VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Prophetic rhetoric in the early Stuart period
Keywords: prophecy in literature
politics and literature
James I, King of England, 1566-1625
Charles I, King of England, 1600-1649
Lilly, William, 1602-1681
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
prophecy

This is a study of the political prophecy in England in a period delimited by the accession of King James I (1603) and the end of the Interregnum (1660). It combines the analysis of hitherto obscure manuscript texts with that of printed works to provide a nuanced account of the uses and reception of prophecies in this period.
Chapter One (which focuses on the first decade of James’s reign) and Chapter Two (which covers the period 1613-19) approach the analysis of dramatic treatments of political prophecy through the study of prophecy both as a rhetorical buttress to the Jacobean state and as a protest genre. Attentive to the elite bias of the legal documents wherein allegedly oppositionist uses of prophecy are recorded, these chapters heed the counsel of historians who have found literary scholars insufficiently suspicious of the rhetoric of these materials. A focus on dramatic texts, neglected by the historians, reveals that Jacobean playgoers were encouraged to regard both official prophetic rhetoric and official rhetoric about prophecy with scepticism.
Chapter Three considers how native and continental prophetic traditions were expanded and repurposed in England around the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War, when belief in the purportedly inspired status of prophecies was rare but recognition of their utility as a vehicle for political discussion was nonetheless widespread.
Chapter Four explores the adaptation and tendentious exposition of medieval, sixteenth-century, and Jacobean manuscript prophecies in printed propaganda for both the royalist and parliamentarian causes in the mid-seventeenth century.
This study of literary and archival sources finds that previous scholarship has overestimated the extent of popular faith in the authenticity of allegedly ancient and inspired prophecies in the early Stuart period. The longevity of purported prophecies, it concludes, was ensured through the recognition, appreciation, and exploitation of their rhetorical affordances.
Complicating articulation in narrative film: tracing the relationship between inarticulate form and character
Keywords: Genre
Discontinuity
Post-structuralism
Surrealism
Intermedia
Indeterminacy
Neo-realism

This thesis explores the relationship between film form and character expression, both of which are seen as articulated structures, that is utterances in which separable parts operate cooperatively to create meaning. The specific films examined present characters who struggle to express themselves. These inexpressive characters are combined in each case with a disrupted form which displays its own many-jointed structure. The thesis argues that the dynamic relationship between inarticulacies of character, narrative, and form generates an indeterminate dialectic. The unresolved relationship between parts and whole (reminiscent of a complex mosaic structure) complicates the process of reading for univocal meaning. The operation of this dual inarticulacy is discussed in Chapter One. Each subsequent chapter is devoted to a single film and a particular example of formal disjuncture: contrapuntal narrative levels, clashing styles, discontinuous editing, bricolage, the dislocation of genre signifiers from conventional meanings, and intermedia. The films discussed at length in connection with these theories are: 'Journal d'un curé de campagne' (1951); 'Germania anno zero' (1948); 'Belle de Jour' (1967); 'Distant Voices, Still Lives' (1988) and 'The Long Day Closes' (1992); 'Meek's Cutoff' (2010); 'The Pillow Book' (1996).
Ambitwistor strings: worldsheet approaches to perturbative quantum field theories
Keywords: Ambitwistor Strings
Quantum Field Theory

Tree-level scattering amplitudes in massless theories not only exhibit a simplicity entirely unexpected from Feynman diagrams, but also an underlying structure remarkably reminiscent of worldsheet theory correlators, yet essentially algebraic. These features can be explained by ambitwistor strings - two-dimensional chiral conformal field theories in an auxiliary target space, the complexified phase space of null geodesics, known as ambitwistor space. The aim of this thesis is to explore the ambitwistor string approach to understand these structures in amplitudes, and thereby provide a new angle on quantum field theories.
In the first part of this thesis, the wide-ranging impact of ambitwistor strings on the study of tree-level amplitudes is highlighted in three developments: an extension of ambitwistor string worldsheet models to an extensive family of massless theories, emphasising the universality of ambitwistor strings for massless theories; a beautiful proof of the duality between asymptotic symmetries and the low energy behaviour of a theory, relying on the contact geometry of the ambitwistor target space; and finally a twistorial representation of ambitwistor strings in four dimensions, leading to remarkably simple formulae for scattering amplitudes in Yang-Mills and gravity with any degree of supersymmetry.
The second part of this thesis focusses on proving a conjectured ambitwistor string formula for loop amplitudes, and extending the formalism to more general theories. Remarkably, residue theorems reduce the computationally challenging ambitwistor higher-genus expressions to simple formulae on nodal Riemann spheres. This idea is developed into a widely applicable framework for loop integrands, that is shown to be applicable to both supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric theories. In the case of supergravity, this provides strong evidence for the validity of the ambitwistor string at loop level, and explicit proofs are given for non-supersymmetric theories. Notably, this leads to a proposal for an all-loop integrand for gravity and Yang-Mills.
The mid Upper Palaeolithic of European Russia: chronology, culture history and context: a study of five Gravettian backed lithic assemblages
Keywords: Gravettian
Kostenki-Borshchevo region
Russia
radiocarbon dating
Kostenki
chronology
Upper Palaeolithic
lithic technology
Mid Upper Palaeolithic
backed lithics

