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The Korean National Ballet (KNB), founded in 1962, is a pivotal, government-funded ballet company which acts as a national representative both domestically and internationally. This thesis investigates how the KNB has contributed to the formation of ‘Korean ballet’, a complex phenomenon interpreted through Homi Bhabha’s concept of post-colonial hybridity as a ‘doubling’ of the Western ballet form which simultaneously resists it through indigenisation. It examines the company’s artistic trajectory and repertoire, and analyses how it translates the codified ballet vocabulary to develop its own distinct movement style. The central concern is to show how such hybridisation enables the KNB to fulfil its role as a national organisation charged with representing Korean identity. While the introduction of ballet into Korea is a classic example of cultural imperialism in Edward Said’s sense, the nineteenth-century Russian ballet tradition, particularly Yuri Grigorovich’s interpretations, has exerted more direct authority, foisting colonial sentiments and demands onto the KNB via its set criteria and conventions. Thus a coloniser/colonised division separates the Russian and Korean ballet fields, as colonialism refers not to a past political system but to present sentiments and strategies inscribed in the process of continuing imperialism. The thesis evaluates how the KNB subverts these colonial demands to appropriate ballet as a legitimate means of articulating Korean identity. In the process, it negotiates various forms of state-led nationalism, supporting and shaping cultural policy by absorbing and transforming indigenous elements to bolster and reshape the national image propagated by the state. Paul Gilroy’s work on camp-thinking provides the theoretical foundation for understanding the political reshaping of national identity, while his reflections on the black diaspora confirm the hybrid cultural space as a new site of identity-formation. Thus the thesis nominates the KNB as a crucial insitution in the development and reshaping of national identity in Korea.

Organisms are constantly challenged by the surrounding environment and alter their physiology accordingly. Some environment-induced changes in one generation are inherited in the offspring, and this long-lasting memory of parental experience has gained a lot of attention recently due to its implications in the organism's development and health. One example is transmission of RNAi-induced silencing from parents to progeny in C. elegans. Although this phenomenon has been known for more than a decade, the parental contribution to RNAi inheritance is still unclear. Here, we show that the nuclear hormone receptor DAF-12 mediates a cross-generational signaling that regulates RNAi in zygotes. Pol II ChIP-qPCR revealed that normally, DAF-12 enhances transcriptional repression induced by RNAi. Mutant analysis demonstrated that the role of DAF-12 in RNAi is distinct from its function in developmental timing or heterochronic pathways. Surprisingly, DAF-12 acts in mothers to alter the RNAi efficiency in zygotes, indicating the presence of mother-to-offspring, DAF-12-dependent signals that enhance RNAi in zygotes. Considering the previous studies showing that the function of DAF-12 is determined by environmental cues, we tested and found that the role of DAF-12 in RNAi enhancement in zygotes depends on the environmental cues presented to mothers during their development. These results demonstrate a novel role of DAF-12 as a modulator of RNAi and its contribution to cross-generational signaling. Moreover, the findings imply a potential interaction between environmental conditions and small RNA pathways.

Alternative fuel adoption by heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) fleets can bring substantial benefits to both current local communities and future generations by reducing air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the penetration rate of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) is still very low in the HDV sector. Revealing HDV fleet operator perspectives towards alternative fuels can serve as the basis for developing effective policies for accelerating the diffusion of these technologies. This dissertation aims to fill a key knowledge gap, where such fleet operator perspectives have rarely been addressed, by exploring alternative fuel adoption behavior of HDV fleets.An initial theoretical framework was first developed based upon existing theories and literature to conceptually understand AFV fleet adoption behavior in organizations. This initial framework consists of a five-stage adoption process as well as two levels of sub-frameworks: at the decision-making unit level and the individual (e.g., vehicle drivers) acceptance level. Next, it was attempted to empirically improve the initial framework by investigating 20 organizations operating HDVs in the State of California via in-depth qualitative interviews and project reports. A total of 29 adoption and 42 non-adoption cases was probed across various alternative fuel technologies, including natural gas, propane, electricity, hydrogen, biodiesel, and renewable diesel options. The qualitative data was analyzed using content and thematic analyses, by which numerous themes and hypotheses were developed to build a theory explaining heavy-duty AFV fleet adoption behavior. Based on these qualitative inferences, a conceptual modelling framework was proposed for estimating demand for heavy-duty AFVs under different policy and technology advancement scenarios. An overall structure along with specific modules and components for this framework are presented. As an ongoing work, a stated preference choice experiment was designed to quantitatively operationalize one of the modules, to estimate AFV choice probabilities. The feasibility of this modelling approach is proposed to be examined in a case study interviewing California drayage fleet operators. Finally, the research findings contribute theoretically and empirically to a better understanding of the demand-side aspects of AFV adoption by HDV fleet operators, particularly in California and in the other US states that follow California’s environmental policies.

