bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nautical Symbolism in Christian Maori Architecture
Authors:   , Radburnd Pamela
Published: November 2021

It is well known that many Maori cultural traditions and cosmological beliefs are anchored in a sea of knowledge associated with seafaring, navigation and the oceanic environment. Despite the loss of deep-sea voyaging, this thesis explores how nautical reflexes were still very influential on various modes of expression in Christian Maori architecture of three distinct Maori religious movements from the colonial and post-colonial periods. During this investigation, this thesis also identifies a relationship that can be found between the appropriation of nautical symbolism in Christian and Maori architecture.

This relationship is examined on two levels: One, in terms of how Christian and Maori iconography has latent nautical meaning and secondly, how nautical symbolism in Christian Maori architecture is more signal than sculptural. The latter identifies the more powerful, metaphysical symbols in Maori architecture and spirituality which make Christian Maori architecture uniquely different from European Christian architecture. This thesis links these qualities in symbolic Christian maori architecture to the psychic and symbolic territories known to the navigator. In doing so, this thesis discovers how nautical symbols occupy a middle ground, an in-between area bridging the known with the unknown and examines their role as mediators between the present and the past; the individual and the collective.

This thesis finally presents an architectural design which explores specific aspects of research. In doing so, the use of nautical symbolism and water-based pragmatism through architecture explores how such methods and expressions can influence and transform Western notions of knowledge or conventional notions of contemporary (terrestrial) architecture in New Zealand. To achieve this, nautical concepts from case study material are applied to a contemporary design project in order to open up architecture to its metaphysical dimension rather than focussing on the object (sculptural) that is frozen in time. As a result, this design also celebrates and revives the nautical instinct of Maori in terms of how it can offer new and meaningful ways to design architecture in oceania and New Zealand.
Learning to Lead: What Constitutes Effective Training for Student Leaders in New Zealand Secondary Schools?
Authors:   , Davies Bronwyn
Published: November 2021

Student leaders in New Zealand secondary schools may include tutors, head students, sports and cultural captains, mentors and prefects. This study is based on the premise that student leaders can provide inspiration to other students and work skilfully to shape the culture of a school. The possibilities that stem from the role of student leader can be endless, yet there seems to be little evidence of consensus regarding what kind of training should be provided for student leaders.

This is an investigation of student leadership training programmes. The main purpose is to discover what constitutes effective training for student leaders. This study is designed to provide educators with examples of what effective training could involve. It is a multiple-case study of three different New Zealand secondary schools. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, an observation and a survey. The study uses a distributed leadership framework and thematic analysis of data.

This study reveals some aspects of effective student leadership training and, based on findings, includes recommendations for components of future training programmes. The analysis highlights the importance of creating a school environment that supports student leadership. The findings also reveal the value of designing leadership training programmes that adhere to principles of experiential learning.
Interior Architecture as Mediator of Experiential Influence: Establishing a Social Belonging for Disenfranchised Youths
Authors:   , Thomas John R
Published: November 2021

Over the last few centuries, studies have examined the fundamental relationships between architectural form and its effect on human emotion. Interested in the interplay between architecture and human emotion, this thesis explores how interior architecture can be designed to positively influence human behaviour. Sacred architectural typologies such as churches and memorials use scale, light and shadow, reverberation, materiality, et cetera to engage the occupant with an experiential response appropriate to the sacred objectives of the environment. The intent of this thesis is to challenge how such experiential influences can be applied within non-sacred typologies. This research proposes that boarding schools, prisons, and low-cost housing projects are architectural typologies that could potentially provide significant benefits to inhabitants, if interior architecture is constructively engaged as a mediator of influence. More specifically, this thesis challenges how interior architecture may be utilised to enhance the sense of self-esteem, integration, and social belonging of disenfranchised adolescent groups. In addition this thesis aims to revitalise an abandoned 'disenfranchised' school, providing the principal vehicle for the design component of this study. Overall the research suggests providing multiple opportunities for socialised engagement whereby interior architecture, through spatial relationships, contributes to the solution in establishing a sense of self-esteem, integration and social belonging.
A Model of Midwifery Care as an Integral Component of a Multidisciplnary Primary Health Care Service
Authors:   , Connor Siobhan Mary
Published: November 2021

