Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Basel, language: English, abstract: During the course of this seminar paper, I will show how O'Brien describes the Vietnam War and its accompanying acoustic environment as a loud and chaotic cacophony, where no clear boundaries and no easily identifiable enemy exist. Thereby, and by the way in which O'Brien employs characteristics typical for postmodern fiction, the novel can be seen as an exemplary postmodern representation of the Vietnam War. For the understanding and distinction of the terms postmodernism and postmodernity I will include a discussion of their characteristics.

Master's Thesis from the year 2011 in the subject Communications - Journalism, Journalism Professions, grade: 1,3, University of Lincoln (Department of Journalism), language: English, abstract: My work only deals with the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Research in the French- and Italian-speaking parts would have been worthwhile, but also complicated due to a lack of language skills. This book chapter consists of five main chapters. The first chapter, the methodology, has an overview of its own. The next part deals with the history of immigration in Switzerland since the end of the Second World War until present. It shows how the little country dealt with a huge influx of foreigners, but also examines the xenophobic movements and feelings that accompanied this development. In the third chapter I shed light on unique features of the Swiss character, and how those traits influenced the contact to foreigners from all different nations. I will focus particularly on the role of language and regionalism. As I have a Swiss mother and have lived in Switzerland for a while, I have gained some expertise which helped me to further research this part. An analysis of the election campaigns of the popular Swiss People's Party (SVP) and the disputed methods which the party uses will be the chief subject of the fourth chapter. I examined the election programme of the party and compared it to reality. Furthermore, I was interested in the deeper reasons which lie behind the success of the disputed party, and therefore spoke to people who could tell me more about that. Finally, I decided to widen my research and consequently travelled to seven different destinations in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. There, I examined the different everyday realities of Swiss and foreigners, witnessed a speech of a controversial SVP- politician, and went to places where integration works, but also to one where coexistence between Swiss and foreigners went horribly wrong.

Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Communications - Journalism, Journalism Professions, grade: 1,0, University of Lincoln (Media and Humanities), course: International Human Rights for Journalists, language: English, abstract: "Intelligence sources in Pakistan have said that Miss al-Sadah, and the other relatives of bin Laden currently in hospital will be returned to their countries of origin when they have recovered" (Daily Telegraph, May 5 2011). "Intelligence sources revealed terrorists intend to target Belfast or Derry to send out their anti-British message on the day Prince William and Kate Middleton marry" (The Mirror, April 25 2011). "UK spooks were last night in a desperate race to track ten terrorists recruited for a Mumbai-style attack in Europe. A Sun probe reveals intelligence sources believe the cell is committed to a strike before Christmas" (The Sun, October 9 2010). These three quotes from major British newspapers depict the ongoing willingness of journalists to use information from anonymous sources. Whoever thinks that the information disaster during the build-up of the Iraq War, when the UK press regularly published wrong reports based on intelligence sources, has stopped them from continuing this practice, is wrong. But of course this is nothing new. This procedure has been going on for the last sixty years, and not even the most outlandish disinformation campaigns in the past have kept the press from going to bed with spies. In this essay, I want to explore the reasons that lie behind this behaviour. Why do journalists accept information from intelligence sources so willingly? What are the dangers, but also the benefits of this behaviour? What happens if journalists cross the line and work for the intelligence services? And what reasons do spooks have to disguise themselves as hacks? And last, but not least: What has James Bond got to do with it?

Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Communications - Journalism, Journalism Professions, grade: 1,3, University of Lincoln (Media and Humanities), course: International Human Rights for Journalists, language: English, abstract: If you will ever visit Cambodia, you will soon notice that it is virtually impossible not to fall in love with that little, but extraordinarily fascinating country. The amiable and ever-smiling Khmer (the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia), the rich history and heritage of the country, and the beautiful jungles and beaches appeal to visitors since Portuguese adventurers first set foot in the country in the 16th century. But at the same time, the country also has a dark side, originating from its long history of war and violence. Even today, as Cambodia slowly learns to come to terms with its past, things are far from perfect. While human rights are violated on a daily basis, an increasingly autocratic state seems to be more concerned about the interests of the rich and powerful than about those of the whole of the population. In this essay I am going to investigate the current human rights situation in Cambodia by examining reports of national and international human rights organizations, press reports, and books. I will also try to find out which role the violent past of Cambodia and the distinctive peaceableness of its Buddhist population play in this context.

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Flensburg (Englisches Institut), course: American Crime Fiction, language: English, abstract: In this term paper Im going to deal with the traumatic experiences of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) homicide detective Dave Robicheaux in the Vietnam War in 1965 and their literary function by examining the essential parts of the two books "Neon Rain" and "The Tin Roof Blowdown." Furthermore I will try to find out how the description of Daves experiences and his character correlate with the biography and the character of the author. For the extensive understanding of James Lee Burke I will work out a brief excursus which deals with the special features that are immanent in the southern writer due to the history of the region and the mentality of its inhabitants. I hope that my essay will shed more light on the reasons why Burke uses the image of the Vietnam War so many times in his novels and give clues about his opinion about the engagement of the USA in Southeast Asia. The current state of source material is quite good as Burke is a well-known author and has led many interviews. He also runs a very informative website with lots of links to interviews which I used extensively. My main sources were of course his two books, an instructive biography written by Barbara Bogue and an interesting book about the unique features of the American south.

