Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-110).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2004. / Thesis directed by David Soloman and Paul J. Weithman for the Department of Philosophy. "January 2004." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 312-314).

Thesis (B.A.)--Haverford College, Dept. of Anthropology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-182).

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): Thomas Bruneau, Jeffrey W. Knopf. Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-71). Also available online.

Today, a growing number of Pakistani artists have embraced the nation’s perceived visual languages and political, social, and cultural history to interrogate and unpack Pakistan’s contemporary society and identity. The fruits of this shifting and mixing are works of art that turn artistic and societal traditions, from miniature painting to matrimonial rites, on their sides even as they uphold their significance. In these works, artists present their views on life in the country and their experiences as Pakistanis. Their paintings, videos, sculptures, installations, mixed media works, prints, and drawings are not soapboxes from which they shout out their messages. Instead they present issues and concerns in a manner that means to define them uniquely as Pakistani. Unpredictable social developments and current events that require in-depth investigation appear in imagery without any direct answers to these debates. Rather, Pakistani artists offer them to incite further investigation. Through their works, artists express and examine the complicated nature of Pakistani national and cultural identities by looking at the society’s most volatile concerns. Yet they address these issues in an unexpected fashion. They examine serious concerns like the India/Pakistan divide in a humorous fashion; they explore bloody, murderous acts like “honor killings” in pristine paintings. In this multifaceted treatment, the intense issues affecting Pakistan are interrogated with ambiguity. These artists do not simply present critical issues related to society in Pakistan; they play with them. And in this way raise questions about their meanings. And they do not only look to Pakistani society for subject matter. They also turn to it for methods of approaching art by exhibiting sensitivity to traditional materials, techniques, and styles. I analyze this artwork within a context of art practices in Pakistan, pedagogical methods at art schools in the nation, and the impact of larger historical events and social processes: colonialism, the partition of India and Pakistan, and globalization. / text

This thesis is in response to scholarly works on Japanese society and the ideal of the monoethnic race in relation to minorities and immigrants living in contemporary Japan. Race is as much a biological concept as it is a social one, and much of our modern understanding of race was borne out of the scientific and philosophic thought of nineteenth-century Europe and North American. Therefore, I posit that the adoption of western science by Japan effectively translated the Japanese body into a biological construct and blurred the line between science and culture, developing into a racially-based national identity by the time of the Pacific War. The construction of the Japanese body in this manner occurred in three successive translations: (1)the body as an object to be improved upon in order to compete with the West; (2) the body as a racialized object, distinct from all others and (3)the body as an object to be safeguarded from degradation. The discourse among social actors, including scholars, the government, religious leaders, and others, followed along western models of biological determinism and ultimately led to Japan's own indigenous form of eugenics. The catalyst for this process was the "scientizing" of the body. Just as Douglas has theorized that what is acted upon the body reflects larger societal issues, when western science was placed into the framework of the Japanese body it can be discerned that the translation from a traditional form to a scientific one, resulting in a "scientized" body. However, the translation was not wholesale and indigenous concepts of the body, like the family state, merged with biodeterminist conceptions to create a mono-ethnic race in line with Neo-Shintoist ideology. Implications for postwar Japan fall outside the confines of this thesis, but threads from the prewar period do carry over into the present.