This research describes the model of midwifery care embedded in Newtown Union Health Service (NUHS). This model of care is different from the way most midwifery services in New Zealand are organised. The main New Zealand midwifery services are provided by self-employed midwives and hospital midwives. NUHS was set up to provide accessible health services to a low income population. Pivotal to the service is the employment of a multidisciplinary team which aims to meet most of the health needs of its registered population. As the NUHS midwifery service was set within the larger organisation the case study research method was chosen as it is a method which stresses the importance of understanding the context of a case. It permits the use of several sets of data to capture the complexity of a case. Data collection included interviews with five midwives and seven multidisciplinary team members including managers working at NUHS. An unsuccessful attempt was made to gain access to and interview pregnant women who had used this service. Other data came from several documents about the Newtown community and the service. Data analysis revealed that the NUHS model of midwifery care was made up of five interrelated and interacting components: the community, NUHS, the midwives as integral to the multidisciplinary team, the midwives and the women in the care of the midwives. A discussion of the model includes what was extrapolated as three distinctive features of the model: their philosophy, the union influence and the midwives in the multi disciplinary team. The NUHS model of midwifery care is then related to other national and international models where its distinctiveness is supported.
Transcendent Site: The Resurrection of Denniston
Authors:   , Wilson Roger
Published: November 2021

This thesis is a design-led investigation into how the proposed ‘Escarpment Mine Project’ could commemorate the history of the Denniston Plateau while at the same time, moving into the 21st century. The isolated ghost town, Denniston, is used as a means for building upon historic innovation, creating new opportunities for architecture. The resurrected township is based upon three design themes: resisting Dystopia, a call for eccentric creation, and repurposing the past. Each theme emerged as a response to macro and micro site analysis. The project investigates the fate of our cities in the future, and questions the role of architectural design in this setting. Inspired by Ecotopias, the new township is completely self-sufficient, and sustainable economic opportunities are created in anticipation of the inevitable decline of the ‘Escarpment Mine’. The project pushes the boundaries, constraints and perceptions of architectural fantasy. The resurrected township goes beyond accepted building norms, establishing itself as a township rich in identity and imaginative spirit.  The proposal repurposes the past to create an evolutionary architecture specific to Denniston. The new township adds another layer of history to the currently stalled site condition. The development enables future generations to experience the history of site through its architectural evolution. The Denniston township is a positive contribution to the West Coast. The new township mediates with the past towards future ideals, manifesting itself in imaginative, unconventional architecture
An Organisational and Task Analysis to Inform Police Physical Education and Defensive Tactics Training
Authors:   , Simpson Bradley K
Published: November 2021

"For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill”. Sun Tzu.

In the preparation for front-line policing, the teaching of Physical Education and Defensive Tactics (PE and DT) should integrate a number of tactics and techniques, and focus on operationally relevant scenario training. This study used a mixed-method approach (comprising of interviews, observations, focus groups, and a questionnaire), and involved 350 police officers and staff in New Zealand. It sought to identify the critical PE and DT related tasks front-line officers complete, to allow for an evidence based approach to informing the design and development of the training curriculum. The study identified two major topics that it was commonly considered should be part of the PE and DT curriculum: (1) empty-hand techniques and appointments (equipment); and (2) ceremonial (military drill), physical conditioning, and crowd control training. A number of underpinning principles also emerged as being important: the need for self-awareness, confidence, contributing to team effectiveness, and expecting the unexpected. Officers identified situations involving non-compliant and violent people to be the most critical to be trained for, with a focus on easily transferred and effective restraint and self-defence techniques and tactics. Tasks that were judged easy to learn (such as pepper spraying dogs) were deemed to be the least critical tasks to include in the curriculum. Analysis of data related to difficulty, importance, and frequency responses by various officer demographics, showed that those policing in the most rural locations reported using force and communications on non-compliant people less often than other officers.
Medium Access Control Optimization For Structural Health Monitoring Using Wireless Sensor Network
Authors:   , Singh Saurabh
Published: November 2021

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are designed for sensing phenomena and acquiring data. In structural health monitoring (SHM) of engineering structures, increasingly large number of sensor nodes are deployed to acquire data at the spatial density, needed for structural integrity assessment.  During catastrophic events like earthquake there is a surge in simultaneous production and transmission of data to a central server at remote location. The increased contention for the wireless channel increases the probability of packet collisions resulting in packet drops, multiple transmission attempts and consequent delays. It is also not uncommon to find certain nodes (e.g. closer to sink) having better success rate in transmission of data and thereby leading to biased data delivery. Many solutions to the problem exist and clustering is the most commonly used method among then, wherein sensor nodes are grouped together. While the existing clustering algorithms do solve the network contention problems, the problem of cluster bias induced due to the proximity to sink node still remains to be addressed. Moreover all the existing solutions are very much node centric.  This thesis presents a new perspective on cluster based WSNs designed to tackle Medium Access Control (MAC) layer congestion associated with burst packet generation in an unbiased manner, thereby making it more efficient for applications like SHM. In addition to solving the network bias problem, the proposed design also ensures faster transmission times, increased throughput and energy efficiency.
News Media and Scandal: Balancing News Media's Socio-Political and Commercial Roles - A Case Study on the 2012 Libor Scandal
Authors:   , Brasch Jennifer
Published: November 2021

