Master thesis | Theology and Religious Studies (Master)
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The first part of this thesis attempts to demonstrate the historical traces of the belief in reincarnation among Jews, Christian and Muslims. The second part is dedicated to a hermeneutical...Show moreThe first part of this thesis attempts to demonstrate the historical traces of the belief in reincarnation among Jews, Christian and Muslims. The second part is dedicated to a hermeneutical analysis of the Bible and the Quran regarding the indications to reincarnation in general, and reincarnation of the Messiah in particular.Show less
Na 1978 ontwikkelt de consumptiemaatschappij zich razendsnel in China. Een niet verwachte ontwikkeling is de marktwerking in de gezondheidszorg en de hieruit voortvloeiende zorgconsumptie, hetgeen...Show moreNa 1978 ontwikkelt de consumptiemaatschappij zich razendsnel in China. Een niet verwachte ontwikkeling is de marktwerking in de gezondheidszorg en de hieruit voortvloeiende zorgconsumptie, hetgeen leidt tot een forse toename van zorgkosten en negatieve gevolgen voor patiënten.Show less
'Wer regiert: Moltke oder Bethmann?' Een onderzoek naar de verhouding tussen de civiele en militaire macht in Duitsland ten tijde van de Julicrisis van 1914.
With 300 million monthly active users, Twitter is a global social media platform embedded in everyday communication and information diffusion. As a result, it has attracted a wide range of...Show moreWith 300 million monthly active users, Twitter is a global social media platform embedded in everyday communication and information diffusion. As a result, it has attracted a wide range of scholarly disciplines, studying its data, resulting in hundreds of studies that utilized Twitter’s data. This thesis will focus on the challenges and potential of using Twitter data for Humanities. As every social media platform has its unique dynamics, Twitters structure will be explored to see how it relates to the research questions applied to it. The process of increasing policy-orientated measures, will be described to illustrate how Twitter data is a valuable, and therefore limited accessible form of information. A number of studies is analyzed to explore potential methods and the results. Finally, a case study will be executed to demonstrate both the challenges and potential for humanities students. The focus will be on how Twitter’s 140 character long tweets can eventually be used to attribute to the greater stories written about human society and culture.Show less
In this thesis I critically review Corey Brettschneider's value theory of democracy as a potential solution to the tension between democratic procedures and liberal rights and, thereby, also as an...Show moreIn this thesis I critically review Corey Brettschneider's value theory of democracy as a potential solution to the tension between democratic procedures and liberal rights and, thereby, also as an instrument to criticize illiberal democracies. I first discuss procedural and substantive interpretations of democracy, followed by an analysis and critique of Brettschneider’s democratic theory. I argue that Brettschneider does not succeed in grounding liberal rights in the core values of democracy and, thus, that Brettschneider fails in his attempt to reconcile procedural and substantive dimensions of democracy. I conclude that the only plausible ground for substantive rights in democracy is based in a procedural reading of democracy, which, to a certain extent, can function as an argument against illiberal democracies.Show less
This thesis seeks to explore the relation between psychological coping mechanisms and moral responsibility. It argues that there are three essential conditions guiding this relation: in order to be...Show moreThis thesis seeks to explore the relation between psychological coping mechanisms and moral responsibility. It argues that there are three essential conditions guiding this relation: in order to be morally responsible individuals must (1) be aware of a moral demand, (2) be aware of the morally relevant state of affairs, and (3) must to some degree have the physical and motivational ability to act upon this awareness. In specific, the view that motivational ability is an important factor in thinking about moral responsibility is defended in this thesis. Only by taking motivational ability into account, can we think about morality in a way that is both sufficiently realistic, while also satisfactorily idealistic.Show less
Parafermionic zero-modes are zero-energy excitations with peculiar mutual statistics, which can be realized at the edge of the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect sample. We came up with several...Show moreParafermionic zero-modes are zero-energy excitations with peculiar mutual statistics, which can be realized at the edge of the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect sample. We came up with several protocols for adiabatic quantum pumping with parafermions, which allow to test the statistics of Fractional Quantum Hall quasiparticles and observe universal noise in the pumping current. That is, the noise takes a specific value which is essentially given by universal constants, and is robust with respect to changes in many system parameters.Show less
