In this essay the renewal of the modern sacred art has been examined through the creation of three works of art from the art project ?Kyrkorummet?. The aim has been to show that renewal of the modern sacred art is best accomplished by the combination of the artist history and Bible knowledge and the open mindness of the beholder towards the new and creative, in order to communicate the gospel in modern time.The large extend of the art project demanded a selection of the art works. Therefore, three were chosen and they show the last supper and the baptism in a renewal way including both symbolism and creativity. To complete and facilitate the analyses, a theme, light and water, have been used as well as relevant theories in art history with Kandinsky as main art critic.Through the art project and it?s teaching, history in combination with present time through visits in different and modern churches, thoughts have been stimulated and the result has been new works of art that speaks of our time.

This thesis explores how participants and leaders in ?Alpha?, an introductory course to the Christian faith, relate to and practice faith in Sweden. Sweden has often been viewed as a secular country where religion has been seen as irrational, outdated, and as something that belongs to the other but not to the self. Through the eyes of Swedish Christian practitioners, this study explores what kind of relationship my informants have to Christian faith and God while also exploring how living in a secular or post-secular context affects their way of believing and interpreting God and the stories written in the Bible. Furthermore, understanding of the Bible is viewed in the light of the concepts ?mythos? and ?logos? which highlights where Western explanatory models fail to explain and understand mythological stories.

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study has been to analyse and understand the effects of heteronormative structures in the Swedish asylum process. Homosexual refugees, seeking asylum in Sweden, is in focus when proceeding an analysis about these social structures and normative phenomena. The main discourse, being handled in this study, is between homosexuality and heterosexuality. However, central findings in this study consists of how different approaches, such as gender based identities as well as sexual preferences and ethnic background, combined is influencing the asylum process and the treatment of the asylum seekers.The analysis is based upon legal material, as well as the guidelines and work ethics of the Migrationsverket, which is being compared with theoretical approaches on heteronormativity and structural hierarchy. To achieve a wider understanding of the area and to gain more information, we have also performed interviews with relevant sources.Key-words: Heteronormativity, asylum seekers, homosexuality, power structuresSara Haugbak & Jenny Thomsen, Sociology C, University of Växjö, Sweden.

The construction of an identity among lesbian women during 1950-­?1965 is in focus in this master ?s thesis. My starting point is that identity, such as lesbian or any other identity, is formed in relation to other people and groups, as well as society. This thesis will also examine how lesbian women met and formed bonds with like-­minded, and whether these aspects changed, during the defined time period. The empirics is made up by letters written by women to Riksfo?rbundet fo?r sexuellt likabera?ttigande (a Swedish organisation for lesbian and gays) as well as an interview with two lesbian women who were born in 1938 and 1940.

Part of the great acclaim for Anne Rice?s Interview with the Vampire (1976) is due to the wayshe renews the vampire story by reinforcing the traditional erotic dimension and, as a result ofthis, the way she examines the theme of homosexuality already present in Bram Stoker?sDracula (1897). However, this essay shows that Rice?s novel stands in much closer relation toVladimir Nabokov?s Lolita (1955) than to Dracula and that pedophilia, not homosexuality, isthe facet of sexuality which here first and foremost comes into focus. Through a comparisonbetween Interview with the Vampire and Lolita emerges a surprising coherence on the levelsof plot and characterization, which in itself is of importance for our understanding of Rice?snovel as well as Lolita, but it is also interesting to note to what degree these two novels sharea world of concepts and ideas common to actual pedophiles.

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of being a homosexual immigrant in the Swedish society. Our questions were how the interviewed homosexual immigrants experience being treated by the people in their surroundings and how they are influenced by their attitudes. We also wanted to know what kind of thoughts they have about affiliation considering origin and sexuality, and what positive and negative aspects they experience from the combination of being both homosexual and immigrants.To get the answers to these questions we used a qualitative method and interviewed seven homosexual immigrants between the ages of 25 and 40 years. We then compared our material with earlier studies of the living situation of homosexual immigrants in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. We also linked our findings to Goffman's stigma theory and to heteronormativity.The main result was that the combination of homosexuality and immigrantness can result in various difficulties.

Inger Edelfeldt (1956) and Bengt Martin (1933-2010) are two Swedish writers of different generations. Both of them did, between the years 1968 to 1983, write about adolescent men coming to terms with their homosexuality. Edelfeldt wrote two versions of the same story, with slight but significant differences, the main being different implied readers (adult versus adolescent). Bengt Martin wrote about three young homosexual characters: Joakim, Bengt and Bengt. The story about Joakim is presented as fiction but bears many resemblances with Martin?s autobiography.