This thesis examines the Mid Upper Palaeolithic (MUP) of Russia (ca. 30,000–20,000 14C BP). During this time, as in the rest of Europe, the principal archaeological industry is known as the Gravettian. However, in Russia two other industries, the Streletskayan and the Gorodtsovian, are also known from the beginning of the MUP. Historically, there have been significant problems integrating the Russian MUP record with that from the rest of Europe.
The research described in this thesis concentrates on backed lithic assemblages (including Gravette points, microgravettes, other backed points and backed bladelets) from five Russian Gravettian sites: Kostenki 8 Layer 2, Kostenki 4, Kostenki 9, Khotylevo 2 and Kostenki 21 Layer 3. These are studied from an explicitly Western European theoretical perspective, using standard techno-typological methods to construct typological groupings and describe the variation between and within sites. Alongside this, new radiocarbon dates from several sites Kostenki 8 Layer 2, Kostenki 4 and Borshchevo 5) were obtained. These radiocarbon dates are critically analysed alongside published dates and unpublished dates made available to this research.
The results of the research constitute a new culture history for the Russian MUP. Each stage of the MUP is dated and described, and the uncertainties in our knowledge outlined. One new lithic index fossil is defined and two others are re-assessed. The Russian record is compared with the contemporary archaeological record elsewhere in Europe, in order to describe large-scale synchronic variation and changes through time in the homogeneity and regionalisation of material culture. The relationship between these dynamics and climate change are discussed.
The people’s princess:  Grayson Perry and English cultural identity
Keywords: Englishness
Young British Artists
cross-dressing
cultural identity
contemporary art
Grayson Perry
Tracey Emin
transvestism
Britishness
YBAs
national identity
history of art

This thesis will consider the art and persona of Grayson Perry in relation to ideas of national identity. In particular, it will argue that Perry has been occupied with ideas of class and national identity throughout his career, but that these underlying concerns have often been subsumed, or obfuscated, by the foregrounding of other more obvious aspects of his work, such as his transvestism. At the centre of this thesis is the argument that Perry’s vision of England, and the purportedly ambivalent way in which he presents it, functions as a way of negotiating – and repatriating – English national identity at a time of crisis. I want to further argue, however, that this has been complicated by Perry’s self-positioning, and I propose that he has cultivated an air of subversion and transgression that has tempered the more affirmative aspects of his work. This half-subversive, half-affirmative stance allows him and his work to resonate with both those critical of the usual institutions of contemporary art – including many sections of the public and certain newspapers, tabloid and broadsheet alike – as well as the institutions themselves. This stance has implications not only for Perry’s engagement with contemporary art but for his considerations of national identity as well, enabling an enquiry into, and ultimately a restitution of, ‘Englishness’ (and, to a lesser extent, ‘Britishness’), by framing it within a rhetoric of ambivalence and diminishment rather than overt nationalism, the latter of which would have more problematic associations. Similarly, I want to suggest that it is this stance and its mediatory properties, coupled with his earlier self-positioning and his subtle but consistent foregrounding of domestic and demotic issues of national identity throughout his career, that has made Perry such a popular candidate to take on the task of reinvigorating this identity now.
Apophasis, contemplation, and the kenotic moment in Anglo-Saxon literature
Keywords: apophasis
Anglo-Saxon literature
kenosis
mysticism

This thesis reveals the considerable influence of contemplation (sometimes referred to as mysticism) on Anglo-Saxon literature, manifested through the arrangement of narratives according to the theological concepts of apophasis and kenosis. This is demonstrated through a lengthy contextual discussion of the place of contemplation in Anglo-Saxon spirituality, and close analysis of four poems and a prose text.
Although English mysticism is commonly thought to start in the High Middle Ages, this thesis will suggest that this terminus post quem should instead be resituated to the Anglo-Saxon period. The first chapter seeks to reveal the centrality of contemplation to Anglo-Saxon spirituality through analysing a range of diverse material, to evidence the monastic reader borne from this culture capable of reading and composing the texts that make up the rest of the thesis in the manner suggested.
The thesis places chronologically diverse Anglo-Saxon texts in a contemplative context, with close reference to theology, phenomenology, and narrative structure, to suggest that our interpretation of them should be revised to apprehend the contemplative scheme that they advocate: to cleanse the reader of sin through inspiring penitence and kenosis (humility and emptying of one’s will) and direct the mind intellectually beyond the words, images and knowledge of the terrestrial sphere (apophasis), so as to prepare them for the potential coming of God’s grace in the form of a vision. This reading is supported by the close taxonomical resemblance of each text’s narrative structure. The thesis thus suggests that contemplation was central to Anglo-Saxon spirituality, producing an elite contemplative audience for whom certain texts were designed as preparative apparatus.
A psychological understanding of the Yogasūtra of Patañjali (sūtra 1 to 6)  with a comparative phenomenology of Samādhi and Flow
Keywords: meditation
Flow
yoga psychology
yoga science of mind
Yogasutra
Samadhi
phenomenology
yoga
positive psychology
Patanjali

