This dissertation project employs both ethnographic and textual research to study the role of rational coherence and paradox in Javanese Muslims’ theological understandings and political positionings. My research site is the Javanese city of Yogyakarta known for its mixture of traditionalist or Sufi and modernist Muslim reform organizations. The project intervenes in two distinct scholarly debates concerning the everyday practice of Islam and the social ties it engenders and brings them into a new synthesis: 1) debates around the paradigm of Islam as a coherent discursive tradition and the meaning of coherence, given the complexity, ambivalence, and fragmentation of Muslims’ everyday lives; and 2) studies of the relation and meaning of traditionalism and modernism as distinct orientations, embedded in larger movements of global Islamic reform, and responding to political pressures on Muslims to position themselves as moderate. It focuses on discourses and practices around memory as a node where questions of coherence and ideological belonging intersect. Both traditionalists and modernists remember their history, claiming stewardship over their past, or preserving and commemorating it to bring about a desired present and future; but the politics of commemoration diverge widely as traditionalists and modernists, in their memory practices, navigate multiple, conflicting demands and diverging epistemologies and ideologies. The study seeks to highlight how memory is mobilized to make claims of legitimate knowledge and power; how different kinds of discursive or ritual traditions around memory are legible as identity markers of particular religious and ideological orientations, especially traditionalism and modernism; and how the juxtaposition of conflicting epistemologies and ontologies is negotiated and understood within and between these different orientations.

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Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of African Languages in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2003. / Storytelling plays a very significant role in the daily activities of human beings. With regard to the significance of storytelling, Compton's Encyclopedia (1994:636) explains: Storytelling is as old as man. People were telling stories to one another, around campfires and waterholes long before written language developed. Like many nations around the world, Zulus are renowned for their storytelling abilities that date back to time immemorial. A look at their folktales, riddles, praises, songs, etc, reveals a rich heritage of unsurpassed storytelling techniques. In this chapter we are going to illustrate why we feel that there is need for an evaluation of how Zulu artists use music and poetry as a platform for communicating messages through stories. We are going to define some concepts that will be used in this study and indicate their relevance in elucidating the storytelling aspect of Zulu music and poetry. We are also going to look at some studies that have been undertaken in Zulu music and poetry and clarify how we intend to tackle this study.

American Indian or Alaska Native children are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at later ages than Non-Hispanic White children. Other than being included in prevalence studies, in the last thirty years, there has been less than a handful of studies that have looked specifically at Autism Spectrum Disorder within the AI/AN community. No studies looked at the assessment experience of parents. This exploratory study used Indigenous Storytelling Methodology to hear an AI/AN parent’s initial developmental concerns about their child and their experience with the Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis process. The system of assessment created a frustrating experience, and the parent believed the child made eye contact, but found out later that there was really a lack of sustained eye contact. This research creates a base to start looking at Autism Spectrum Disorder symptoms to use for better outreach in the community and informs Tribal Health Clinics and Early Childhood Programs to better help guide parents through the Autism Spectrum Disorder assessment process.

Discarding valuable material such as textiles and garments is common in everyday life without reflection, perhaps even more so with the letting go of valuable unmaterials such as memories and emotions. The aim of this master’s degree work WITH(OUT) YOU is to explore nostalgia as a storytelling design method within fashion design. By interpreting, translating, re-capturing and upcycling unmaterial human interactions from photographic, written and auditorial mediums, combined with traditional upcycling of materials, this work aims to evoke feelings of identification and/or empathy in dress. All in order to highlight the importance of unmaterial and material memory as social and environmental values. The research was conducted using developed methods from creative writing applied to pronto mediums which directed the practical work. The work resulted in 12 stories communicating a range of memories, relationships and events, showcasing presence and absence on and by bodies through a variation in garments, materials, textures, colors and placements, using hands for both shape, display and symbolic meaning. By contributing to the development of the upcycling field of fashion design, this work does not only broaden the perspective of what upcycling can involve, but also adds to the discussion of what fashion design could be by blurring the line between design and art, questioning the purpose of garments by exploring its therapeutic values.

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This writing covers the process of lighting stylized and realistic scenes in different moods in Unreal Engine. Lighting can be used to express a mood in an environment, which can aid storytelling in films and games. Lighting in Unreal consists of positioning directional lights, sky lights, spot lights, point lights, and rect lights, as well as various fog effects that help create the ambiance of the scene. This project utilizes free Epic Games Pack content to show the lighting process for different moods in several environments. The use of lights and colors are an important part of designing a game environment which conveys moods and allows for playability.

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