Understanding how the human brain functions on a molecular and cellular level is nearly impossible with current technology and ethical considerations. Utilizing the small nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, and its innate behavioral responses to olfactory social cues, we can begin to unravel the mechanisms underlying social behavior. This is made possible given that innate behaviors are crucial for survival, and therefore hardwired into the genome of organisms. This allows for genetic-level analysis of neural circuitries driving behavior. Studying the neuronal mechanisms underlying C. elegans’ behavioral responses to social cues will not only assist in our overall understanding of how the brain perceives stimuli to enact a behavioral response at the cellular and molecular level, but also our understanding as to how the nervous system properly integrates information to enact social behavioral responses: mis-integration and social abnormalities are commonalities seen in many neuropsychiatric disorders, and these studies will provide fruitful insights into the defects observed in these disorders. Lastly, by comparing the perception of several different types of social chemicals, we can further our understanding of neural coding strategies for the various behaviors crucial for survival. Chapter One of this thesis orients the reader to social, innate behavior, and the usefulness of C. elegans as a tool for understanding behavioral coding. Chapter Two explores and establishes the required components of a socially aversive pheromone, providing insight into signaling evolution and co-option of biological machineries. Chapter Three examines how multiple, competing stimuli are integrated to modulate behavioral output, furthering our understanding of molecular and cellular integration and decision making within the nervous system. Chapter Four highlights the importance of predator pressure, and provides insights into circuit strategies of redundant and promiscuous networks of threat detection. Lastly, Chapter Five considers the implications of these findings as a whole, in the perspective of evolutionary strategies leading to neuronal coding of different behavioral outputs. Taken together, this dissertation aimed to fill the void in our understanding of social behavior neural circuitries, and how integration governed at the molecular and cellular level of the nervous system affects those behaviors.

The essay describes the transition of female artists from amateur to professional through an analysis of female participation in professional exhibitions during the early 20th century in Italy. Specifically, it examines the history of the Società delle Artiste, the group of pioneers who want to identify themselves in the field of professional art, and the first two exclusively women's international exhibitions organized in Italy. Furthermore, this study contains the analysis of part of the Swedish artist Tyra Kleen's correspondence with two exponents of the Italian cultural elite, Arnaldo Cervesato and Sibilla Aleramo. The method of analysis used is discourse analysis in combination with Pierre Bourdieu's theory of cultural fields.The study identifies the factors behind the change in the status of female artists in Italy as a product of the influence of the phenomenon of female associations as promoters of the "new woman" and her social positioning as a useful and functional element in general modern renewal. The analysis of Tyra Kleen's correspondence confirms the importance of the relational network required for a female artist in Italy to establish herself and identifies the connections to the sphere of women's associations. / Uppsatsen beskriver kvinnliga konstnärers övergång från amatörmässigt till professionellt slag genom analys av kvinnligt deltagande i professionella utställningar under början av 1900-talet i Italien. Specifikt granskas historien om Società delle Artiste, den gruppen av pionjärer som vill legitimera sig inom området för professionell konst, och de två första exklusivt kvinnliga internationella utställningar som organiserats i Italien. Vidare innehåller denna studie analysen av en del av den svenska konstnären Tyra Kleens korrespondens med två exponenter för den italienska kultureliten, Arnaldo Cervesato och Sibilla Aleramo. Analysmetoden som används är diskursanalys i kombination med Pierre Bourdieus teori om kulturfält. Studien identifierar faktorerna bakom förändringen i status för kvinnliga konstnärer i Italien som en produkt av inflytandet från fenomenet kvinnliga föreningar som främjare av den "nya kvinnan" och hennes sociala positionering som ett användbart och funktionellt inslag i  allmänn modern förnyelse. Analysen av Tyra Kleens korrespondens bekräftar vikten av det relationsnätverk som krävdes för att en kvinnlig konstnär i Italien skulle kunna etablera sig och identifierar kopplingarna till de kvinnliga föreningarnas sfär.

