bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Keeping the tradition alive: An analysis of contemporary Jain religious education for children in India and North America
Authors:   , Bothra Shivani 
Published: December 2021

<p>How do Jains, adherents of one of the oldest minority religions in India, maintain their identity and protect their way of life when surrounded by non-Jain religions? Even more striking, how do Jains in the United States, where they constitute a minority within the Indian minority, maintain their traditions amidst a multi-cultural American society? Seeking upward mobility, Jains in post-independence India, have migrated locally, regionally, and internationally and these migrations have disrupted their social, religious, and cultural practices. My thesis looks at the ways in which Jains have addressed these disruptions. I analyse how they have restructured their traditional religious education, transforming it in a variety of ways, producing a range of contemporary Jain religious schools for children, both in India and the United States. I argue that these new religious schools serve an important function in maintaining ancient Jain traditions, but have, at the same time, initiated significant structural as well as curricular changes that have transformed some of those traditions: widening the gap between Jain children and Jain mendicants, and reallocating authority within the Jain community by enabling laywomen to shape the curriculum and to teach in part-time religious schools, to name a few. The thesis pays attention to these changes, the reasons for the changes, and their consequences. Using in-depth curriculum analysis and formal interviews, I examine contemporary Jain religious schools for children in the image-worshipping Digambar tradition and the non-image worshipping Shvetambar Terapanth tradition in India, and in mixed traditions in the United States. These Jain schools are growing exponentially in number and popularity within India and America, but have largely remained unexamined. This study aims to fill an important gap by closely analysing the rituals, leadership, and curricula of these new religious schools and their role in shaping modern Jain traditions.</p>
SpaceSheets: Design Experimentation in Latent Space
Authors:   , Loh Bryan 
Published: December 2021

<p>Computational design tools enable designers to construct and manipulate representations of design artifacts to arrive at a solution. However, the constraints of deterministic programming impose a high cost of tedium and inflexibility to exploring design alternatives through these models. They require designers to express high-level design intent through sequences of low-level operations. Generative neural networks are able to construct generalised models of images which capture principles implicit within them. The latent spaces of these models can be sampled to create novel images and to perform semantic operations. This presents the opportunity for more meaningful and efficient design experimentation, where designers are able to express design intent through principles inferred by the model, instead of sequences of low-level operations. A general purpose software prototype has been devised and evaluated to investigate the affordances of such a tool. This software — termed a SpaceSheet — takes the form of a spreadsheet interface and enables users to explore a latent space of fonts. User testing and observation of task-based evaluations revealed that the tool enabled a novel top-down approach to design experimentation. This mode of working required a new set of skills for users to derive meaning and navigate within the model effectively. Despite this, a rudimentary understanding was observed to be sufficient to enable designers and non-designers alike to explore design possibilities more effectively.</p>
Listening to Yourself Listening: The Metaperceptual Approach to Sound Art
Authors:   , Johnston Blake 
Published: December 2021

<p>This thesis presents a framework for the creation and analysis of metaperceptual sound artworks. Metaperceptual is a term coined herein to describe a range of works that use the perception of the audience as their artistic materials. They provoke their audiences to direct their attention back upon themselves, inviting audiences to observe the nature of their perception and the subjectivity of their experience. A core focus of many contemporary works is the experience of the audience. These works act as ‘experience shapers’, guiding the audience through their materials and creating environments in which the audience can explore on their own terms. Metaperceptual works share this focus by drawing the audience’s attention back upon themselves, provoking them to attend to the subjectivity of their own experience. These works reveal facets of our perception that constantly mediate our experience, yet often go overlooked and unexplored. The framework presents a systematic ordering of different approaches to creating metaperceptual works. Three main categories of works are identified: Deprivation, Perceptual Translation, and Perceptual Hacking. Deprivation works involve the removal, reduction, or denial of the audience’s perceptual field. They intervene in the audience’s everyday modes of interaction by silencing the din of the world, revealing the facets of experience that often go unnoticed or are masked from our awareness. Perceptual Translation works directly interface with the audience’s perceptual apparatus by shifting, extending, and rearranging its orientation and organisation. These works offer the allure of experiencing what it is like to be someone or something else. By allowing us to experience the world through an altered lens, these works give us a new perspective on ourselves and the ways in which our perceptual apparatus mediates our experience. Lastly, Perceptual Hacking works involves a rich variety of perceptual oddities and artefacts. These works creatively misuse facets of the audience’s perceptual apparatus and perceptual processes, and, in doing so, reveal that our perception is not a neutral objective lens through which to perceive the world. Metaperceptual works employ a diversity of materials and techniques, and traverse a variety of media and styles. While these themes have most extensively been explored in the visual arts, their potential for sonic exploration is a key concern subject of this research. The framework maps the artistic terrain of metaperceptual approaches, and speculates on the potential for new metaperceptual works. To this end, a portfolio of new metaperceptual sound artworks is presented. These works test the metaperceptual framework, enacting the artistic avenues identified during its development. The works span a range of the approaches identified in the metaperceptual framework, and are manifestations of the framework as a creative tool.</p>
Evaluating the sensitivity of the LUCI model to GIS datasets to enable robust farm management decisions in New Zealand
Authors:   , Taylor Alicia I. 
Published: December 2021

