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Playing God: Shelley’s Monster in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
No full textThesis (B.A. in English Literature, Minor in Creative Writing)--John Cabot University, Fall 2019.This dissertation is a literary exploration of the role Artificial Life can potentially play in the 21st Century. The research section focuses on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, as an archetype which shows the importance of the scientific element found in the science fiction genre. For the purpose of this exploration, I will explore Shelley’s Monster and Victor in light of creation and creator, and the anxiety that surrounds the two roles they play. Furthermore, I will also draw parallels with the novel and today’s anxiety in creating Artificial Life, in effort to understand that we are not far off from what we create. Intertextuality also holds a great significance in her novel as Shelley draws from different writers and meshes their work seamlessly, within the plot of the story. The Creative Writing section further explores this anxiety, and intertextuality through an epic poem. Divided by eight small poems, the epic reworks Shelley’s Frankenstein, in a dystopian setting. In the voice of Mary Shelley, the poem explores the creation of a cyborg, through Computer Science, as the new Monster
Stephen King’s It and Literary Representations of the Child
No full textThesis (B.A. in English Literature, Minor in Creative Writing)--John Cabot University, Fall 2019.In my dissertation, I analyze how Stephen King constructs the image of the child in his novel, It. More specifically, I examine his construction in terms of the history of literary representations of children, using examples from the narratives of William Blake, Charles Dickens, and Mark Twain. In the first chapter, I focus on the importance that Blake and King give to imagination in children and the city as a negative force that corrupts innocence. In the second chapter, I examine how domestic abuse conditions the child’s behavior and his or her narrative trajectory. I also look at the constructions of gender in relation to the concept of child abuse through an analysis of the characters of Nancy in Dickens’s Oliver Twist and Beverly in King’s novel. Lastly, in the third chapter of my thesis, I explore the relationship between the concept of otherness and the definition of Americanness in It and in Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Radical Right-Wing Populism and the European Migration Crisis: Explaining The Transformation of the Lega between 2013 and 2019
No full textThesis (B.A. in International Affairs, Minor in Philosophy)--John Cabot University, Spring 2019.Between 2013 and 2019, Matteo Salvini, Italy’s radical-right populist leader, successfully transformed the Lega from a regionalist into a nationalist party. This transformation culminated in June 2018 with the formation of a coalition government led by the Lega and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement. Salvini’s electoral success was mainly determined by his emphasis on immigration during the electoral campaign. By 2018, voters regarded the Lega as the only party capable of stopping irregular migration to Italy and of opposing the European Union. Salvini skillfully built such image of his party during the so-called European migration crisis begun in late 2013. With this context as a premise, this thesis investigates the following question: What is the role played by the migration crisis in Lega’s transformation into a national party? The research conducted in the thesis shows that the migration crisis offered Salvini a vehicle for channeling anti-immigrant, Eurosceptic, nationalist, and sometimes xenophobic sentiments. To show why this is the case, the thesis analyzes the policies adopted by the EU and by the Italian government in response to the migration crisis and Salvini’s rhetoric in reaction to them. Such analysis is mainly based on material gathered from politicians’ social media accounts and from the main left- and right-wing Italian newspapers. While recognizing that immigration is not the raison d'être of radical-right populist parties, this thesis suggests that it acted as a major catalyst for success in the Italian context
Marketing sustainable financial products to specific target segments: the case of the Italian market
No full textOriginality of the study. Sustainability is generally classified as the balance between economic, social, and environmental factors in the decision making of an organization (Ralph and Strubbs, 2014). In order to fill the criteria of sustainability, the organizational decisions must constantly try to ensure economic stability and growth in the long term, strive to social equity, and preserve the natural environment for the future generations (UNESCO, 2011).