Over the past thirty years, academic dialogue on the relationships between science and religion within historical, theological and philosophical contexts has flourished, with the importance of this dialogue being positively expressed. In particular, at the intersection of psychology and religion there is a triple relationship between these domains and in this thesis, we bring the Hindu tradition of Classical Yoga into this discourse, aiming for a psychological understanding of the Yogasūtra of Patañjali as the primary text of this tradition. With a ‘psychology in religion’ perspective we identify key psychological concepts in the first six sūtra of the text, explicate and explore its psychological dimension, through referencing with other key sūtra or aphorisms in the Yogasūtra. With a robust methodology consisting of a hermeneutic and phenomenological based close reading of the text and rigorous conceptual analysis, we construct a detailed model of the mind contextualised within the principles and practice of Yoga. We discuss the modifications and states of the mind, the underlying subliminal factors; the nature of embodiment, identity and subjective experience, and the affective and volitional aspects of the individual, as explicated from the text.
In Section Three of this thesis we take a dialogical and comparative approach at the intersection of psychology and religion. Csikszentmihalyi has asserted that there is a close resemblance between Yoga and Flow, the latter being developed within the domain of Western Positive Psychology. We carry out a detailed comparative analysis of the phenomenology of Flow and Samādhi presented within a proposed methodology and framework of dimensions of subjectivity and consciousness, to investigate this claim. Clarifying the conceptual differences, establishing parallels and demonstrating common topographical and functional areas in the two phenomena, opens the possibility for an empirical investigation, which we propose. Finally, we point out the contributions of this study and suggest future directions for research in this field.
Characterisation of haemodynamic and vascular dysfunction in bicuspid aortic valve disease using advanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging techniques
Keywords: cardiac MRI
bicuspid aortic valve
flow

Bicuspid aortic valve disease (BAV) is known to be heritable and often shows a concomitant aortopathy with increased risk of aortic dissection. This may also be present in family members. The underlying pathophysiology was largely believed to be an intrinsic aortopathy. However, recent advances in cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging now allow in-depth haemodynamic and functional assessment of the aorta to further delineate the underlying pathophysiology.
This thesis explored the association of haemodynamic and functional aortic changes with aortic dilation in BAV patients, first degree relatives and healthy volunteers. Patients with a bicuspid aortic valve were found to have an abnormal degree of helical flow in the ascending aorta with predominantly right-handed helical flow. Compared to healthy volunteers patients with a bicuspid aortic valve had larger ascending aortas, higher rotational (helical) flow, systolic flow angle and systolic wall shear stress. There were also differences between the cusp fusion patterns in BAV, with right-non coronary cusp fusion showing more severe flow and aortic abnormalities than those with a right-left coronary cusp fusion pattern: higher rotational flow, higher in-plane wall sheer stress and larger aortas respectively. BAV patients with normal flow patterns had similar aortic dimensions and wall shear stress to healthy volunteers and younger BAV patients showed abnormal flow patterns but no aortic dilation, both further supporting the importance of flow pattern in the aetiology of aortic dilation.
However, aortic function measures (distensibility, aortic strain and pulse wave velocity) were similar between healthy volunteers, patients with a bicuspid aortic valve and first degree relatives with a tricuspid aortic valve.
Aortic valve replacement (AVR) significantly changed the ascending aortic flow pattern in patients with a bicuspid aortic valve. The majority of patients with mechanical AVR or Ross procedure showed normal flow patterns with near normal rotational flow values post operatively and reduced in-plane wall shear stress. By contrast, all subjects with bioprosthetic AVR had residual abnormal helical flow patterns (mainly marked right-handed helical flow), with similar rotational flow values to native BAV. Wall shear stress post-bioprosthetic AVR showed a similar pattern.
These findings point towards the importance of haemodynamic factors in the bicuspid aortic valve aortopathy rather than additional haemodynamic-independent mechanisms. Haemodynamic classification may allow better risk prediction and selection of patients for earlier surgical intervention. Changes in abnormal flow pattern after valve replacement could have important implications for future aortic growth, and may influence the future choice of prosthetic valves.
Anglo-Italian relations during the First World War
Keywords: international relations