<p>Degradation of water quality is a major issue in New Zealand, to which the loss of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment from agriculture into waterways contributes significantly. To predict and manage diffuse pollution from intensive agriculture it is vital that models are able to spatially map the sources, flows and sinks of nutrients in the landscape and spatially target mitigations. This study investigates the application of one such model, the Land Utilisation Capability Indicator (LUCI). Used in conjunction with OVERSEER, LUCI is a powerful tool to support farm scale land management decision-making. LUCI includes soil, topography and landcover datasets in its analysis. This thesis examines how the quality and resolution of each dataset affects LUCI’s output. Six different case studies are examined, across a range of New Zealand farming systems. This is the most comprehensive study, to date, of LUCI’s sensitivity to input datasets. The results suggest that LUCI nutrient loading estimates are primarily sensitive to soil order, and therefore to changes in order classifications. Utilising different soil datasets in the LUCI model resulted in varying nutrient load predictions. This sensitivity is primarily attributed to the differing hydraulic and phosphorus retention capabilities of the respective soil orders. To test the sensitivity of LUCI to digital elevation model (DEM) resolution, multiple DEMs with varying spatial and vertical resolution were tested. These results strongly indicate that particularly fine resolution DEMs are required to accurately model flat landscapes. It was recognised that LUCI was not using all of the relevant data available in Landcare Research’s S-Map database. LUCI was modified to use more of this information, and alternative methods of incorporating sibling level data in both LUCI and OVERSEER were investigated. Finally, avenues for future development are suggested. Overall, this thesis highlights the potential LUCI has to play a key role in farm scale environmental management.</p>
Progenitor: An exploration of indigenous values and waterway management through immersive digital landscapes
Authors:   , Tariau Dylan 
Published: December 2021

<p>Over the last One hundred years water quality of New Zealand harbours and waterways have diminished due to the unconcern of infrastructural development and poor public waterway and harbour awareness. By exploring the conventional methods traditionally involved with kaitiakitanga and how to digitally map and represent these values through virtual representation, simulation and management, the ultimate aim of this thesis is to establish a kaitiaki approach to restoring a maori holistic world view perspective and the mana tupuna of the indigenous peoples of Porirua. During the past decade, the Maori indigenous peoples of New Zealand have had land returned from the crown in light of the post treaty settlement. Due to the deforestation and ecocide of many Tribal lands across New Zealand, Tangata Whenua and Ahi Kaa have culturally detached with their lands, and the need to re-establish the Kaitiaki and mana within those areas is highly prioritized. The argument that unfolds now is ‘How to restore and revitalize sacred landscapes that have been exposed to the demise of natural resources and have lost significance value resulting in the disappearance of mana and whakapapa of many tribal lands?’ Through both a landscape architectural lens and an Indigenous lens the aim of this thesis is to research and employ new and alternative methods of resource management by incorporating new and upcoming design software in correlation to Maori Land holdings and collaboration with iwi. The collateral damage caused by commercial and industrial development has over the past decade has also sabotaged values of Kaitiaki due to the increase of hard surface infrastructure and polluted waterways. Current methods of mapping traditional landscapes are limited when it comes to the ability to encapsulate an environment with cultural values. This research investigates the potential of digital tools and iwi collaboration to enhance the experiential aspect of an environment through an immersive, interactive and open collaborative 3D environment. By leveraging the potential of photogrammetry to represent a 3D scene of certain areas, the potential to test and simulate current land management will be tested through a 3D model. Equipped with live feeds of data such as climate, tree species, this model’s purpose will be to emulate a cultural landscape and reconnect the loss of kaitiaki between Iwi and their Rohe. This tool will be designed to enable user interaction and commentary to simulate realistic scenes of their day to day scenery in order to become more aware of the impacts of kaitiaki and whakapapa. Both Iwi and council have a long-term interest in the design of good landscapes that reflect culturally while enabling methods of traditional kaupapa and kaitiakitanga. My goal is to aid this design process through landscape architecture.</p>
Growth and Structural Properties of Rare Earth Nitride Thin Films
Authors:   , Chan Jay 
Published: December 2021