Despite the potential for conflict between news media’s idealised socio-political role and its practical commercial role, a qualitative content analysis of the coverage of the 2012 Libor scandal in four newspapers, The Times (London), The Financial Times, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, revealed that these aspects of news media are in fact complementary. Although it is often argued that the commercial function of news media is prioritised over its social and political roles, the commercial aspects of the coverage of the Libor scandal did not overwhelm or significantly compromise the political watchdog role of the media. In fact, the unexpectedly large divide in coverage between the UK newspapers and the US newspapers signifies that the divide between domestic and foreign news is significantly more important than the divide between news media’s idealised socio-political role and its commercial aspects. The unexpected similarities between specialist and mainstream publications significantly contributed to this divide between domestic and foreign news. This suggests that scandals represent a unique case in which dramatic mass interest imperatives combine with critical public interest imperatives.  The results of the analysis suggest that an equal fulfilment of both watchdog and newsworthiness imperatives – demonstrated by the UK press – can offer a comprehensive investigation of, and increase public concern for, issues within an international scandal. A strong emphasis on news values and construction of a personalised narrative by these newspapers enabled the scandal to attract and maintain audience attention. Their coverage also featured a strong emphasis on the morality of the scandal and used official political sources in order to inform the public of something they needed to know.  In contrast, a lack of fulfilment of both watchdog and newsworthiness imperatives – demonstrated by the US press – can result in a weakening of public attention and debate about foreign issues that directly affect domestic political and economic policy. The US coverage failed to emphasise news values or construct a personalised narrative, which stripped the scandal of resonance. It failed to aggressively question the individuals involved and demand official investigations, failed to emphasise the substantive social impact, and used a limited range of sources. This resulted in the US press failing to construct a scandal frame.
Clark v Macourt: Proper compensation or a one million dollar windfall?
Authors:   , Pashorina-Nichols Viktoriya
Published: November 2021

Pacta sunt servanda is a fundamental legal principle, which states that agreements must be kept. Thus, various wrongs, including breaches of contracts, entitle one to the most common remedy at common law: an award of damages. The basic principles that govern the assessment of contract damages are taught to students in every Law School. However, the application of those principles is not always easy because careful attention has to be paid to the individual circumstances of each case.  The conclusion that the courts must strive to achieve is compensation of claimants for the actual loss sustained, in order to place them in the same position they would have been in if the contract had been performed. This paper argues that in a recent decision of the High Court of Australia in Clark v Macourt, the claimant was put in a position superior to that she would have been in if the contract had been performed. It summarises and questions the various parts of the decision to show that the million-dollar award over compensated the claimant.
Forecasting with Macro-Finance Models: Applications to United States and New Zealand
Authors:   , Lewis Michelle
Published: November 2021

In this thesis, I use macro-finance models to explore the inter-relationships between the macroeconomy and the yield curve in a forecasting setting. Using the arbitrage-free Nelson-Siegel approach to model the yield curve combined with Vector Autoregression (VAR), I jointly model macroeconomic variables and the yield curve factors to produce forecasts of inflation, activity, and interest rates. In line with earlier literature I compare whether the macro-finance model is able to better capture the dynamics of the macro variables and the yield curve factors compared with a macro-only model and a yields-only model respectively. However, a key difference is I use a full real-time forecasting setting, whereas the recent literature focuses on quasi real-time forecasting.  I find there is benefit from using macro-finance models for forecasting macroeconomic variables in real-time but the gain is more significant at longer-term horizons. Indeed, the macro-finance models do not outperform traditional macroeconomic models for forecasting activity at short-term horizons. The forecasting gain is more robust for inflation and the policy rate. The theoretically motivated restrictions on the yield curve dynamics improve the forecast performance of yield curve components and generally macroeconomic variables. Using a quasi real-time environment to assess the forecast performance can overstate the usefulness of macro-finance models and understate the usefulness of placing restrictions on the yield curve dynamics.
The reactionary and the radical: A comparative analysis of mass conservative mobilisation in Australia and New Zealand during the Great Depression
Authors:   , Cunningham Matthew
Published: November 2021