In dense urban areas, collisions involving pedestrians and vehicles present a significant challenge for public health. Achieving pedestrian safety is complicated because countless intersection roadway characteristics—traffic control devices, roadway geometry, and sociodemographic and behavioral decision-making—can influence pedestrian-vehicle collisions (PVCs). In the past, studies have examined influences of multiple roadway, sociodemographic, and built environment factors on PVCs. Few studies, however, specifically examine relationships, ‘at’ or ‘near’ intersections, where pedestrian collisions frequently occur. This study measures the influences of multiple intersection roadway characteristics—including various built environment, traffic control devices, and sociodemographic descriptors of neighborhoods surrounding the intersection sites—on pedestrian-vehicle collisions (PVCs) in Washington D.C. from 2010 to 2014.Using collision and roadway attribute data sets obtained from the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, the District Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Census, this study consisted of four stages of analysis: 1. archival review of all PVCs, 2. spatial mapping, 3. negative binomial regression modeling, and 4. field observations of seven intersections with the highest number of PVCs over pedestrian demand index (PDI). Findings include some significant relationships between multiple intersection roadway characteristics and PVCs. Based on the findings of this analysis, some countermeasures—such as updating the PDI annually, extending the sidewalks, and increasing the number of streetlights, area of sidewalk, and raised crosswalks—are recommended to enhance pedestrian safety at roadway intersections.

Relationships between place and people are complex because places become specific and unique as we build memories, share stories, accumulate histories. Therefore, mobility and place attachment are often placed in opposite discussions. Considering the daily life and limited resources of low-income families, however, the relationship between place and people can be a love and hate relationships and the discussion on mobility and place attachment are not straightforward. The current study explored how inner-city low-income families with school-age children experience school choice. Particularly, the study attempted to examine the Choice Is Yours program that allows school mobility with the help of transportation in order to support for low-income families in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The primary purpose of the current study was to develop a better understanding of how low-income families perceive choice, place, mobility, and place attachment using the theoretical frameworks of mobility and place attachment. To understand and interpret the meanings of their perception and experiences, a phenomenological study was employed and in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the parents who participated the Choice Is Yours program. Conversations with the participants show that having choice allowed them not only to attain academic achievement but also to be aware of available resources, to grow ability to judge well, and to develop positive relationships with peers and school community. The participants expressed multi-layered emotions with places. Place attachment of the current study was associated with the experience of first-time homeownership, familiar and convenient environments, and close kin relationships that were located in the same neighborhood. This was related to moving decisions. Future study on the inclusion of non-choosers of the opportunity-based program in such neighborhoods would provide a better understanding the impact of choice and the perception of mobility and place attachment. This will broaden the discussion about the school choice program by connecting educational policy with housing policy.

I explore the conditions under which mergers of two poorly performing firms can create value and how such conditions behave differently in mergers including at least one well-performing firm. I argue that in mergers of poor performers, the greater the disruption of routines induced by the merger, the higher the post-merger performance. In this study, I conceptualize a merger as the combination of two firms' existing routines and propose that such a combination can provide the impetus necessary to break from the past by creating a new set of routines. When two weak firms merge, such a break from the past becomes desirable because the existing value creation system does not work properly and routine disruption becomes a necessary condition for deriving good post-merger performance. I test these ideas on a sample of M&As from multiple industries in the U.S. between 1994 and 2006. Using an industry-adjusted Tobin's q based on the "Chop-shop" approach as a criterion to classify firms into weak and strong categories, I find that disruption of routines is indeed desirable in mergers of poor performers while it should be minimized in mergers including a well-performing firm. This dissertation makes theoretical contributions by highlighting the role of a M&A in a firm's evolutionary process. It also has practical implications for managers and policymakers.