<p>In this thesis aspects of the growth of rare earth nitride thin films and characterisation of the resulting structural, electronic and magnetic properties of the film are investigated. The rare earth nitrides are a class of materials which combine interesting electronic and magnetic properties with potential applications in novel spintronic device structures. We study the formation of a preferential orientation in polycrystalline thin films of GdN deposited by electron-beam physical vapour deposition. X-ray diffraction is used to characterise the crystalline structure of films of varying thickness to identify a preference to grow along the [111] crystal direction, understood in terms of an evolutionary selection process. Variations in the film microstructure as a result of growth parameter variation are also correlated to electronic and magnetic properties. Investigation of the epitaxial growth of SmN on AlN surfaces revealed a novel growth orientation transition, controllable only via the growth temperature. Epitaxial integration of rare earth nitrides with III-nitride surfaces has previously only resulted in (111)-oriented growth on the (0001) surface as is expected from matching of the close-packed planes in the different crystal structures. High growth temperatures (≥800 ℃) induce (001)-oriented growth of SmN on the same (0001) AlN surface. This unexpected cube-on-hexagon geometry is confirmed through ex situ x-ray and in situ electron diffraction, the latter for which a computational simulation tool was developed to model and understand. The viability of using Sm as a temporary capping layer for rare earth nitride thin film samples is investigated. Capping layers are required to passivate samples due to their high reactivity, limiting the range of ex situ characterisation techniques that can be performed on them. Elemental Sm is relatively volatile raising the possibility of removing a Sm cap in situ using moderate annealing temperatures (400 °C to 600 ℃). The ability to remove the capping layer would allow in situ characterisation techniques to be performed in ultra high vacuum systems not directly connected to the growth system. In situ electron diffraction is used to characterise the growth and thermal annealing of Sm grown on top of epitaxial GdN layers, and the effects of the thermal removal process on the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of the GdN layer are investigated.</p>
Exploring Family Characteristics, Individual Motivations and Social Norms Regarding Women’s Access to Tertiary Education in Laos
Authors:   , Sounthongdeng Kinnaphone 
Published: December 2021

<p>In aiming to graduate from Least Developed Countries status by 2020, and in joining the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, the Government of Laos has been seeking to sustain a high rate of economic growth and to develop a skilled and proficient labour force. As such, economic development has been a focus of the government and developing skilled and proficient labour is important. Education, especially tertiary education, has also been a priority of the Government of Laos. However, the gender gap still exists in every education level with high fees just one barrier for women to get into higher education. Promoting women’s access to tertiary education is important for closing the gender gap and improving women’s livelihoods, as well as contributing to the country’s economic development. The research explores the main barriers to women’s access to tertiary education, concentrating on family characteristics, individual motivations and social norms. Utilising a feminist lens, qualitative research has been undertaken through semi-structured interviews. Thirty interviews were conducted, including women who were current students in tertiary education institutions and women who were not in any tertiary education institution. Information regarding tertiary education policies and implementation of these policies was also gathered from key information interviews and secondary information. The research found that family financial status is the main barrier for women to continue their education in higher education. When the family budget is limited, most parents prioritise the education of males. Furthermore, the perception that women have less opportunity to gain a job than men persists widely – and acts as a disincentive for women to access tertiary education.</p>
Role of headquarter attention disparity on expatriate knowledge sharing between assignments
Authors:   , Wanasinghe Sachinie 
Published: December 2021

<p>In acknowledgement of ongoing challenges in knowledge sharing, continuous research efforts are required to reflect the ever-changing landscape. Current research does not entirely encapsulate recent conceptualisations of multidirectional knowledge flows within the MNC, specifically from a lateral perspective. Accordingly, the role of expatriates reflect the importance of lateral knowledge sharing yet research has not holistically addressed the complex nature of exploiting such knowledge. Extensive examination of the HQ-expatriate relationship and repatriation process highlights the limited recognition for expatriates still within the expatriation cycle (i.e. moving from subsidiary to subsidiary). This thesis seeks to add to the existing literature by exploring a potential new antecedent, headquarter attention disparity. The attention-based view of the firm reflects subsidiary level outcomes of unequal distribution of HQ attention. Extending this to explore the role on expatriate knowledge sharing is novel. The research implements a hermeneutical research design using semi-structured interviews. These sought to discover expatriate conceptualisations of lateral knowledge sharing and the related perceptions of HQ attention disparities between subsidiaries. The study draws on the ability-motivation-opportunity framework within a knowledge sender-receiver context. Expatriates coming from high-HQ attention subsidiaries demonstrate their own understanding of the acquired knowledge, influenced by individual context. These same interpretations guide subsidiary willingness to learn and the nature of knowledge sharing interactions. The results illustrate these opinions of perceived benefits to impact the inclination for knowledge sharing. Where perceptions align, there is reduced uncertainty in the expatriate-subsidiary colleague relationship whereas diverging perceptions weaken the propensity to learn and expatriates’ knowledge sharing risks deterioration. These outcomes are further susceptible to external effects. The first being perceived competence-trust in shared functional identity, the second through affect-trust within subsidiary socialisation efforts.</p>
Towards New Forms of Pianistic Improvisation Across Musical Boundaries
Authors:   , Donlon Mark 
Published: December 2021