The Great Depression witnessed an unparalleled explosion of mass conservative mobilisation across Australia and New Zealand. Large populist movements sprang into being virtually overnight and amassed a collective membership numbering in the hundreds of thousands. At the height of their influence they posed a direct challenge to the electoral base of mainstream conservative parties. They soon faded away from the political scene and, indeed, from the collective memory of Australian and New Zealand society.  This thesis is concerned with four of these movements: the Citizens’ League of South Australia, the Australian Citizens’ League of Victoria, the All for Australia League of New South Wales, and the New Zealand Legion. The former three arose in Australia in 1931, whilst the latter appeared in New Zealand in 1933. These movements combined a populist and idealist rhetorical and organisational style with standard conservative social and economic ideas. They simultaneously sought new and radical alternatives to party politics and class conflict whilst expressing nostalgia for an illusory nineteenth century colonial society epitomised by classlessness, limited government, independent politicians, and the self-sufficient pioneer. This thesis suggests that, in order to truly understand these movements, this inherent contradiction between looking forwards and backwards for political inspiration must be embraced rather than ironed out in favour of narrative consistency. It argues that the citizens’ movements were a contradictory blend of the reactionary and the radical, and that their history, from their origins to their rapid demise, can be best interpreted through the lens of this thematic contradiction.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: New Zealand’s Latest Attempt at Prostitution Reform
Authors:   , Talbot Emma
Published: November 2021

The Prostitution Reform Act 2003 decriminalised all aspects of commercial sex work. It was believed this would reduce the presence of prostitutes on the streets and the associated harms, in particular neighbourhood nuisance, increased violence and greater presence of underage persons engaging in prostitution. However, street-based prostitution and harm reduction has not occurred. This has prompted attempts to confine the parameters of the decriminalised prostitution regime: The Manukau City Council (Control of Street Prostitution) Bill, which was ultimately unsuccessful and led to The Manukau City Council (Regulation of Prostitution in Specified Places) Bill, and the recent Prostitution Reform (Control of Street-based Prostitutes and Their Clients) Amendment Bill. This paper considers how these attempts have proposed to achieve amelioration of the harms around street-based prostitution. This paper argues legislation will only further frustrate the issues because criminalisation, both in the manner proposed by these attempts, and more generally, is inappropriate for addressing issues of street-based prostitution. This paper recommends targeted social initiatives should be implemented as the best model for addressing the harms of street-based prostitution.
Balancing the right to privacy and freedom of expression: Re-evaluating Hosking v Runting in the light of recent developments in English privacy law
Authors:   , Ward Abby
Published: November 2021

This paper examines the potential impact of recent English privacy jurisprudence on the New Zealand tort of privacy. The paper contrasts the New Zealand Court of Appeal’s aversion towards an over-expansive privacy right expressed in Hosking v Runting with an increasing readiness to override freedom of expression in favour of privacy interests in the United Kingdom. Three central conflicts in the courts’ reasoning are addressed in detail, namely privacy’s relationship with public places, individuals with public profiles and mediums of publication. While developments in English privacy law highlight reasoning flaws and theoretical shortcomings in Hosking, the increasing influence European jurisprudence on English law may nevertheless justify some divergence in the two jurisdictions’ balancing of privacy and freedom of expression.
Constituent power, citizenship, and the European Union
Authors:   , Gallagher James
Published: November 2021

The European Union (EU) has undergone constant political and economic integration since its inception in 1952. It has developed from a community in the aftermath of World War Two, into a Union of diverse states with its own political and legal system. It is the best example of international integration and co-operation in the world.  A number of treaties represent the primary law of the EU. The treaties represent the EU’s commitment to promote human rights, freedom, democracy, equality, and the rule of law. The Treaty of Lisbon¹ was introduced and adopted by the Member States to increase participatory democracy within the EU. Originally called the Reform Treaty, it amended the existing EU and EC treaties, providing the EU with the legal framework to meet the future challenges and to respond to the increasing demands of the citizens’ for a more transparent and open institution.  The European Parliament is the only directly elected institution of the EU, and traditionally had the least amount of power of the EU institutions. The Lisbon Treaty attempted to address the so-called democratic deficit through a range of institutional reforms that recognised the importance of European citizen involvement in the EU. Citizen involvement in the EU has also been increased through the implementation of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). The ECI represents a further step towards the EU becoming a true participatory democracy.  This purpose of this paper is to critically assess the democratic involvement of European citizens in the operation of the EU, and how the constitutional foundation of the EU provides for this involvement. The paper will seek to answer to what extent European Citizens’ have the ability to affect real and meaningful change upon the EU, a power that currently sits with the governments of Member States.  Democracy is often associated with the power of the citizens to affect change in the institutions that govern them. The theory of constituent power goes one step further and argues that it gives citizens the ability to alter not only the governing institutions, but the also the power that those institutions exercise. This begins with an introduction of the main institutions of the EU, before moving to discuss the theory of constituent power, before assessing what factors would be necessary for constitutent power to be successful in the EU.  ¹ Official Journal of the European Union 2007 No C 306/1 (herein after referred to as the Treaty of Lisbon). Adopted 2008, entered into force 1 December 2009.
FLOSS in New Zealand Public Libraries
Authors:   , Noonan Hamish
Published: November 2021