This thesis describes and analyzes the symbolist artist Tyra Kleen’s life as a student and professional artist in late 1900th- and early 2000th-century, using biography as methodology, in combination with Pierre Bourdieu’s theories on Cultural Fields, and Feministic theory. A few of her Symbolistic art works will be analyzed using Ragnar Josephson’s theories on the Making of Art. The years in between 1892 – 1908 are in focus of the thesis, when the artist mainly lived, studied and worked abroad; in Germany, Paris and Rome.  Tyra Kleen (1874-1951) was born in Sweden, but lived for many years in Europe. She saw herself more as a European or a Cosmopolitan, than a Swedish person. She went to several art schools in Europe; in Dresden, Karlsruhe, Munich, Paris and Rome. She lived in Paris during the years of ”the fine de siècle”, and then moved to Rome where she lived and worked for almost ten years. During her years abroad, with influences from artists as Böcklin and Puvis de Chavannes, authors as Charles Boudelaire and Edgar Allan Poe, and from Theosophy, she picked up a continental Symbolistic style, that is unique, and is not to be found in any other Swedish artists’ styles. The thesis gives a new piece to the puzzle regarding Swedish late 1900th-early 2000th-century Art History.

ABSTRACT This dissertation examines how Tyra Banks, Shonda Rhimes, and Tyler Perry negotiate blackness in terms of racial representation both in their interactions with the press and public as well as in their final product. Banks, Rhimes, and Perry are among the few prominent African American executive producers working in an industry of inequality. Each is the creative figure behind a prominent prime-time television show. This project contributes to the discussion of race and representation in the field of television studies. I argue there is a connection between how Banks, Rhimes, and Perry publicly discuss race and how these perspectives are encoded in America’s Next Top Model (Banks), Grey’s Anatomy (Rhimes), and House of Payne (Perry) from 2005-2010. These three are vital case studies because their shows offer a range of African American representations and extra-textual discourses about representations. Chapter Two historically contextualizes the industrial shifts in mainstream broadcast networks and basic cable channels as it relates to blackness onscreen and diversity behind the scenes. ABC, The CW, and TBS are the focus of this chapter because they are the outlets for Banks, Rhimes, and Perry’s shows. I also position ABC, The CW, and TBS in relation to the rest of the industry as it has moved from the multi-channel transition to the post- network era. Chapter Three examines how Banks, Perry and Rhimes promote and publicize themselves as the key creative figure of their shows. This analysis places each individual in different sites of the burden of representation, which each handles differently. Chapter Four explores the connection between the role blackness plays in their image as public creative figure and how it is represented in their texts through a representational analysis of America’s Next Top Model, Grey’s Anatomy and House of Payne. This dissertation advocates a neo-racial framework to examine blackness on television and behind the scenes. A neo-racial framework acknowledges that racial inequities continue to exist and the context surrounding these inequities needs to be examined. I conclude that the Banks, Rhimes, and Perry cases show that we are not in a post-racial society or in the post-network era.

This essay examines the possible meaning of light as a symbol according to Tyra Kleen. The illustrated prose poetic tale En psykesaga (1902) is packed with mythological and symbolist references, and it becomes clear from the first page of the saga that Kleen was truly a symbolist of her time. The story is a paraphrase of the myth of Cupid and the Psyche, but with a new independent agent. To investigate the meaning of light, the thesis studies contextual studies in relation to the symbolism of Facos and Lundberg, in order to get close to the meta poetry of En psykesaga. In addition, a dream theoretical perspective according to Freud's psychoanalysis has been applied for a further dimension of the possible meaning of light.

