title: A critical analysis of interpretive research studies in cooperative education and internships

authors: Coll, Richard K.

subjects: interpretive

abstract: Much research in co-op has utilized a quantitative or experimental approach within a positivist paradigm. Here we present a critical analysis of interpretive/qualitative studies in terms of output, diversity, quality, along with an overview of the topics investigated. Our analysis suggests that interpretive work is a substantial part of co-op research output, and that is spans a wide range of programs, disciplines and geographical locations. Similar themes to those investigated by a quantitative approach are investigated by interpretive researchers, but there is emphasis in interpretive work on understanding more details of co-op issues in relation to the educational context.

text: A critical analysis of interpretive research studies in cooperative education and internships Much research in co-op has utilized a quantitative or experimental approach within a positivist paradigm. Here we present a critical analysis of interpretive/qualitative studies in terms of output, diversity, quality, along with an overview of the topics investigated. Our analysis suggests that interpretive work is a substantial part of co-op research output, and that is spans a wide range of programs, disciplines and geographical locations. Similar themes to those investigated by a quantitative approach are investigated by interpretive researchers, but there is emphasis in interpretive work on understanding more details of co-op issues in relation to the educational context.

year: 2009

title: Body and spirit in the poetry of T. S. Eliot and D. H. Lawrence

authors: Prisco, Mark

abstract: This thesis examines the poetry of T. S. Eliot and D. H. Lawrence in terms of its religious and aesthetic significance. I explore the common ground between these two writers, and their spiritual and philosophical differences as expressed in the content and style of their poetry, and other work. I argue that they were both driven by their dissatisfaction with the modern industrial age—the ethos that determined ‘utility’ and ‘progress’ as the means to fulfilment—which for them, however, was synonymous with the cultural and spiritual wasteland of modernity, a world without ‘god’.

Eliot’s response, implicit in his poetry, was to posit a spiritual unity, a homogenous community of shared values underpinned, eventually, by Christianity—a religion that ultimately dispenses with the body, and leads us toward the Divine Father, the bodiless God. Lawrence, in contrast, keeps his reader firmly grounded in the physical world of touch—for him, the only possible world, without which there can be no spirit. We are resurrected, Lawrence believed, in the flesh—or not at all. 

Their respective views are evidenced throughout their poetry. We see, even in his ‘pre-Christian’ poetry, Eliot’s preoccupation with the body—his moral and aesthetic repulsion against it; and indeed I suggest that his negative depictions of the body are a prelude to his later ‘Christian’ poetry. This, I contrast with Lawrence’s glorification of the body, as manifested throughout his poetry; and I suggest that Lawrence’s ‘philosophy of life’ is morally more sound because it is grounded in nature. Although Eliot’s Christianity is not an attempt to escape the world and his responsibilities, it is nonetheless a dismissal of life in the flesh and all of its attendant joys and sorrows. It would annihilate the opposition (‘evil’, ‘darkness’, ‘lion’), and seeks release from the natural world, the tension that holds everything together, which would lead towards a cosmic imbalance, the extinction of nature, of everything—of time, into the bodiless Eternal, the resolution of body into spirit.

But if there is no darkness, there is no light. This, Lawrence expresses most explicitly in his non-fiction, but his poetry is alive with it—the cosmic significance of everything, the unbegotten spark from which a god is born: the present eternal moment. 

The final section of my thesis is a collection of poetry (to not let go) written over the duration of three or four years. It represents my creative response to the critical component outlined above. My poems are not an imitation of Eliot and Lawrence, but evidence nonetheless of direct engagement with those two poets and the subject matter of my thesis.

text: Body and spirit in the poetry of T. S. Eliot and D. H. Lawrence This thesis examines the poetry of T. S. Eliot and D. H. Lawrence in terms of its religious and aesthetic significance. I explore the common ground between these two writers, and their spiritual and philosophical differences as expressed in the content and style of their poetry, and other work. I argue that they were both driven by their dissatisfaction with the modern industrial age—the ethos that determined ‘utility’ and ‘progress’ as the means to fulfilment—which for them, however, was synonymous with the cultural and spiritual wasteland of modernity, a world without ‘god’.

Eliot’s response, implicit in his poetry, was to posit a spiritual unity, a homogenous community of shared values underpinned, eventually, by Christianity—a religion that ultimately dispenses with the body, and leads us toward the Divine Father, the bodiless God. Lawrence, in contrast, keeps his reader firmly grounded in the physical world of touch—for him, the only possible world, without which there can be no spirit. We are resurrected, Lawrence believed, in the flesh—or not at all. 

Their respective views are evidenced throughout their poetry. We see, even in his ‘pre-Christian’ poetry, Eliot’s preoccupation with the body—his moral and aesthetic repulsion against it; and indeed I suggest that his negative depictions of the body are a prelude to his later ‘Christian’ poetry. This, I contrast with Lawrence’s glorification of the body, as manifested throughout his poetry; and I suggest that Lawrence’s ‘philosophy of life’ is morally more sound because it is grounded in nature. Although Eliot’s Christianity is not an attempt to escape the world and his responsibilities, it is nonetheless a dismissal of life in the flesh and all of its attendant joys and sorrows. It would annihilate the opposition (‘evil’, ‘darkness’, ‘lion’), and seeks release from the natural world, the tension that holds everything together, which would lead towards a cosmic imbalance, the extinction of nature, of everything—of time, into the bodiless Eternal, the resolution of body into spirit.