This study attempts to gain an understanding of the uses and potential uses of FLOSS (free/libre and open source software) in New Zealand public libraries; including how FLOSS is currently being used by New Zealand public libraries, problems encountered with FLOSS, benefits received from using FLOSS, and how libraries came to the decision to use FLOSS.  It uses an instrumental case study approach and interviews eight participants from four institutions; Te Horowhenua Trust, Auckland Libraries, Aotearoa People's Network Kaharoa and South Taranaki LibraryPlus.  The research found that participants were very happy with their FLOSS usage, and that it was important for governing bodies and IT departments to be supportive of experimentation and innovation. Benefits of FLOSS included lack of vendor lock-in, lower cost, flexibility, ability to influence the development of the software, the philosophies and ethos of FLOSS, better features, stability, community support and the ability to give patrons software to use outside the library.  Information sharing between libraries and engagement with FLOSS communities were important factors in successful use. Further research could study how software procurement decisions are made in New Zealand libraries, and whether FLOSS is being overlooked due to preconceptions or uneven decision-making processes.
Coming up trumps: A student music therapist supports young people with high or very high complex special needs to develop the key competencies
Authors:   , Hall Sarah
Published: November 2021

This exploratory study aimed to discover and highlight the techniques and strategies that supported young people with high or very high complex special needs to develop the key competencies during music therapy sessions at a special school. Music therapy was carried out on an individual basis in a naturalistic manner and clinical notes were produced to record details that seemed important in each session. This data was then reviewed retrospectively in a process known as secondary analysis, employing both deductive and inductive modalities to search for and draw out links to the key competencies. A process of coding data within each key competency category revealed emerging themes and found that a number of musical, verbal and/or physical techniques and strategies supported the five key competencies during therapy. The categories, themes and codes have been defined and described with examples from the data, and a clinical vignette is included for further explanation. The data demonstrated the holistic nature of music therapy in that many techniques and strategies worked to support all five key competencies, even when the focus was a single competency. The findings are discussed with reference to, and in light of, current literature and suggested that the techniques and strategies used within my music therapy practice strongly relate to the key competencies and provide a unique context for their development. It is noted that the findings cannot be generalised to other settings and populations. However, this in-depth study may provide insight into the potential educational benefits and links between music therapy practice and the key competencies for those working with young people who have high or very high complex special needs.
Transitional House: mediating between the temporary and the permanent
Authors:   , Borren Kelsi
Published: November 2021

The position of architecture in humanitarian relief is limited if it does not adequately meet the needs of people in an appropriate timeframe. Traditionally in the aftermath of a disaster, displaced people are immediately sheltered in community centres or tents, remaining in this state of uncertainty for extended periods of time. Three years after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, over 300,000 people were still living in displacement camps, most of which had no on-site access to water. As the disaster-stricken region sits in a state of disrepair, prefabricated temporary houses emerge months later and continue to be in use for years. Three years on from the 2011 East Japan earthquake and tsunami, over 90,000 people were still living in temporary accommodation. This state of hiatus is typically detrimental to the length of the recovery process – when temporary housing exists for too long, the longevity of the reformation of the city increases. Taking this system failure as a provocation, this research discusses the role of architecture in the immediate reformation of a city. It proposes a transitional house, constructed on site within 24 hours, which can be adapted into a permanent condition within 12 months, as an answer to reforming housing in post-disaster situations. It questions how a change from the traditional response to transitional disaster relief housing can become a feasible option in the aftermath of a disaster, and how such housing can become adaptable for the individual. These ideas are explored through design as research: the problem analysed and revealed through design. The first section reveals the design problem through a literature review, identifying the previous attempts and failures of disaster relief housing. The second section speculates responses for post disaster housing, exploring solutions to the ideas identified in section one. The third section tests the design outcome, refining the design ideas and positioning them within architectural discourse. This thesis explores a departure from conventional New Zealand housing, and the facilitation of a new typology in disaster relief housing.
Speaking of Mysteries: Atonement in Teenage Fantasy Books
Authors:   , van Gend Anne
Published: November 2021