This thesis examines how the newly-born Anglo-Italian alliance operated during World War I, and how it influenced each of Britain’s and Italy’s strategies. It argues that Britain was Italy’s main partner in the conflict: Rome sought to make Britain the guarantor of the London treaty, which had brought Italy into the war on the side of the Allies, as well as its main naval and financial partner within the Entente. London, for its part, used its special partnership with Italy to reach three main objectives.
The first was to have Rome increasingly involved in the Entente’s global war, thus going beyond the national dimension of the “fourth war of independence” against Austria-Hungary. Britain aimed in particular to complete the blockade of the Central Powers by securing the Mediterranean. This result was achieved slowly – Italy declared war on Turkey in autumn 1915 and on Germany in summer 1916 – and not without contradictions, such as Italy’s persistently self-reliant trade policy.
The second British goal was to keep Italy in the war when the Caporetto crisis hit: British financial, commercial and military support was crucial to restore Italian forces and morale, and allow Rome to pursue to fight.
Finally, in a wider geo-political sense, Britain took advantage of its good relations with Italy to balance French influence in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. London acted as a mediator in the controversies between Rome, Petrograd and Paris, taking upon it the task of keeping the alliance together.
Anglo-Italian relations worsened in 1918. Britain’s leadership within the Entente declined and was gradually replaced by American leadership. President Wilson’s “politics of nationalities” produced a significant revision of the London pact: Italy felt betrayed by its main partner, Britain, and this caused a long-lasting resentment towards London which had far-reaching consequences in the post-war period.
Differences in how teachers make mathematical content available to learners over time
Keywords: yeaching a mathematical topic
content analysis
yeacher decision making
lesson observation

The study was an investigation into the teaching decisions that mathematics teachers make over time. I view a mathematics classroom as a didactical system of teacher, learners and content within an educational institution, where content is the material that brings teachers and learners together. Within such a system I view the teacher’s role as making content available to learners. Prior research has often investigated the teacher’s role by comparing teaching practices nationally or internationally, but these comparisons have tended to use the lesson as the unit of analysis. I propose that how teachers make content available can change over the course of a series of lessons and so my study used the lesson series as the unit of analysis.
I purposefully designed the study so that it involved four cases, which allowed me to explore the role of the teacher and the topic in how content was made available. To investigate how teachers made content available to learners in each case, I developed an analytical approach from which I could study the modes of teacher interaction that featured across the lesson series, the forms of mathematical content made available and the sequencing of these forms. Attending to forms of content – rather than content itself – allowed for comparison of teaching of different topics. This original analytical approach represents a contribution to both mathematics education and mixed methods research.
Within this small sample of cases, quantifiable differences were identified in how content was made available between classwork and seatwork, from lesson to lesson and between cases. Between-case differences in the nature of teaching ‘between-the-desks’ during seatwork were also identified. These differences illuminated teaching decisions to which teachers and classroom researchers may not routinely attend. The findings therefore contribute – and identify additional lines of enquiry that might contribute further – to a more extensive understanding of teaching practices.
Disenchanted engagement: the philosophy and political praxis of Massimo Cacciari
Keywords: Chantal Mouffe
MOSE
Antonio Gramsci
Manfredo Tafuri
Contropiano

Several commentators have argued that the focus within political theory in recent decades on abstraction rather than 'reality' has left it with has nothing to say to political actors. On these grounds, some have even expressed concern regarding the discipline’s future. As a reply to these concerns, I introduce in this thesis the scholarship and political career of the Italian philosopher Massimo Cacciari. Cacciari shares many goals with Anglophone political theorists, but neither his scholarship nor his practice have engaged in the kind of intellectual abstraction which they now find so troubling. Drawing from Cacciari's philosophy, political career, and interventions as a public intellectual, I show how his understanding of real-world conflicts and contradictions begins with a commitment to what I call his 'geophilosophy of the archipelago', which regards the foundations of human knowledge to be irreducibly plural. A commitment to irreducibly plural foundations means that philosophers and political actors must discard what Cacciari views as 'enchantment' with the possibility of ultimate or absolute resolution of all political discord. In return, however, he argues that hopeful political engagement is still possible, because political actors remain able to cope in material and semiotic terms with the complex realities they face. I suggest that serious consideration of Cacciari's example of recognising irreducible plurality, coupled with a disenchanted engagement with both the material and the semiotic dimensions of political life, offers a compelling alternative orientation to the world that may suggest new ways forward in political theory.