title: Historicising the Feminist: A Study of Mary Wollstonecraft's Political and Discursive Contexts

authors: McDougall, Charlotte

subjects: Wollstonecraft

abstract: This thesis has investigated the life and publications of Mary Wollstonecraft. The
thesis is divided in to three chapters the first chapter explores the political and social
context of late Eighteenth century England in which Wollstonecraft lived the majority of
her life. It then moves on to discuss the 'Revolution Controversy' and Wollstonecraft's
contribution to that debate. Giving specific attention to A Vindication of the Rights of
Man as it is Wollstonecraft's first political publication, and was the first published
response to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. Without first
publishing A Vindication of the Rights of Man, Wollstonecraft could not have published
her most famous work.
Next the second chapter investigates Eighteenth century education, and how
Wollstonecraft ideas on changing the nature of education would help reform society in
her eyes. Education was recognized as having special significance by many
Enlightenment philosophers, this thesis looks at the contribution of John Locke and Jean
Jacques Rousseau to educational theory, and they ways in which Wollstonecraft
responded to their ideas. In the final chapter the inclusive nature of Wollstonecraft's
gender theory is considered. Wollstonecraft is widely recognised as publishing what
became for many the founding document of modern western feminism. What is given
less recognition is that Wollstonecraft was in fact interested in broad social reform,
similar to many other Enlightenment philosophers, Wollstonecraft's social theory
included changing education and socialisation for both women and men. Society could
not be reformed without changing social and educational practices with regard to both
II
men and women. Wollstonecraft furthered the contemporary debate on the rights of man
to include the rights of woman. Wollstonecraft criticised the unnatural distinctions of
gender and class, setting out in both Vindications the negative consequences for the
character of both men and women. Another less recognised aspect of Wollstonecraft's
philosophy which this thesis has highlighted is the vital role that religion played, and its
implications for her ideas. This aspect of Wollstonecraft's thought has tended to be over
looked by many Wollstonecraft scholars, who try to place Wollstonecraft in some kind of
political and social continuum which I think misses the revolutionary and far sighted
nature of Wollstonecraft's philosophy. In taking a historicist approach or understanding
to Wollstonecraft, by reading Wollstonecraft in the terms of the political and social
environment of the late eighteenth century, it becomes easier to understand the radical
nature of Wollstonecraft's ideas, and the personal hardships she faced as both a woman
and a member of the lower middle class.

text: Historicising the Feminist: A Study of Mary Wollstonecraft's Political and Discursive Contexts This thesis has investigated the life and publications of Mary Wollstonecraft. The
thesis is divided in to three chapters the first chapter explores the political and social
context of late Eighteenth century England in which Wollstonecraft lived the majority of
her life. It then moves on to discuss the 'Revolution Controversy' and Wollstonecraft's
contribution to that debate. Giving specific attention to A Vindication of the Rights of
Man as it is Wollstonecraft's first political publication, and was the first published
response to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. Without first
publishing A Vindication of the Rights of Man, Wollstonecraft could not have published
her most famous work.
Next the second chapter investigates Eighteenth century education, and how
Wollstonecraft ideas on changing the nature of education would help reform society in
her eyes. Education was recognized as having special significance by many
Enlightenment philosophers, this thesis looks at the contribution of John Locke and Jean
Jacques Rousseau to educational theory, and they ways in which Wollstonecraft
responded to their ideas. In the final chapter the inclusive nature of Wollstonecraft's
gender theory is considered. Wollstonecraft is widely recognised as publishing what
became for many the founding document of modern western feminism. What is given
less recognition is that Wollstonecraft was in fact interested in broad social reform,
similar to many other Enlightenment philosophers, Wollstonecraft's social theory
included changing education and socialisation for both women and men. Society could
not be reformed without changing social and educational practices with regard to both
II
men and women. Wollstonecraft furthered the contemporary debate on the rights of man
to include the rights of woman. Wollstonecraft criticised the unnatural distinctions of
gender and class, setting out in both Vindications the negative consequences for the
character of both men and women. Another less recognised aspect of Wollstonecraft's
philosophy which this thesis has highlighted is the vital role that religion played, and its
implications for her ideas. This aspect of Wollstonecraft's thought has tended to be over
looked by many Wollstonecraft scholars, who try to place Wollstonecraft in some kind of
political and social continuum which I think misses the revolutionary and far sighted
nature of Wollstonecraft's philosophy. In taking a historicist approach or understanding
to Wollstonecraft, by reading Wollstonecraft in the terms of the political and social
environment of the late eighteenth century, it becomes easier to understand the radical
nature of Wollstonecraft's ideas, and the personal hardships she faced as both a woman
and a member of the lower middle class.

year: 2006

title: Experiment Databases: Creating a New Platform for Meta-Learning Research

authors: Vanschoren, Joaquin

subjects: computer science

abstract: Many studies in machine learning try to investigate what makes an algorithm succeed or fail on certain datasets. However, the field is still evolving relatively quickly, and new algorithms, preprocessing methods, learning tasks and evaluation procedures continue to emerge in the literature. Thus, it is impossible for a single study to cover this expanding space of learning approaches. In this paper, we propose a community-based approach for the analysis of learning algorithms, driven by sharing meta-data from previous experiments in a uniform way. We illustrate how organizing this information in a central database can create a practical public platform for any kind of exploitation of meta-knowledge, allowing effective reuse of previous experimentation and targeted analysis of the collected results.