The question of how we can speak of a transcendent God and God’s relationship with creation has been pondered for millennia. Today particular difficulties arise when communicating Christian atonement theories to a generation for whom the world of the Bible is increasingly foreign, and in a time when theologians and philosophers are questioning both the violence of some atonement theories and the existence of “superior transcendence.” This study explores the presence of biblical motifs in the stories of atonement in young adult fantasy works. It suggests that the use of these motifs to make sense of atonement within fantasy worlds may assist readers to make sense of the same motifs when they are used to portray the Christian story of atonement.  The investigation begins by discussing the place of imagination, reason and transcendence in religious language and argues for the centrality of metaphor and myth in religious expression. It suggests that young people today still seek intermediaries—“priests and prophets”—between themselves and the unknown, but they now find them in the fantasy authors who continue to use imaginative language to communicate transcendence.  A central trope in contemporary fantasy fiction is that of a death that saves the world. Contrary to the expectations raised by René Girard’s work, these are not the violent deaths of a helpless scapegoat. The biblical mythologems incorporated in these works allow the authors to explore instead ideas of divine and human self-giving. This is demonstrated by tracing how mythological understandings of blood, victory and covenant in the Bible are incorporated into the atonement process of three fantasy series: the Old Kingdom Chronicles by Garth Nix (1995-2003), the Mortal Instruments trilogy by Cassandra Clare (2007-2009), and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (1997-2007).  The thesis proposes that the presence of biblical mythologems in contemporary fantasy stories of atonement means that a better understanding of their use in each domain can both enrich our appreciation of this kind of literature and provide teenagers with an imaginative language with which to consider aspects of Christian atonement. The prevalence of atonement ideas within recent fantasy books suggests that, by attending to the mythologems of atonement drawn from the Bible, the church might both rediscover the imaginative power of her own story and convey it meaningfully to young readers of fantasy literature today.
The Value of Truth
Authors:   , Holden Josef
Published: November 2021

People often want truth, and it often seems worth wanting. This has led many to claim that truth is valuable (VT). This essay argues that there are good reasons to reject VT.  After dealing with preliminary issues, Chapter 1 discusses the instrumental value of truth. I argue that, though some instrumentally valuable beliefs are true, there is little reason to think that these beliefs are valuable because they are true. Chapter 2 and 3 are concerned with the claim that truth is intrinsically valuable (CVT). Chapter 2 examines a serious difficult facing CVT. This is the problem of trivial truths. Though this problem is often discussed, its power is rarely appreciated. I argue that the two most prominent responses to the problem fail. Chapter 3 poses a different question: Do people in fact consider truth to be valuable? A few notable exceptions aside, it is generally accepted that they do. Further, a number of arguments for CVT rest on this assumption. I argue it is very doubtful that people value truth intrinsically. If this is correct, the arguments for CVT that rest on this claim collapse.
‘Making Ownership Real’: An analysis of ‘ownership’ in technical assistance projects in the Solomon Islands
Authors:   , Bax Debbie
Published: November 2021

Recipient country ownership has been seen by many aid experts, to be an important way to improve the effectiveness of aid delivery. Technical assistance projects consume 25% of worldwide ODA,¹ and have been criticised by many aid experts for being ineffective.  The Solomon Islands Government (SIG) has received a large amount of technical assistance over the last ten years and therefore makes it a useful government to use as a case study to answer the main question of this thesis: Is the transfer of ownership in technical assistance projects shifting from the donor to the SIG?  The research has found that the SIG has more ownership of their technical assistance projects at the management level than at the operational level. The main constraints to SIG having more ownership at the management level were in the areas of technical advisor (TA) recruitment and performance management processes, and some areas of aid funding.  At the operational level of technical assistance projects, the amount of SIG ownership was significantly less. Many of the restraints in the transfer of ownership to the SIG counterparts were at the individual TA level, and were largely related to poor working relationships between individual TAs and counterparts caused by shortcomings in TAs’ capacity building and people management skills and TAs’ lack of knowledge of the SIG working style and environment.  More ownership needs to be transferred at the operational level for the SIG to have ‘real’ ownership of their technical assistance projects.  ¹ OECD, Perspective Note: Technical Co-operation for Capacity Development, OECD, (2011), pg 4.
How does a student music therapist, working within a multidisciplinary team, address the physical, communication and cognitive needs of two patients who have experienced a left hemisphere mid-cerebral artery (MCA) stroke? An exploratory case study
Authors:   , Robinson Andrea
Published: November 2021

