This essay aims at understanding the experience of the use of ayahuasca, and similarities and differences between interview protocols and socio-cultural identities. The work is based on field studies conducted in the Peruvian Andes, in the village of Pisac September to November 2009. What has emerged is that the experience does not seem to be dependent on cultural manifestations as much as it is dependent on general human cognition. Theories have been applied on an empirical phenomenological descriptive study. Various brain activities, along with mental mechanisms contribute to a deeper understanding of the findings in the descriptive analysis.It seems that the cultural differences, which I have classed as typological in the phenomenological study, mostly are expressions of meaning for the informants.

Through millennia, humans have shaped the European landscapes. Agriculture, hunting andforestry have influenced virtually every ecosystem on the continent and formed what we todaythink of as the cultural landscape; a mosaic pattern of cropland, fields, pasture and forests. Thepast two centuries, globalization, industrialization and urbanization have come to pose a threatto the existence of these landscapes. European farmlands are now being abandoned at analarming rate, and the associated loss of landscape preservation, biodiversity and ecosystemservices is a concern to the scientific community and public alike.This thesis studies if the implementation of the relatively new conservation strategy rewilding(recreating self-sustaining ecosystems and reintroducing keystone species) can be a part of thesolution to preserve cultural landscapes and biodiversity in Sweden. Through interviewssupplemented with studies of published works, expertise from different fields has beencompiled to provide an overall picture of the capacity of rewildings as conservation method.

The aim of this master?s thesis is to examine the roles ofthree different public libraries in three differentcommunities. In order to get some answers about the roles ofthe public libraries I have used the following questions: Howis the local cultural policy formulated? How is the locallibrary structured? What or which profiles has the publiclibraries in the three communities?I have made three qualitative case-studies in three differentcommunities. These three communities are somewhatlocated in the same area in order to identify any cooperationbetween them.

The aim with this thesis was to acquire an understanding for how individuals handle the feeling of shame in connection with cultural consumption. In order to capture the feeling of shame we developed an interview method called the Backstabber interview technique. We found that the Backstabber interview technique successfully triggered feelings of shame in connection to cultural consumption, which made it possible for us to study the handling of shame. We found that our respondents tended to use different forms of accounts in order to handle the feeling of shame. We categorized them into five accounts with relating sub-accounts.

Stratego is a boardgame not very different from chess, that contains hidden information. Because of this, existing programs play at beginner level. The purpose of this thesis is to adjust a minimax algorithm so that it passes the demands of Stratego, and then build a Stratego agent around it. Tests with existing minimax algorithms leads to the development p-e-minimax. This algorithm uses two different values in its nodes to simulate the different information available to the agent and its opponent.

This thesis explores how Muslim youths? lifeworlds are depicted and narrated in the following two studies on Muslim youth in Sweden and Denmark: Muslima (2007) and Samtidsislam (2010). The aim of this thesis is to answer the following question: In what ways do these works treat the aspects of the lifeworlds that are being highlighted in their studies of Muslim youth in contemporary Sweden and Denmark? An underlying aim is to analyse the results within the framework of theories of socialisation, cultural emancipation and rituals and traditions.With a hermeneutic approach I analyse the texts and operationalize the research question into four themes: the effects of socialization, cultural emancipation, rituals and traditions and secularization. The texts are treated in the analysis with textual analysis and hermeneutic method.

There are over 1,5 billion Muslims living on earth and the religion is one of the world´s most increasing. Sweden is a country with a cultural diversity where about 300 000 Muslims lived in 1999. Today, the requirement for knowledge about caring for Muslims and the need of culturally competent nursing care are increasing.The aim of this study was to define cultural factors which the nurse has to recognize to be able to give culturally competent care to the Muslim patient. The method that has been used was a The Sunrise Model, which illustrates Leininger´s theory of culture care diversity and universality, provides a theoretical framework for the study. The results are presented on the basis of Leininger´s three cultural factors; cultural values, beliefs and lifeways.

The purpose of this thesis is library work in exile, more specifically The Kurdish library in Stockholm (?Kurdiska biblioteket?). The Kurds have a long history of exile, forming a part of their national and cultural identity. I have therefore chosen in the analysis three concepts: nationalism, ethnicity and culture. The Kurdish library is unique and is different from a traditional library in many ways.