But if there is no darkness, there is no light. This, Lawrence expresses most explicitly in his non-fiction, but his poetry is alive with it—the cosmic significance of everything, the unbegotten spark from which a god is born: the present eternal moment. 

The final section of my thesis is a collection of poetry (to not let go) written over the duration of three or four years. It represents my creative response to the critical component outlined above. My poems are not an imitation of Eliot and Lawrence, but evidence nonetheless of direct engagement with those two poets and the subject matter of my thesis.

year: 2024-04-22

title: Site-specific performance rituals in the Anthropocene

authors: Claus, Johanna

abstract: In this creative practice PhD, I investigated site-specific performance rituals in the Anthropocene. Driven by the urge to respond to the challenges of the current time, I examined how different seasonal rituals might be expressed in specific sites in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Furthermore, including participants from diverse cultural backgrounds, and carrying an awareness of the complexities of colonialism, I analysed insights from key ritual experts to enhance my understanding of ritual practices within the specific socio-cultural and environmental context of Aotearoa. Inspired by critical posthumanist philosophies, I viewed ritual practices through a lens that considered the interconnectedness of technology, culture, and nature, moving beyond essentialist and dualistic tendencies. Inspired by (Haraway, 2007) and Braidotti (2019), I embraced a perspective of ‘staying with the trouble’ and ‘radical hope’ as a strategy to inspire commitments to safeguarding life on Earth amid increasing societal divisions, and environmental disasters.
Working at the intersection of various disciplines, I crafted a qualitative research design that embraced multiple ways of knowing through creative practice research. I gathered insights from four ritual experts grounded in mātauranga Māori or neo-Paganism through in-depth interviews, to comprehend multifaceted and culturally sensitive approaches to ritual practices in Aotearoa. Moreover, the creative investigation of four seasonal performance rituals served as the primary mode of inquiry (Niedderer & Roworth-Stokes, 2007; Skains, 2018). The methods used for these rituals included contemporary performance practices, eco-somatic movement, improvisation, site-specific dance, audience participation, and others.
The rich knowledge gained throughout these investigations is conveyed through the documentation of four seasonal rituals, presented in video works alongside this thesis. The findings are articulated in two empirical chapters, one focusing on the findings and analysis of the expert interviews and the other on the findings and analysis of four performance rituals, revealing nuanced and complex insights into the creation of site-specific performance rituals in the Anthropocene. Navigating site-specific performance practices as an immigrant necessitated continuous critical self-reflection on biases and assumptions, leading to intricate explorations of embodiment, identity, culture, nature, and the more-than-human world within a posthuman context. Operating in the liminal space of this tension alongside performer participants, ritual experts, and audience members yielded the articulation of my findings: a ritual score capable of accommodating the complexities of the Anthropocene.

text: Site-specific performance rituals in the Anthropocene In this creative practice PhD, I investigated site-specific performance rituals in the Anthropocene. Driven by the urge to respond to the challenges of the current time, I examined how different seasonal rituals might be expressed in specific sites in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Furthermore, including participants from diverse cultural backgrounds, and carrying an awareness of the complexities of colonialism, I analysed insights from key ritual experts to enhance my understanding of ritual practices within the specific socio-cultural and environmental context of Aotearoa. Inspired by critical posthumanist philosophies, I viewed ritual practices through a lens that considered the interconnectedness of technology, culture, and nature, moving beyond essentialist and dualistic tendencies. Inspired by (Haraway, 2007) and Braidotti (2019), I embraced a perspective of ‘staying with the trouble’ and ‘radical hope’ as a strategy to inspire commitments to safeguarding life on Earth amid increasing societal divisions, and environmental disasters.
Working at the intersection of various disciplines, I crafted a qualitative research design that embraced multiple ways of knowing through creative practice research. I gathered insights from four ritual experts grounded in mātauranga Māori or neo-Paganism through in-depth interviews, to comprehend multifaceted and culturally sensitive approaches to ritual practices in Aotearoa. Moreover, the creative investigation of four seasonal performance rituals served as the primary mode of inquiry (Niedderer & Roworth-Stokes, 2007; Skains, 2018). The methods used for these rituals included contemporary performance practices, eco-somatic movement, improvisation, site-specific dance, audience participation, and others.
The rich knowledge gained throughout these investigations is conveyed through the documentation of four seasonal rituals, presented in video works alongside this thesis. The findings are articulated in two empirical chapters, one focusing on the findings and analysis of the expert interviews and the other on the findings and analysis of four performance rituals, revealing nuanced and complex insights into the creation of site-specific performance rituals in the Anthropocene. Navigating site-specific performance practices as an immigrant necessitated continuous critical self-reflection on biases and assumptions, leading to intricate explorations of embodiment, identity, culture, nature, and the more-than-human world within a posthuman context. Operating in the liminal space of this tension alongside performer participants, ritual experts, and audience members yielded the articulation of my findings: a ritual score capable of accommodating the complexities of the Anthropocene.

year: 2024-05-27