This case study describes a student music therapist’s experience in a rehabilitation ward working with two patients who had experienced left hemisphere mid cerebral stroke. Each patient’s individual music therapy sessions were documented during their stay in the rehabilitation unit and for a further two months in the community. A variety of music therapy methods were used which specifically targeted patients’ needs and capabilities. The research focused on methods used to support patients’ physical, communication and cognitive rehabilitation, because these are paramount in patients regaining their independence. The case study involved secondary analysis of data collected over a four month period.  Key findings suggest that music therapy, may have helped these patients with their speech retrieval. Improved gross and fine motor control was demonstrated in one patient using percussion instrument playing and keyboard mastery as the music therapy methods. Breathing exercises enabled phonation in a man who was non-verbal. Other findings suggest that singing familiar songs, listening to self-selected music and moving to music may have aided cognitive recovery in all of these areas. Although the psychosocial areas were not included in the study, both men looked forward to music therapy sessions and demonstrated improved mood when engaged in music therapy. Music therapy seemed to alieviate frustration and anxiety in the rehabilitation setting for one of the men. Further, family involvement in music therapy was positive for both men. This research suggests that music therapy could have contributed positively to the mens’ rehabilitation and further research focussing on the pyschosocial aspects of music therapy in this setting is recommended.
Genre games: Edward Gorey's play with generic form
Authors:   , Lackner Eden Lee
Published: November 2021

This thesis examines Edward Gorey's play with form and content across five literary genres, how that play results in the style that has come to be known as the "Goreyesque" and how the Goreyesque has influenced later artists and writers. Gorey consistently places style ahead of thematic and moral considerations, removing the purpose of each genre to reveal what remains in its absence. In doing so, Gorey maps out the boundaries of each form, providing genre- and period-specific details that act as signposts to how his audience should approach each narrative. With these markers in place, Gorey's readers are thus made aware of which genre expectations rule each piece. These expectations, however, are undermined as Gorey removes the audience-understood literary endgame, so that the work appears in all respects to be an accurate representation of the chosen genre, yet is missing the central heart.  Gorey's melodramas present scenarios in which deep familial loss and suffering are at the forefront of each narrative, yet as a result of the distance that Gorey places between the text and his readers, these works ultimately lack sentimentality. His Dickensian narratives, while populated with virtuous orphans and embittered, isolated men, lack moral pronouncements and just rewards, resulting in exceptionally bleak, nihilistic endings that provide little or no social commentary. His children's literature, although full of mnemonic systems, rejects all pedagogical functions in favour of inviting in adult audiences to luxuriate in sound and linguistic form. His mystery and detective fiction, while containing secrets, crimes and criminals, ignores any pretence of decoding the central mysteries. His Gothic horror revels in supernatural excesses, yet engenders no fear. By tracing Gorey's play with genre, we can identify the aesthetic parameters of the Goreyesque, and examine how they manifest in the works of other artists and writers, notably Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman and Roman Dirge.  In manipulating genre expectations, Gorey does more than simply leave readers with the shell of narrative purpose. Instead, he draws attention to the absence and pushes beyond expectation to reinvention. He normalizes the strange and fantastic by removing the very things that make the ordinary extraordinary. He infuses his works with a distance that shifts their purpose from generating high emotion and strong reactions to encouraging minute attention to narrative detail. Gorey's fantasies therefore represent odd, underwhelming moments that are otherwise ignored in the search for the uncommon and unique. By underplaying the significance of the events in his stories, Gorey represents and refreshes our concepts of the fantastic, and highlights the strangeness in the overlooked.
Restless Spirit, Resolute Conviction: The Life and Times of Joseph ‘Ivo’ Evison
Authors:   , Clarke Stephen Robert John
Published: November 2021

