people involved, and actual productions, rather than being a literary critique of the plays themselves. Chapter six discusses the main achievement of the Scottish National Players, that they provided a training for the theatre profession which could not at that time be obtained anywhere else in Scotland. The SNP's contribution to the setting up of the BBC in Scotland is also discussed.

This thesis addresses the textual bias inherent in the historiography by exploring the value of visual images as a source of evidence for cultural perceptions of the Gàidhealtachd. Visual images stood at the sharp end of the means by which stereotypes were forged and sustained. In part, this was a direct result of the special role afforded to the image in the cultural and intellectual climate of Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment Europe. This thesis looks at the evolution of visual interest in the Highlands and Islands on two fronts, documentary and aesthetic, and pays particular attention to the way in which the two main functions of the image in society came to be intertwined. This thesis argues that the concept of antiquity was the single most powerful influence driving the visual representation of the Highlands and Islands during a long period from c. 1700 to around 1880, and indeed into the twentieth century. If something could be regarded as ancient, aboriginal, dead, or even dying, it acquired both documentary and aesthetic value. This applied to actual antiquities, to customs and manners perceived as indigenous and ‘traditional’ to the region, and, ultimately, even to the physical landscape. Successive chapters explore what might now be classified as the archaeological, ethnological and geological motives for visualising the Highlands and Islands, and the bias in favour of antiquity which resulted from the spread of intellectual influences into the fine arts. The shadow of time which hallmarked visual representations of the region resulted in a preservationist mentality which has had powerful repercussions down to the present day. The body of evidence considered – which embraces maps, plans, paintings, drawings, sketches and printed images by both professionals and amateurs – must be viewed as a rich and valuable companion to the written word.

Establishing effective language intervention for those who struggle to acquire it early on has received significant attention from researchers within the field of behavior analysis. The procedures of the present study were adapted from Spurgin' thesis research from 2021, in which a stimulus specific consequence was used during teaching after participants made correct responses. In this case, the stimulus specific consequence was a label for a picture that participants were required to point to during teaching trials. When participants pointed to the correct card, the researcher would label the card and deliver a small wooden block which the participants were told they were working for. In the hear-say procedures, participants were taught one set of cards and instructed to echo the researchers' labels. In the see-say participants were taught a second set of cards and instructed to "beat' the researcher to saying the word. After all cards were taught, were tested with a non-vocal receptive identification test. Immediately following this, participants were tested with a vocal expressive identification test. An extended teaching was included to determine the effects of additional practice within each condition. Results indicated that the participants were able to require some receptive and expressive language but targets often did not correspond. In many instances, receptive mastery did not necessarily lead to expressive mastery or vice versa. Results also indicated that additional practice improved receptive scores but had little impact on expressive scores. Implication for teaching learners with autism as well as typical adults is discussed.

Thesis (doctoral)--Pontificia Studiorum Universitas a Sancto Thoma Aquinate in Urbe. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [323]-364).

Diss., 2007--Eidg. Technische Hochschule Zürich.

Diss. no. 15533 sc. SFIT Zurich. / Zusammenfassung in Englisch und Deutsch. Literaturverz.