I vår undersökning vill vi synliggöra hur ungdomar tänker kring homosexualitet. Forskning kring ämnet homosexualitet bland ungdomar är viktigt för att visa alla de fördomar som finns i skolan och övriga samhället som i sin tur leder till att ungdomar med avvikande sexualitet mår psykiskt dåligt. Ämnet homosexualitet är ett brett forskningsområde. I vår undersökning har vi valt att behandla kunskapsbakgrunden med både avhandlingar, vetenskapliga artiklar, rapporter och organisationers information för att få en heltäckande bakgrund av vårt ämnesval. Vi har gjort en kvalitativ undersökning där vi delat ut enkäter till tre olika gymnasieklasser.

The aim of this study is to examine the media coverage of gender-neutral marriage from an intersectional perspective ? with particular regard to gender, sexual orientation and religion. By focusing on the spokespeople who appears in the articles we have made an attempt to answer questions regarding who was heard in the debate on gender-neutral marriage and how the homosexual couples are portrayed in relation to the above criteria.The collected material consists of 89 articles, published in 2009, in Swedish newspapers which have been analysed by using quantitative content analysis. Ten articles have also been selected for a critical discourse analysis based on Norman Fairclough?s approach.

The aim of the study is to examine which present conceptions of sexuality there are in treatment of substance abuse for men. The intention is to examine how staff members in these environments perceive clients? sex and sexuality as well as studying if and in that case how they work with sexuality in treatment. A qualitative method formed the methodological approach and semistructured interviews were carried out for the collection of data. Four staff members from two different treatment institutions for substance abuse were interviewed.

Homosexualitet i skolan ? En enkätbaserad studie om lärares arbete kring homosexualitet Homosexuality in school - A questionnaire-based study on teachers' work on homosexuality in school Fredrik Andersson Syftet med den här undersökningen var att titta på hur en skola arbetade med undervisning gällande homosexualitet i de yngre skolåren, för att motverka homofobi. Två frågor ställdes: Hur arbetar lärare i de yngre skolåren med homosexualitet? Hur tar den litteratur, som eleverna arbetar med, upp homosexualitet? Som metod använde jag kvantitativ undersökning med kvalitativa inslag, samt genomgång av en rapport från HomO gällande skolans ansvar att främja alla elevers lika rättigheter oavsett sexuell läggning, samt litteraturstudier. 16 lärare på den undersökta skolan deltog och undersökningen visar att lärarna inte arbetar förebyggande med frågor gällande homosexualitet, och att detta beror dels på bristande kunskap samt rädsla inför vad elevernas föräldrar anser om homosexualitet. Nyckelord: fördomar, grundskolans tidigare år, heteronormativitet, homofobi, homosexualitet, värdegrund..

The purpose of this essay is to examine how same-sex couples experience the second-parent adoption process. To assist us, we have used our questions: how do the couples describe their experiences of the adoption process? Which are the couples? stories about the experience of contact with the involved professionals? What are the opportunities and barriers for same-sex couples to start a family? How do the couples describe their experience of reactions from the community and society, and how do they think the future will look like for same-sex couples? This study has been achieved through a qualitative approach. The empirical data is based on seven semi-structured interviews with same-sex couples or pair members that want to or have had a second-parent adoption. The theory we have used for analyzing the results is phenomenology with focus on queer theory, heteronormativity, and power.

The aim of the study is to examine which present conceptions of sexuality there are in treatment of substance abuse for men. The intention is to examine how staff members in these environments perceive clients? sex and sexuality as well as studying if and in that case how they work with sexuality in treatment. A qualitative method formed the methodological approach and semistructured interviews were carried out for the collection of data. Four staff members from two different treatment institutions for substance abuse were interviewed.

The aim of the study is to analyse the stories of four homosexual women with Muslim backgrounds about coming out as homosexuals, from an intersectional perspective. The experience of coming out as lesbian and the intersectionality are related to different social contexts. The homosexuality becomes a problem in connection to family and countrymen while the Muslim background becomes more of a problem in relationships. Heteronormativity and gender system appear to be cooperating systems of oppression.These women don?t describe themselves as oppressed, but potential oppression is still something that influences their lives.

Archbishop KG Hammar has attracted attention for his liberal position in theology. His view on the role of language and communication is central in several books and articles he has published as leader of the Church of Sweden. One of his main theses is the fact that meaning is created in the encounter between text and reader. He often reiterates: God is relation. This non-traditional dynamic stance has a broad impact not only on theology.