At first glance, Joseph Evison's life was a confusion of convictions and contradictions, played out in the pages of the many newspapers he edited and wrote for in New Zealand and Australia. A late nineteenth-century Freethinker, he would go on to edit a Catholic newspaper, just as he would readily criticise the British Empire, in spite of serving in its army and navy. Despite his obvious intricacies, historians have not been kind to Evison, reducing him to a mere one line curiosity, implying that he shifted causes to follow the money or because he was a simple contrarian at heart. However, Evison's unsettled nature means a study of his life and ideologies adds to a number of other histories including those of Freethought, Catholicism, conservatism, colonial settlers, empire, transmission of ideas, reader culture and biographical studies. This thesis therefore attempts to chronicle Evison's life, before arguing that his changing causes was down to deep-seated secularist and libertarian convictions, which left him always fighting for what he perceived as the underdog, against both the state and the Protestant majority. To do so, it not only studies his writing, which remains vibrant and engaging even today, but also his editing style at various newspapers and his speeches during a short-lived political career.
Bayesian estimation of a phenotype network structure using reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo
Authors:   , Woods Lisa
Published: November 2021

In this thesis we aim to estimate the unknown phenotype network structure existing among multiple interacting quantitative traits, assuming the genetic architecture is known.  We begin by taking a frequentist approach and implement a score-based greedy hill-climbing search strategy using AICc to estimate an unknown phenotype network structure. This approach was inconsistent and overfitting was common, so we then propose a Bayesian approach that extends on the reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. Our approach makes use of maximum likelihood estimates in the chain, so we have an efficient sampler using well-tuned proposal distributions. The common approach is to assume uniform priors over all network structures; however, we introduce a prior on the number of edges in the phenotype network structure, which prefers simple models with fewer directed edges. We determine that the relationship between the prior penalty and the joint posterior probability of the true model is not monotonic, there is some interplay between the two.  Simulation studies were carried out and our approach is also applied to a published data set. It is determined that larger trait-to-trait effects are required to recover the phenotype network structure; however, mixing is generally slow, a common occurrence with reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. We propose the use of a double step to combine two steps that alter the phenotype network structure. This proposes larger steps than the traditional birth and death move types, possibly changing the dimension of the model by more than one. This double step helped the sampler move between different phenotype network structures in simulated data sets.
Perspectives of learning during the transition from secondary school to university: A comparative study of first generation university students in Chile and New Zealand
Authors:   , Garcia Quiroga Antonio
Published: November 2021

While tertiary education has grown rapidly in most countries in recent years, retention rates and educational success of many first generation students is still below that of their counterparts from tertiary-educated family backgrounds. This presents a significant challenge to universities seeking to better understand and support such students. This comparative study explores the perspectives of learning along educational transitions between school and university that were experienced by two groups of first generation university students in Chile and New Zealand. The research draws on the narratives of 24 working class university students enrolled in teacher education programmes and studying to become teachers. Unlike some previous studies of first generation students that take a deficit approach to the educational under-achievement of working class students, this research assumes that the barriers these students face are primarily located within institutional structures and that the distinctive perspectives of first generation university students make a positive contribution to institutional development.  A photo-elicitation methodological approach was undertaken whereby the participants were asked to collect images that represented their school and university experiences. These images were then assembled onto a storyboard. Group and individual interviews were also conducted.  Through a dialogical approach derived from Bakhtin, the thesis examines the cultural, social and emotional tensions and accomplishments they encountered in the course of their educational journeys through school and university. Employing Bourdieu’s notion of habitus, and Quinn’s notion of imagined social capital, this study found that for New Zealand students, imagined social capital was largely located in institutional contexts, while in Chile these were more closely associated with social groups and peers. The findings show that New Zealand has a more flexible and supportive system of school to university transitions than Chile. In both countries, however, students placed considerable value on experiences that allowed them to connect their own social background with what they learned at university.
Towards A Dadaist interior
Authors:   , Katic Matej
Published: November 2021

Modern interior design has reached a plateau. Due to the anaesthesia brought about by mass information sharing and the dominance of the image, very little innovation has occurred, stylistically as many designers simply seek to regurgitate each other’s designs instead of treading new ground. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the modern day office; as a program that is deliberately aimed towards productivity and profit, office design has been streamlined to achieve these ends often leading to unpleasant working environments. The study of the Dada movement and one of its key practitioners, Marcel Duchamp, led to a question regarding the possible architectural implications that his work and his subversive manner of working has to offer and if it have any relevance in contemporary practice.  This thesis proposes an alternative to the modern office interior through a detailed investigation into the theory and practices of Marcel Duchamp. It aims to further examine the architectural implications of his work through in depth analysis of his methods using assemblage, as well as his theoretical investigations in perspective and representation. Through these investigations I hope to develop a new design language that simultaneously critiques the modern office interior as well as furthering the research already done into the Dada movement and Architecture.