<div> <div> <div> <p>Medieval fairies are chaotic and perplexing narrative agents—neither humans nor monsters—and their actions are defined only by a characteristic unpredictability. My dissertation investigates this fairy chaos, focusing on those moments in a premodern romance when a fairy or group of fairies intrudes on a human community and, to be blunt, makes a mess. I argue that fairy disruption of human ways of thinking and being—everything from human corporeality to the definition of chivalry—is often productive or generative. Each chapter examines how narrative fairies upset medieval English culture’s operations and rules (including, frequently, the rules of the narrative itself) in order to question those conventions in the extra-narrative world of the tale’s audience. Fairy romances, I contend, puzzle and engage their audiences, encouraging readers and hearers to think about and even challenge the processes of their own society. In this way, my research explores the interaction between a text and its audience—between fiction and reality—illuminating the ways in which premodern narratives of chaos and disruption encourage readers and headers to engage in a sustained, ethical consideration of the world. </p> </div> </div> </div>

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-14T13:54:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 404755.pdf: 996502 bytes, checksum: b77f5d5763f3d0872e082cd39000ee41 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-08-28 / Esta tese pretende demonstrar que o aprofundamento da aproxima??o de Popper com o m?todo evolucion?rio (Tentativa e Erro), a partir dos anos de 1960 determinou uma mudan?a em sua epistemologia. Para tanto, procuraremos atingir os seguintes objetivos: I) Demonstrar uma primeira aproxima??o de Popper com o m?todo evolucion?rio, nas obras at? 1960, de forma ainda t?mida e metaf?rica. Nesse momento, o autor serve-se de tais conceitos apenas para explicitar seu m?todo falsificacionista, que, ao criticar o problema da demarca??o e da indu??o, ainda tinha como fonte de legitimidade cient?fica de falsifica??o de uma teoria e do crescimento do conhecimento uma base emp?rica e um apego aos postulados positivistas. Ressaltamos, ainda, o fato de Popper estabelecer um crit?rio de demarca??o amb?guo e convencionalista, porque tanto selecionava m?todos, quanto teorias, al?m de n?o responder por que uma teoria, como a de Einstein, ? melhor que a teoria da psican?lise de Freud, a n?o ser atrav?s de um crit?rio convencionalista. II) Destacar que o aprofundamento da aproxima??o de Popper com o m?todo evolucion?rio (Tentativa e Erro), a partir dos anos de 1960, determinou uma mudan?a em sua filosofia falsificacionista, atrav?s dos seguintes pontos: i) Defesa de que existe uma semelhan?a entre a sele??o das teorias mais aptas com a sele??o das esp?cies mais bem adaptadas, ou seja, partimos de problemas, tentativas de solu??o e elimina??o do erro, tanto no ?mbito natural quanto no epist?mico; ii) A base de legitimidade cient?fica, de falsifica??o de uma teoria e do crescimento do conhecimento, que estava fundamentada numa base meramente emp?rica at? aos anos 60, ganha novos componentes, mediante a defesa de um conhecimento objetivo, sem um sujeito conhecedor, mediado pelo mundo 3 (teorias) e pela fun??o argumentativa e cr?tica da linguagem. O crit?rio de legitima??o de uma teoria ocorre a partir do M?todo de Tentativa e Erro que se caracteriza pelo uso cr?tico da experi?ncia; iii) Ambos, mundos 1, 2 e 3 e a fun??o argumentativa e cr?tica da linguagem, tamb?m s?o reflexo de uma adapta??o evolutiva do universo at? seu ponto m?ximo que ? o homem. Com isso, o crit?rio popperiano de demarca??o fica menos restritivo por admitir que os programas metaf?sicos de investiga??o s?o fundamentais para a descoberta de novas teorias cient?ficas e na busca da aproxima??o da verdade. III) Ressaltar que, no ?mbito geral da Teoria da Evolu??o, Popper est? situado numa aproxima??o gen?rica que vai desde o darwinismo at? ao neodarwinismo, expondo uma postura amb?gua e cr?tica em rela??o a ambos, com a pretens?o de buscar subs?dios pertinentes ao seu projeto te?rico. Popper pode ser apontado como um autor muito simp?tico e direcionando-se para uma epistemologia evolucion?ria, conquanto n?o tenha tido tempo para realizar essa tarefa efetivamente.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries / Department: English.

