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Life In The Penit: Framing And Performing Miami's Graffiti Subculture, Victor M. Merida

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the tradition of the Birmingham School of cultural studies, this thesis focuses on Miami’s graffiti subculture and the conflicts between market economies and economies of social meaning. As a reference point, I consider Miami’s “Penits”: the name given to the seemingly abandoned buildings where graffiti is performed. Short for penitentiary, the term derives from the 1980s after a large building rumored to be a prison was defunded midway through its construction. After this first reclamation, every other graffiti heterotopia in Miami has been similarly recoded as spaces that mock structures of discipline and industry.

Through Michel Foucault’s biopolitical framework …

The Ashram Of Swami Jyotirmayananda: Examining Authority, Transmission And Identity Within The Guru And Disciple Relationship, Priyanka Ramlakhan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The wave of gurus in America brought with them cultural transformations particularly in how they interpret Hinduism, how their teachings have adapted in engaging a Western audience, and the sustainability of their religious communities, thus changing the landscape of contemporary Hindu spirituality. The traditional model of the guru and disciple relationship according to Yoga and Vedanta is undergoing a transformation allowing for greater autonomy of the disciple to make decisions in how they appropriate the authority of the guru. This thesis examines the guru and disciple relationship within the institutional organization of the Yoga Research Foundation, founded by the contemporary …