Aquesta tesi estudia els aspectes econòmics de la interconnexió entre Ases, identifica desafiaments que amenacen el futur d'Internet i proposa solucions per resoldre'ls. Primerament vam realitzar el primer estudi analític i empíric sobre el peering remot, un tipus emergent d'interconnexió que relaxa les limitacions geogràfiques dels Ases i facilita interconnexions a un menor cost. Després vam presentar CIPT i T4P, dos nous tipus d'interconnexions que redueixen els costos d'interconnexió entre xarxes. Ja que algunes de les limitacions són inherents a la present arquitectura d'Internet, vam finalitzar la tesi proposant Route Bazaar, una nova arquitectura d'Internet que, inspirada en el mecanisme de block chain i les eines criptogràfiques típiques de les criptomonedas, proveeix un marc contractual per realitzar tipus d'interconnexions molt flexibles. / Internet es un ecosistema en continua evolución. Formado por una multitud de redes o Sistemas Autónomos (Ases), los acuerdos de interconexión son una pieza esencial de Internet, que permite que los usuarios finales disfruten de conectividad global. La vertiginosa adopción de Internet, el desmesurado crecimiento de su trafico y las crecientes demandas por una mayor calidad de servicio son un desafío que produce constantes conflictos sobre los acuerdos económicos entre las redes y cuestiona la capacidad de Internet para proveer servicios críticos. Esta tesis estudia los aspectos económicos de la interconexión entre Ases, identifica desafíos que amenazan el futuro de Internet y propone soluciones para resolverlos. Primeramente realizamos el primer estudio analítico y empírico sobre el peering remoto, un tipo emergente de interconexión que relaja las limitaciones geográficas de los Ases y facilita interconexiones a un menor coste. Después presentamos CIPT y T4P, dos nuevos tipos de interconexiones que reducen los costes de interconexión entre redes. Puesto que algunas de las limitaciones son inherentes a la presente arquitectura de Internet, finalizamos la tesis proponiendo Route Bazaar, una nueva arquitectura de Internet que, inspirada en el mecanismo de block chain y las herramientas criptográficas típicas de las criptomonedas, provee un marco contractual para realizar tipos de interconexiones muy flexibles. / The Internet is an evolving ecosystem where a multitude of interconnected networks, or Ases (Autonomous Systems), support global connectivity of end users. By providing economic incentives for routing traffic on behalf of other networks, interconnection agreements between ASes are a cornerstone of the Internet. However, rapid Internet adoption, unrelenting traffic growth, and increasing demands for quality and performance are challenging to cope with, provoke recurrent conflicts over the economic settlement of interconnections, and question the capacity of the Internet to provide critical services. This thesis studies the economic aspects of the interconnections between ASes, identifies challenges hampering the future of the Internet, and proposes solutions to resolve them. We begin by presenting the first analytical and empirical study on remote peering, an emerging type of interconnections that relaxes the geographical constraints of ASes and also facilitates interconnections at a lower cost. Then we introduce CIPT and T4P, two novel interconnection arrangements that reduce traffic delivery costs for the ASes. Because some of the limitations are inherent to the current Internet architecture we end this thesis presenting Route Bazaar, a new Internet architecture that, inspired by the use of the block chain mechanism and cryptographic tools in cryptocurrencies, provides a contractual framework for flexible interconnections with rich policies.

Microfinance is many times used as a developmental tool to tackle hunger and other issues related to poverty. The adoption of microfinance as a tool to raise welfare in communities is rising in the sector of Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs). In recent times, development projects by Non-Governmental Organizations have been criticized for lacking financial sustainability and for leading people into a poverty trap created from a vicious cycle of borrowing. For entrepreneurship to flourish, micro-financial clients must first escape the poverty trap by becoming self-sufficient.The purpose of this thesis is to comprehend what strategies operational Non-Governmental Organizations use in developing countries in order for clients to escape the poverty trap with the help of sustainable microfinance.The stakeholder theory is the comprehensive approach used in this thesis to understand how a Non-Governmental Organization’s stakeholders influence their Microfinance Program and vice versa. The Non-Governmental Organizations need to incorporate all the stakeholders and assist these stakeholders to strive for a common goal. A qualitative case study was conducted on the global, non-profit, strategic organization; The Hunger Project.Our findings resulted in identifying the integrated holistic Epicenter strategy as The Hunger Project’s solution to tackling economic- and development inhibiting barriers. The findings indicate that a sustainable Microfinance Program may need to be integrated into all surrounding aspects influencing the micro-financial stakeholders.The implications of this study is that microfinance providers can gain an understanding of the requirements for sustainable Microfinance Programs. This understanding will result in organizations being able to contribute to a more sustainable development for underprivileged entrepreneurs. Our dissertation contributes in creating awareness in potential solutions for overcoming micro-financial criticism, by implementing and integrating sustainable principles along with the society.

published_or_final_version / History / Master / Master of Philosophy