Este trabajo busca analizar la construcción de la noción de alteridad a través de la experiencia del cónsul británico, el irlandés Roger Casement, en las áreas que rodean las dos riberas del Putumayo, acercamiento para el cual nos hemos basado tanto en sus escritos como en sus informes, correspondencia y, sobre todo, sus diarios personales. En primer lugar, se pasa revista a la realidad social y al imaginario del poblador de la Amazonía peruana, particularmente en la época de la explotación del caucho, surgida cuando la zona era de muy difícil acceso. La economía cauchera provocó en la Amazonía una prosperidad impresionante pero efímera, debido a la gran competencia del caucho asiático, de modo que la economía basada en este producto natural desapareció rápidamente, apareciendo una gran desocupación, acompañada de desaceleración económica, emigración masiva, destrucción del medio ambiente y reducción demográfica, entre otros graves problemas. En la historia de la producción del caucho lo más escandaloso fueron los abusos, maltratos y crímenes en contra de los indígenas, por medio de acciones tan crueles como la tortura, el asesinato, los castigos con látigo, incluso el genocidio. En esta tesis se utilizan como fuentes primarias fundamentales los textos del propio Casement, Diario del Amazonas y el informe Libro Azul Británico: informe de Roger Casement y otras cartas sobre las atrocidades en el Putumayo. Sobre la base de ellos, analizaremos cómo se construyeron las nociones de alteridad respecto de la población autóctona en la zona del Putumayo, lo cual se traducía, entre otros puntos, en su constante reclamo por los derechos humanos de los indígenas. En efecto, el cónsul británico guardaba simpatía por las poblaciones aborígenes, lo que se evidenciaba ya desde la época de su estancia en el Congo, y se concretaría al llegar a la Amazonía peruana. Roger Casement era un católico tradicional irlandés, lo que, a la postre, fue factor determinante en su simpatía por los explotados y desposeídos. Casement veía las cosas desde un punto de vista religioso, lo que en su caso lo empujaba a denunciar los crímenes ocurridos en el Putumayo, enfrentando asimismo muchos obstáculos y arriesgando su propia vida con sus reclamos. Sin embargo, Casement, un luchador y héroe de su época, no era perfecto. Muchas veces su manera de comportarse lo mostraba como un hombre contradictorio. Como católico el cónsul Casement consideraba que todos los seres humanos, sean europeos o indígenas, eran iguales, porque todos eran hijos de Dios. Por otro lado, estaba de acuerdo en que hay razas más civilizadas, menos civilizadas y razas salvajes. Respecto de la civilización, observaba con beneplácito la civilización y modernidad de Alemania y pensaba que, en vez de España e Inglaterra, Alemania sería la única esperanza para los “salvajes” indígenas de poder salir adelante. Otra contradicción consistía en que Casement apoyaba la expansión capitalista hacia todo el mundo, para conquistar y civilizar las regiones “salvajes”. No solo lo apoyaba, también hizo un gran esfuerzo en favor de dicha expansión. Podría afirmarse, por tanto, que Casement era un hombre ambigüo: por una parte, un católico bondadoso, muy generoso con su prójimo, pero al mismo tiempo un entusiasta de las ideas eurocéntricas etnicistas y eugenésicas de la época, un “racista” en buena cuenta quizás sería más apropiado decir, aunque siempre tomando en consideración los criterios positivistas de la época, que fusionaban ambas caras, un “representante de civilización”, es decir, un buen cristiano victoriano, un paternalista “defensor y protector de los más débiles”. / Tesis

Network dynamics are thought to be the substrate of brain information processing and of mental representations. Moreover, network-wide dysfunctions are recognized to be at the core of several psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Yet, our ability to target specific networks for functional or genetic manipulations remains limited. The development of monosynaptically-restricted Rabies virus, G-deleted Rabies virus (ΔG-Rabies), has greatly facilitated the anatomical investigation of neural circuits, revealing the network synaptic structure upstream of defined neuronal populations. However, the inherent cytotoxicity of the Rabies virus largely restrains its use to the mere structural characterisation of neural networks. To overcome this limitation, I generated novel tools that allow the manipulation of neural networks for the entire life of the animal, without affecting neuronal and circuit properties. I first developed a viral system obtained by engineering the Rabies virus genome to eliminate its cytotoxicity. This led to the generation of a Self-inactivating Rabies virus (SiR) that transcriptionally disappears from the infected neurons while leaving permanent genetic access to the traced network. I showed that SiR provides a virtually unlimited temporal window for the functional manipulation of neural circuits in vivo without adverse effects on neuronal physiology. To further expand our ways of intervening on neural networks function I then developed a completely virus-free system, named Genetically-Encoded TransSynaptic Shuttle (GETSS), which is the only specific genetically-encoded transsynaptic tracer to date. In this thesis, I established novel approaches that provide, for the first time, the functional and genetic access to traced network elements in vivo for the lifetime of the animal, with no cytotoxic effects, no changes in the electrophysiological properties of the traced neurons and no adverse effects on network function. This opens new horizons in the functional investigation of neural circuits and potentially represent the first approaches to experimentally monitor neural circuit remodelling in vivo.