Objective: The papers objective is to create a deeper understanding for whether or not cultural and psychic distance affects corporate establishments in the EU.Method: The results have been gathered through intense data collection through interviews with ScaniaAB and Business Sweden. There has also been extensive research of 36 different companies and their first establishments in different countries. We have then analyzed the results through cultural and psychic distance and through Uppsala University's internationalization process model.Conclusion: The conclusions of this paper are:Corporate establishment often occurs in neighboring countries because of the similarity to the domestic markets which contribute with a greater security.Since the introduction of the EU single market, corporate establishments have become easier within the single market.The cultural and psychic distance does exist within the EU, however the internal market decreases these distances and the impact on corporate establishments.The market commitment is essential to the corporates survival within the new market.Cultural and psychic distance affects small firms more often since their lack of network and experience.Cultural and psychic distances are two different but related phenomena..

The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to study cultural sponsorshipof cultural institutions and cultural events in some particular pointsof views. Namely, how do the Moderate party look at culturalsponsorship based on their motions and how these motions havebeen received by the Swedish parliament. The aim has beenbroken down into three questions. Firstly, how does the Moderateparty look at sponsorship of cultural institutions and culturalevents based on their motions on the subject. Secondly, whatviews have been existed in parliament both in committee andplenary, against the motions? Thirdly, what are the most relatingparagraphs for the different material groups.

The paper's purpose has evolved during the process of researching and writing it. In the beginning it was to investigate if art and culture could increase the strength and knowledge of a brand and if there existed a knowledge about this amongst Swedish companies, situated in Stockholm. During the process the purpose has evolved into exploring the type of companies that acknowledge this and those that don't. By using Bourdieu's terminology and tools, the reasons behind the use of art has been analyzed.The paper employs an explorative approach by accessing data through interviews and public data provided by the Internet through web pages and government files.The paper comes to the conclusion that what Holt calls cultural branding has not evolved, when looking at the companies that are accurate for this study. Out of 24 companies only one comes close to observing socio cultural movements through the arts.

The aim of this master?s thesis is to identify differences and similarities, regarding security, in two goods terminals in an organisation in the transport and goods sector. In this thesis we use Cultural Theory as an analytical instrument to investigate organizational culture, as seen from a security perspective. Cultural Theory is a theory seen from two perspectives, the stable perspective and the mobile perspective. These two perspectives concentrate on different research areas.

The educational directive for the school subject textile handicraft (slöjd) claim, that the pupils should have knowledge of handicraft traditions from historical and present perspective. Teachers in handicraft, teaching in schools for the first nine years of a child education forwards a cultural heritage. The purpose of this essay is to find out what the teachers opinion is about what constitute the Swedish textile cultural heritage. How the teachers relate to it and how they use it, then teaching. The essay is based on a qualitative method and consists of interviews with teachers.

The aim of this paper is to investigate dominant beliefs and approaches to the "cultural entrepreneur" both within a public context, and also among business owners within the cultural field. What happens when ideas and attitudes in the public sector towards culture driven businesses meets the perspective of individual cultural entrepreneurs?This study is based on analysis of political documents about the cultural and creative industries (CCI) from the European union, national level and regional level. Interviews with six business owners in the field of culture and one representative of the Swedish region with the fictive name ?Alma? has been conducted.

This survey examines how a regional archive, Värmland Archives, interprets and works from the departure point of national cultural accessibility goal ?Everyone should have the opportunity to participate in cultural life?. And it is also a comporative study of discourse regarding accessibility between Värmland Archives and some other actors in the archival cultural system. Critical discourse analysis, according to Norman Fairclough, is used as a theory method. A discourse analysis is made on empirical data based on document study and qualitative research interviews. My conclusion is that if the term Accessibility is seen as a focal point the accessibility discourse in the documents of Värmland Archives and of the other actors studied can not be clearly discerned. Värmland Archives´s interpretation of terms regarding accessibility analyzed in the survey, varies among the staff regarding how the archives and its services should be accessible, and what accessibility means in the context of the archives.