This article focuses on one specific aspect of sustainability, sustainable banking, that can be defined as the attempt from commercial and investment banks to include sustainability and social responsibility factors in their operations. In particular, the emphasis is on the offer of banking and financial products and services that have social and environmental sustainable elements along with economic stability and profitability (Boitan, 2015). The inclusion of sustainable elements can be based on a voluntary and independent initiative that banks implement in order to better match the needs of their consumers. Alternatively, banks can adhere to established sustainability frameworks that offer guidelines on how banking and financial products can incorporate sustainable factors (Boitan, 2015). The three most common and well-known frameworks are the Equator Principles, the United Nations Global Compact, and the United Nations Environment Program Financial Initiative (http://www.equator-principles.com, www.unglobalcompact.org, www.unepfi.org)
Mapplethorpe and Music Between Punk and Minimalism
No full textThesis (B.A. in Communications)--John Cabot University, Fall 2019.The main focus of my thesis is approaching Robert Mapplethorpe’s photographs throughthe analysis of the musical environment around him. Specifically, I was interested in looking forthe similarities between musicians’ and Mapplethorpe’s approach to self-expression in spite ofthe different media. The first chapter is a brief summary of the main themes discussed by arthistorians and critics in his photographs. The second and third chapters focus respectively onPunk and Minimalism. In each one of them, I first analyze the music and then a photo byMapplethorpe. The choice of music and works is based upon biographical information (indeed,Mapplethorpe knew all the cited musicians) and, first and foremost, similarities between theirapproaches and ideas. The results are pretty intriguing, yet I believe this research can beconsidered just as a starting point, for the topic still needs a more in-depth discussion
Emidio di Treviri: un’esperienza di ricerca collettiva sul post-disastro in Appennino centrale (2016-2017)
No full textEmidio di Treviri is a collective research group formed in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit central Italy in 2016-2017. This paper reflects back on the composite experience of the group and its interdisciplinary approach to such a complex event. Researchers involved in the project span a variety of disciplines, from anthropology to architecture, from sociology to psychology, also including photographers and video-makers. The group was active and conducted field-work since the beginning of the seismic event in aiming to bridge academic research and activism, through “militant research”. The main goal was twofold: firstly, the project aimed at producing a theoretical framework to the study of such phenomena that commonly fall under the name of Disaster Research, and secondly at producing informative and effective tools to help people living through the disaster to be actively involved in the political decision-making process. We argue that academic research, in order to be “public,” needs to be cross-disciplinary and rooted in militant interventions. Such approach, which we name “common ethnography,” referring to the common as a collective practice, aims at co-producing mutual knowledge with local communities and territories. The results produced by the extensive field-work include a collective book, academic and dissemination articles, a photo exhibit, a short documentary, and concrete propositions for political and social change put forward in collaboration with local communities and organisations
Conceptual unclarity, human dignity and contemporary forms of slavery: An appraisal and some proposals
No full textThe aim of this article is twofold: first, it analyses the international concept of human dignity and assesses the role it might play in the field of contemporary forms of slavery; second, it formulates some proposals for redirecting the debate on the relevant international legal definitions in this field. The article argues that the operationalization of the concept of dignity as a general principle of law relevant to the suppression of contemporary forms of slavery might serve certain legal purposes that are examined in this study. However, a number of additional actions would be needed in order to clear the muddy waters in the field of ‘contemporary forms of slavery’. As recently recognized by the present author in a Report requested by the Sub-Committee on Human Rights of the European Parliament, the concept of ‘contemporary forms of slavery’ – as well as similar concepts, such as modern forms of slavery, modern slavery, and contemporary slavery – is frequently used as a non-legal umbrella term, covering multiple exploitative practices ‘while avoiding a careful scrutiny on whether or not they fit the legal concept of slavery as defined by the outdated 1926 Slavery Convention or those of some others exploitative practices defined under international treaty law’.
Such actions include, first, assessing the existence under international customary law of a minimum core of practices constituting ‘contemporary forms of slavery’, second, redirecting the focus on the interpretation of the peremptory (jus cogens) norm prohibiting slavery, which so far has not received adequate attention by international law scholars who have instead dedicated much attention to interpreting the definition of slavery included in the 1926 Slavery Convention, and, third, promoting the adoption of a new treaty on contemporary forms of slavery that would fill in any remaining loopholes
The Sectarian Divide over the Doctrine of Resurrection in Late Second Temple Judaism
No full textThesis (B.A. in Humanistic Studies, Minors in English Literature and Art History)--John Cabot University, Spring 2019.This thesis builds a case for the historicity of a sectarian divide in late Second Temple Judaism over the doctrine of resurrection. It accomplishes this by studying the literary record of the dispute between sects of Second Temple Jews who believed that the dead would someday return to life, and a sect of Second Temple Jews who denied that possibility. Utilizing the methodology of textual historical criticism, three bodies of ancient literature are examined to determine how they attest to this divide; the historical works of Flavius Josephus, the books Christian New Testament, and the tractates of Jewish Rabbinic Literature. Textual evidence is presented for the existence of three sects that believed in a future resurrection of the dead, the Essenes, the Pharisees, and the early Christians movement, and one sect that denied resurrection, the Sadducees. Two additional points of division between these sects are also analyzed in reference to their effect on the resurrection dispute; a socio-economic divide between the sects, and a divide between the sects over the source of authoritative Jewish Law
King Arthur: Man or Myth?
No full textThesis (B.A. in History, Minors in Italian Studies and Creative Writing)--John Cabot University, Spring 2019.King Arthur first appears in the Early Middle Ages in historical chronicles and stories documented by monks of Britain. As these works diffused, the legend of King Arthur continued to gain prominence to such an extent that he appears in High Medieval texts, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, and as a protagonist in medieval romances such as Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur. King Arthur has seen a revival in the past 150 years which has prompted both intellectual and cult debates on whether or not the legendary King of the Britons was real, or solely an idyllic figure to embellish medieval writing. This thesis seeks to explore the debate surrounding the historicity of King Arthur through an analysis of prior scholarship to form a structure of the debate. Tangible archaeological evidence will be cross-referenced with medieval texts which mention Arthur or otherwise lend contextual clues about his life, in order to demystify the duality of a real and a legendary King Arthur