Irish born British composer, teacher, conductor, and organist Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924), is today best known for his choral works and as teacher to some of Britain's most successful composers of the twentieth century. Stanford was a prolific composer of numerous genres of music, and his chamber works for strings comprise a significant portion of his total compositional output. A great many of Stanford's chamber compositions were never published and are absent among today's standard chamber music repertoire. Until now, Stanford's String Quartet No. 4 in G minor, Op. 99 has never been published. This project comprises the first published edition of the String Quartet No. 4, making the work more readily available to performers and scholars. The String Quartet No. 4 is the last of Stanford's string quartets to be published, and this project makes the publication of his works in this genre complete. The author hopes that this project will help generate interest in Stanford as an important figure in British music history and bring his works to a greater public awareness through performance and study.

The seaport of Bombay is often referred to as India's "Gothic City." Reminders of British colonial rule are seen throughout South Bombay in its Victorian architecture and sculpture. In the heart of Bombay lies the Victoria Terminus, a towering, hybrid railway station blending gothic and vernacular architectures. Built at the height of the British Empire, the terminus is evidence of the rapid modernization of Bombay through the philanthropy of the Parsis. This religious and ethnic minority became quick allies to the British Raj; their generous donations funded the construction of the "Gothic City." The British viewed the Parsis as their peers, not the colonized. However, Parsi-funded architectural ornament reveals that they saw themselves on equal footing with Bombay's indigenous populations. The Parsis sought to integrate Indian and British art, design, and culture. Through their arts patronage they created an artistic heritage unique to Bombay, as seen in the architectural crown of Bombay, the Victoria Terminus.The Parsi philanthropist, Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy was the most influential in Bombay's modern art world. He was chosen with other Indian elites to serve on the selection committee for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. He selected India's finest works to demonstrate India's rich tradition of the decorative arts. In turn, these works were viewed within the Indian Pavilion by the Victorian public and design reformer Owen Jones. Jones used many of the objects at the India Pavilion in his design book, The Grammar of Ornament. This book went on to inspire the eclectic architectural ornament of Victorian Britain and eventually Bombay. Jeejeebhoy sold the majority of the works from the exhibition to the Victorian and Albert Museum and the Department of Sciences and Art in South Kensington. The objects were studied by design students in South Kensington who were later hired by Jeejeebhoy to be instructors at the Bombay School of Art. This school taught academic European art alongside traditional Indian design forthe purpose of creating public art works. Thus, the Parsis were important cultural mediators who funded British and Indian craftsmen to create symbols of "progress," such as the Victoria Terminus, for a modern India.

No description available.

Malaria is a preventable and treatable blood-borne disease whose complications can be fatal. Although many interventions exist in order to reduce the impacts of malaria, the optimal method of distributing these interventions in a geographical area with limited resources must be determined. This thesis refines a model that uses an integer linear program and a compartmental model of epidemiology called an SIR model of ordinary differential equations. The objective of the model is to find an intervention strategy over multiple time steps and multiple geographic regions that minimizes the number of days people spend infected with malaria. In this paper, we refine the resolution of the model and conduct sensitivity analysis on its parameter values.

Tim Burtons films are largely thought to be exercises in style over content, and film adaptations in general are largely thought to be lesser than their source works. In this project, I argue that Burtons film <i>Sleepy Hollow</i>, an adaptation of Washington Irvings Legend of Sleepy Hollow, expresses his artistic message, that imagination and the irrational are equally valuable lenses through which to view the world as scientific process and reason are, while simultaneously complicating the thematic concerns of the longstanding myth of the headless horseman, the supernatural versus the natural and the irrational versus the rational, and relating them to his personal anxieties about the parent child relationship. I do so by drawing parallels between the film and its immediate source as well as <i>Sir Gawain and the Green Knight</i>, another chapter in the headless horseman myth, and two horror films from the 1960s. I compare the narrative structure, character relationships, thematic concerns, and cultural anxieties expressed in both the film and <i>Sir Gawain and the Green Knight</i> to demonstrate that the film argues for a worldview allowing the natural and the supernatural and the rational and the irrational to coexist. I also point to the visual references Burton makes to scenes from Roger Cormans <i>The Pit and the Pendulum</i> and Mario Bavas <i>La Maschera del Demonio</i>, illustrating the manner in which they complicate the myths thematic concerns. My argument adds to Hand and McRoys assertion that horror film adaptations are a form of myth-making and to the growing sense that there is more to Burtons art than flashy visuals.