text: Experiment Databases: Creating a New Platform for Meta-Learning Research Many studies in machine learning try to investigate what makes an algorithm succeed or fail on certain datasets. However, the field is still evolving relatively quickly, and new algorithms, preprocessing methods, learning tasks and evaluation procedures continue to emerge in the literature. Thus, it is impossible for a single study to cover this expanding space of learning approaches. In this paper, we propose a community-based approach for the analysis of learning algorithms, driven by sharing meta-data from previous experiments in a uniform way. We illustrate how organizing this information in a central database can create a practical public platform for any kind of exploitation of meta-knowledge, allowing effective reuse of previous experimentation and targeted analysis of the collected results.

year: 2008

title: The use of functionalised biochar to enhance phosphorus removal in woodchip bioreactors. The integration of mātauranga Māori to enhance the cultural aspects of woodchip bioreactors.

authors: Taoho, Brandon

subjects: Woodchip bioreactor

abstract: Nutrient pollution, resulting from excessive releases of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) into waterways, poses a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Elevated nutrient levels can result in eutrophication, which can have detrimental effects on the health of waterbodies and their biota. Woodchip bioreactors are effective, edge-of-field technologies that can help mitigate nutrient pollution by lowering nutrient concentrations in agricultural drainage systems known to carry leached N and P into waterways. However, one limitation to their design is their ineffectiveness at removing P. The inclusion of functionalised biochar is one potential solution to enhance P removal in woodchip bioreactors. There is a growing need to mitigate nutrient pollution in New Zealand that does not depend on a western-centric perspective only. Integration of mātauranga Māori and western science into the design and operations of a woodchip bioreactor is one approach to incorporate both knowledge systems to the goal of mitigating nutrient pollution. In this dissertation, a column experiment was used to compare the P removal efficiencies of two treatments of functionalised biochar, and one treatment of woodchips when subjected to stream water spiked with P. Subsequently, a single phosphate extraction was done to determine the phosphate absorption capacities of each treatment. The results showed that the two functionalised biochar treatments had the highest efficacy in reducing P concentrations in the P-spiked stream water compared to the woodchip-only treatment. Both treatments also showed higher P absorption, evidenced from the Fe-P/Feox ratio, within the phosphate extraction experiment. A wānanga was organised at Matahuru Marae, Lake Waikare, to share mātauranga Māori on how to culturally enhance woodchip bioreactors from a Te Ao Māori perspective. Participants recommended that native woodchips be incorporated into woodchip bioreactors because of their inherent association to the land and people. Overall, the results implied that functionalised biochar is an effective solution to enhance P removal in woodchip bioreactors due to their biophysical properties to absorb and retain P. Secondly, incorporating native woodchips into woodchip bioreactors systems potentially offers a sustainable and culturally respected alternative to conventional wood chips, aligning with Māori values and tikanga

text: The use of functionalised biochar to enhance phosphorus removal in woodchip bioreactors. The integration of mātauranga Māori to enhance the cultural aspects of woodchip bioreactors. Nutrient pollution, resulting from excessive releases of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) into waterways, poses a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Elevated nutrient levels can result in eutrophication, which can have detrimental effects on the health of waterbodies and their biota. Woodchip bioreactors are effective, edge-of-field technologies that can help mitigate nutrient pollution by lowering nutrient concentrations in agricultural drainage systems known to carry leached N and P into waterways. However, one limitation to their design is their ineffectiveness at removing P. The inclusion of functionalised biochar is one potential solution to enhance P removal in woodchip bioreactors. There is a growing need to mitigate nutrient pollution in New Zealand that does not depend on a western-centric perspective only. Integration of mātauranga Māori and western science into the design and operations of a woodchip bioreactor is one approach to incorporate both knowledge systems to the goal of mitigating nutrient pollution. In this dissertation, a column experiment was used to compare the P removal efficiencies of two treatments of functionalised biochar, and one treatment of woodchips when subjected to stream water spiked with P. Subsequently, a single phosphate extraction was done to determine the phosphate absorption capacities of each treatment. The results showed that the two functionalised biochar treatments had the highest efficacy in reducing P concentrations in the P-spiked stream water compared to the woodchip-only treatment. Both treatments also showed higher P absorption, evidenced from the Fe-P/Feox ratio, within the phosphate extraction experiment. A wānanga was organised at Matahuru Marae, Lake Waikare, to share mātauranga Māori on how to culturally enhance woodchip bioreactors from a Te Ao Māori perspective. Participants recommended that native woodchips be incorporated into woodchip bioreactors because of their inherent association to the land and people. Overall, the results implied that functionalised biochar is an effective solution to enhance P removal in woodchip bioreactors due to their biophysical properties to absorb and retain P. Secondly, incorporating native woodchips into woodchip bioreactors systems potentially offers a sustainable and culturally respected alternative to conventional wood chips, aligning with Māori values and tikanga

year: 2023