<p>This thesis is practice-based. The main element in which the research outcomes are manifested is the portfolio of creative work. There are three CD albums of original music: Southern Shift, Between Moons, and Tales from the Diaspora. There are also three video recordings including a performance of my piece Saraband (for piano trio), along with my performance of two classical piano pieces by Rachmaninoff: Elegie op 3 no. 1 and Etudetableau op. 33 no. 5. There is a written exegesis which serves to inform the reader how the creative work may be understood or apprehended, as well as placing it in relevant context The creative work centres on contemporary piano improvisation and how diverse musical strands can be drawn together in a coherent improvised musical idiom. Models for contemporary improvised music, that constitute key external sources for my musical practice, include the work of pianists Keith Jarrett, Cecil Taylor, Matt Bourne, John Taylor, Misha Mengelberg, Gabriela Montero and Gwilym Simcock. How these pianists’ work relates to my music will be discussed in the exegetical text. Several approaches and techniques, to free improvisation and jazz, will be explored through the creative practice and discussed in the exegesis. The ideas of scholars Nicholas Cook and Ed Sarath play a significant part in the concepts behind the music in this portfolio and in my thinking about improvisation in a wider sense. Cook suggests that improvisation represents a wider and more nuanced set of musical functionalities than is commonly understood by the one term ‘improvisation’. This is a key factor in this research. Extemporaneous Composition is the most salient concept at work in the creative work. The aim is to explore how an improvisation can have elements of a controlled and structured musical argument, as a composed piece would. This connects to the issue of how improvisation and composition are closely linked as creative processes. The issue of how improvisation and the interpretive performance of composed music are linked will be an important topic, as will the relationship between aurality and textuality in creative musicianship. The two research questions are: • When diverse and divergent aspects of musical practice, from traditions such as Western classical music, jazz and other African-based music are integrated into an improvised musical practice to give voice to a personal, creative musical identity, what can the nature of that music be? What perspectives will emerge about how creative performers operate? • Textuality and aurality function differently in these musical traditions. Can improvisation, in its wider sense, be re-evaluated to account for the employment of these through a more complex and nuanced set of creative functionalities than is typically understood by the single term improvisation?</p>
The Terror Raids: An analysis of the criminalisation of green activism in Aotearoa
Authors:   , Paish Megan 
Published: December 2021

<p>The objective of this thesis is to identify how criminalisation by mainstream media, police, politicians, ‘the public’ and court processes affected green activists, with specific reference to the Terror Raids of October 2007. Drawing on media analysis - covering news articles from 15 October 2007 to 15 November 2007, and 1 January 2017 to 31 July 2018 - and semi-structured interviews with eight participants (all green activists, two of whom were arrested in the Terror Raids), this research explores the issues of colonisation, activism, criminalisation, and resistance to criminalisation in detail. The research concludes that state agents and mainstream media contributed to a ‘blanket criminalisation’ of activists in the Terror Raids and that this criminalisation had significantly detrimental effects on the activists, whānau , and wider groups. This intense criminalisation was produced as a result of activists being labelled as ‘terrorists’. As a result, the Raids represented an evolution in the criminalisation of green activists in Aotearoa - from inconsistent forms of criminalisation (in which previous criminalising narratives had been joined by narratives relating to democratic freedom and environmental justice) to the application of intense criminalisation by the state and mainstream media of all activists in the Raids. This research demonstrates, therefore, the power of labelling. However, this thesis also identifies the power of green activism and the resilience of campaigners to this intense criminalisation. It emphasises that resistance can survive even when confronted by intense criminalisation and state violence. It concludes by emphasising the significant contributions green activists make to the environmental well-being of Aotearoa and to the international environmental justice movement.</p>