This thesis focuses on the representation of masculinity in the Sherlock Holmes character, both in the original stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the representation of masculinity in the Sherlock Holmes character, both in the original stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well as in the modern BBC interpretation which first aired in 2010. It employs a Foucauldian notion of gender, which sees masculinity as a socially constructed concept and as such perceptible to change. The Sherlock Holmes stories were written over a forty-year time period. Two major historical events from this period could be said to have influenced the definition of masculinity, namely the Oscar Wilde trials and the First World War. Furthermore, Joseph Kestner has argued that Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories aimed to promote an ideal form of masculinity, which led us to consider the representation of Victorian masculinity in the Holmes character. Moreover, this thesis analyses the adaptation of Victorian Holmes in BBC’s Sherlock. Having defined Victorian and twenty-first-century masculinity, we will see that Conan Doyle’s Holmes aligns with numerous Victorian traits that were seen as masculine, and is portrayed as the ideal man. He is heroic, strong, brave, moral, rational and creative. Similarly, BBC Holmes aligns with masculine ideals of the twenty-first century but does not seem to personify the ideal man. He is strong, rational and creative, but his heroism is ambiguous, as well as his morality.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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During and shortly after WOII three modern adaptations of Euripides' Alcestis appeared: Le Mystère d'Alceste by Marguerite Yourcenar (1942), Alcesti di Samuele by Alberto Savinio (1949), and The...Show moreDuring and shortly after WOII three modern adaptations of Euripides' Alcestis appeared: Le Mystère d'Alceste by Marguerite Yourcenar (1942), Alcesti di Samuele by Alberto Savinio (1949), and The Cocktail Party by T.S. Eliot. Alcestis' motivation to sacrifice herself and her reaction on returning to her husband turned out to be blank spots in Euripides' tragedy. The three modern writers gave their main characters three drastically different reasons and reactions. This could partly be explained by their relation to the Second World War.Show less
Vanaf 1880 vestigden steeds meer nieuwe winkels zich in Amsterdam, waarvan een aantal dankzij schaalvergroting tussen 1910-1920 uitgroeide tot grootwinkelbedrijven. De winkels begonnen vaak in een...Show moreVanaf 1880 vestigden steeds meer nieuwe winkels zich in Amsterdam, waarvan een aantal dankzij schaalvergroting tussen 1910-1920 uitgroeide tot grootwinkelbedrijven. De winkels begonnen vaak in een klein pandje in de winkelgebieden binnen het oude gedeelte van de stad (Nieuwendijk, Kalverstraat-Rokin en Dam). Een aantal daarvan, waarvan ik er drie heb besproken, breidde zich uit tot ware winkelpaleizen. Zo werd in 1912 het warenhuis Vroom en Dreesmann op de Kalverstraat-Rokin geopend en gingen in 1914 de deuren van De Bijenkorf op de hoek Dam-Damrak open. Peek & Cloppenburg ging in 1916 met haar filiaal op de Dam van start. Op basis van mijn onderzoek in het stadsarchief van Amsterdam heb ik via adresboeken, woningboeken en gezinskaarten een overzicht kunnen maken van het winkel- en woonbestand in de periode 1880-1920. Hierdoor heb ik kunnen concluderen dat op de locaties van de besproken grootwinkelbedrijven er een divers scala van kleine winkeliers zaten die door de komst van de winkelpaleizen moesten wijken. Door het van oudsher smalle stratenpatroon van Amsterdam waren geschikte locaties met vrij zicht schaars. Hierdoor kozen de grootwinkelbedrijven in Amsterdam om zich te vestigen op bestaande locaties met voldoende zichtbaarheid, zoals aan pleinen, kruisingen en brede straten. Dit had tot gevolg dat op deze locaties woonhuizen en de bestaande middenstand van kleine winkels werden verdreven. Met behulp van stadskaarten en afbeeldingen heb ik dit proces visueel kunnen maken en kunnen aangeven dat het stadsbeeld door de komst van de onderzochten grootwinkelbedrijven significant veranderd is.Show less
An analysis of the potential of Solar energy to realise sustainable energy supply for Ghana's inhabitants, the capacity of the Ghanaian government to reach the ambitious universal access to...Show moreAn analysis of the potential of Solar energy to realise sustainable energy supply for Ghana's inhabitants, the capacity of the Ghanaian government to reach the ambitious universal access to electricity goals for 2020; and the feasibility of the 10% renewable electricity market penetration aim. The thesis will focus on Ghana's critical energy infrastructure, its energy policy framework and its rural electrification challenges. After analysing the projections for the solar-energy technology, the potential of solar energy to solve Ghana's energy crisis and contribute to the climate change challenge is formulated.Show less