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2013 im Fachbereich Geschichte - Weltgeschichte - Fruhgeschichte, Antike, einseitig bedruckt, Note: 1,3, Universitat Basel, Veranstaltung: Die punischen Kriege, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Als Hannibals Heer im Jahr 218 v. Chr. die Alpen uberquert hatte, und die erschopften Soldaten ihre Blicke uber die Weite der Poebene schweifen liessen, muss ihnen die Muhsal ihrer historischen Tat anzusehen gewesen sein. Von den ursprunglich knapp 50 000 Soldaten und 37 Kriegselefanten waren laut Polybios nur noch die Halfte ubrig. Doch die Uberlebenden hatten ihre Zahigkeit im Kampf gegen rebellische Bergvolker, eisiges Wetter und unwegsames Gelande unter Beweis gestellt, und sollten in der Folge harte Gegner fur ihre Feinde werden. Bei den nun folgenden Schlachten zeichnete sich die Uberlegenheit von Hannibals Armee schon ab. Die Schlacht beim Fluss Trebia im Jahr 218 v. Chr. endete mit einer romischen Niederlage, da Hannibal schon hier mit ungewohnlichen Taktiken kampfte. Nach einer Zeitphase in der die Romer auf eine Art Kleinkrieg gegen die Karthager setzten, beschloss der romische Senat, ermutigt durch einige kleinere Siege, Hannibal schliesslich zur Entscheidungsschlacht zu stellen. Die romische Armee wurde vernichtend geschlagen, und 70 000 romische Soldaten und Bundesgenossen sollen laut Polybios Darstellung den Tod gefunden haben. In dieser Arbeit mochte ich nun den Grunden der romischen Niederlage nachgehen. Dazu gebe ich zur Orientierung zuerst einen Uberblick uber den Ablauf der Schlacht und die Organisation der romischen Armee. Danach werde ich erforschen welche verschiedenen Faktoren auf Seiten der Romer und ihrer Bundesgenossen zur Niederlage beigetragen haben. Sind die Romer zu grosse Risiken eingegangen, haben sie den Gegner unterschatzt, oder lag es an der Organisation der Armee? Welchen Anteil hatten politische, taktische und strategische (Fehl)entscheidungen? Waren diese Fehler absehbar, gingen die Romer also sehenden Auges in ihr

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2009 im Fachbereich Geschichte - Sonstiges, Note: 1.7, Universitat Flensburg (Institut fur Geschichte), Veranstaltung: Hexenverfolgung in Mitteleuropa, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Wenn man heute in einer deutsche Fussgangerzone eine Umfrage startete und Passanten fragen wur-de, was sie mit dem Thema Hexerei verbinden, bekame man wahrscheinlich Schlagworter zu horen wie: Alte Frau mit warziger Nase," finsteres Mittelalter," Flug auf dem Besen um den Blocksberg" und ahnliches. Nur die wenigsten wurden vermutlich den Begriff Hexerei mit unsrer heutigen Zeit und dann auch noch mit den USA verbinden. Doch gerade dort erregte vor kurzem ein Fall Aufmerksamkeit welcher einen Lehrer betraf, der einen Zahnstocher vor seinen Schulern verschwinden liess und bald darauf von seinem Vorgesetzten einen Anruf bekam. Von diesem wurde er informiert dass sich Eltern eines verangstigten Schulers bei der Schulleitung be-schwert hatten und verkundete ihm seine Entlassung wegen wizardry." So bizarr dieser Vorfall auch scheinen mag, zeigt er doch auch dass wir in unserer heutigen aufgeklarten Zeit von sol-chen langst vergangen zu scheinenden Episoden unsrer Geschichte eingeholt werden konnen. Und es zeigt, dass auch in den jungen USA der Glaube an Hexen und Zauberei vorhanden ist und war. Dieser war auch der Grund fur einen der wenigen Hexenprozesse im fruhneuzeitlichen Nord-amerika, genauer gesagt in Salem. Diese Prozesswelle, welcher 1692 20 Menschen zum Opfer fielen, mochte ich mit der dritten Prozesswelle im westfalischen Lemgo von 1653 bis 1681 vergleichen und so die Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten von Hexenprozessen auf zwei verschiedenen Konti-nenten herauszuarbeiten. Meine Wahl fiel auf diese beiden Stadte weil beide Ereignisse gut erforscht sind und eine Vielzahl an Quellen und Literatur zu finden ist. Ausserdem ist mein Interesse an der nordamerikanischen Ge-schichte auch durch mein Zweitfach Englisch bedingt und aus den Prozessen lassen sich dur