This essay examines the art and artistry of Tyra Kleen in the years 1919-1921, when she was travelling and lived on the Indonesian islands Java and Bali. In this period of her life, she was dedicated to an artistic and culturally historical project in which she was drawing and painting Balinese ritual court and Temple dances, mudras, the empowered ritual hand poses of Buddha and Shiva priests, the Javanese theatre Wajang and the Javanese ritual court dance called Serimpi. 10 paintings with subjects deriving from these religious rites, traditions and cultural exercises are analyzed in relation to expression, content, and context with the ambition to convey knowledge about technique, proceeding, what the picture represents, and in what social cohesion these rites, dances and dramas are practiced. The paintings were often watercolor with accentuation of gouache and gold. The theoretical basis of the essay is postcolonial and genus theory. Oriental elements are depicted in her art by the forms inspired by art nouveau and the expressive choice of color. It was not only genus but also class that was important for her as a surveyor in another part of the world and in other religions. The androgyne ideal is related to the theosophic movement. Her artistry was anchored in a spiritual belief, involvement in the women´s issue and an interest in anarchism and class issues. Tyra Kleen was a well-travelled woman who was inspired from many other countries and cultures. Her education was European with a strong impact from the genres of fin-de-siecle. In her primary production there are traces from symbolism, art nouveau and spirituality. She shows another side of her artistry in her journey to Java and Bali, when she in a wealth of details paints the colorful and dynamic dances and the graceful movements of the hands and fingers. She had left the symbolic fantasy pictures and become exploring in her scientific project, even though you can see the forms from the art nouveau style and her interest of religion.

The thesis has been written on the basis of main architectural concepts and their application in real life within a historical context investigation. Main architectural concepts are represented in a harmony of architectural composition that deals with relations among form, structure and space in the unique art work. Genius loci play very important role in the architectural creation - it represents a special and extra-ordinary urban locality and its architectural value in the historical, geographical and cultural context. The origin of Ostravice village within the historical frame concept of Moravia domain is the topic of this thesis. Other historical documents gave information about Bruneswerde as the Brno Castle. That means Brno Castle had to be founded not in Brno (as it has been consid-ered for many years) but it was located in Beskydy at Ostravice. The sacred city – Civitas Dei had been located in Bruneswerde region in early ages as the centre of European culture, education and spiritual life. Civitas Dei – divine Jerusalem in the transcription of St. Augustine's book De civitate Dei – is not only glorification of God and religious fantasy. It is also one of significant clues for recognition of historical architecture. The depiction of unknown settlement from the book of unde-fined origin is a superb testimony about extinct architectural works. They are legible from cadastral maps. Brno Castle - residence of nobility and power served shelter to St. Vojtěch, St. Prokop, St. Václav and St. Ludmila as it is obvious for the mentioned picture. Three major temples, three com-position axes symbolized by three towers on coins are in analogical relation to Brno triangle of four saints - the Saint family of Brno temples. Powerful ambitions of Brno City principals and clergy are inscribed into the urban structure in the way of composition relations which are legible to them who devoted themselves to the mystery of harmony. The absence of historical continuity affects personal attitudes and also identity of the whole community. The architecture truly reflects the past state of polis and it is eloquent even after its death. The architectural composition relations influence the natural environment for long time, longer than the architectural work existence. The geometric order of Renaissance Brno existence has not been in attention of architects so far. The features were discovered in characteristic paintings by Albrecht Durer. They are evidently secret works of the genius. A meaningful collaborator and follower in the extensive project was also his friend Jan Čert from Brno and lately from Vienna. His noble genealogy played a significant role in history of Silesia and Moravia for centuries. It is tendency to consider him as Austrian or even German architect. It is because of the fact that the genealogy tree of his noble family had roots in Moravia. It is supposed that Durer with Jan Čert´s support created the extraordinarily monumental architectural and urban works in Brno. A remarkable consensus in the urban composition of two squares and transition of traditional urban structure of Ostravice Civitas Dei into the modern Brno is also confirmed due to the identification of noble creators and owners, who were at the foundation, transformation and extinction of elements of the Moravian urban structure.