title: From screen to soul: A study of digital tools connecting Hare Krishna youth with their cultural heritage.

authors: Sinclair, Charlotte

subjects: cultural preservation

abstract: As human society advances in modernity, cultural traditions that provide meaning and inner fulfillment can become obscured. This study explored the utilisation of digital technology in educational settings to enhance the engagement of Hare Krishna students with their cultural heritage. It focused on exploring the balance between structured learning and the freedom for students to explore their interests and discover new aspects about their culture. The study was qualitative in nature, involving six students and seven parents. The students created digital videos that illustrated their lifestyle and culture, presenting tradition through a contemporary medium. The videos were presented at an evening event to their parents and the topic of incorporating digital technology to explore and present the Hare Krishna culture was discussed. Findings indicated that the children demonstrated significant intrinsic motivation, and the purposeful use of technology combined with clear learning objectives, enabled them to deeply engage with both the process and the content. The study also revealed the importance of personal interactions in educational contexts, suggesting that while technology serves as a valuable tool, it should complement rather than replace traditional methods of cultural transmission. This research contributes to the broader discourse on educational technology by demonstrating how digital tools can be effectively utilised to support the sharing of cultural heritage and facilitate dynamic connections.

text: From screen to soul: A study of digital tools connecting Hare Krishna youth with their cultural heritage. As human society advances in modernity, cultural traditions that provide meaning and inner fulfillment can become obscured. This study explored the utilisation of digital technology in educational settings to enhance the engagement of Hare Krishna students with their cultural heritage. It focused on exploring the balance between structured learning and the freedom for students to explore their interests and discover new aspects about their culture. The study was qualitative in nature, involving six students and seven parents. The students created digital videos that illustrated their lifestyle and culture, presenting tradition through a contemporary medium. The videos were presented at an evening event to their parents and the topic of incorporating digital technology to explore and present the Hare Krishna culture was discussed. Findings indicated that the children demonstrated significant intrinsic motivation, and the purposeful use of technology combined with clear learning objectives, enabled them to deeply engage with both the process and the content. The study also revealed the importance of personal interactions in educational contexts, suggesting that while technology serves as a valuable tool, it should complement rather than replace traditional methods of cultural transmission. This research contributes to the broader discourse on educational technology by demonstrating how digital tools can be effectively utilised to support the sharing of cultural heritage and facilitate dynamic connections.

year: 2024-06-30

title: Contested environments: A critical discourse analysis of applications for resource consents in Northland

authors: Nelson, Frances Margaret

abstract: This thesis reports on a study of disputed applications for environmental resource consent conducted in Northland. The study was placed against the backdrop of the Resource Management Act (1991) as a major social artefact that has the capacity to change the social fabric of Northland through its influence on environmental policy in the region. The purpose of the study was to analyse the discourses that are produced in cases of disputed application in order to show the ways that the environment is constituted in language and to contend that the material reality of the Northland environment increasingly results from the communication that occurs within the legislative framework of the Resource Management Act (1991). 
Data for the study were collected through archival research augmented by semi-structured interviews and observations. The collected texts were assembled in case studies which told the stories of the cases for disputed applications for resource consent and analysed using the systems of critical discourse analysis developed by Fairclough (1992; 2003) and Chouliaraki and Fairclough (2000). The empirical work collects, considers and analyses three district plans, elements of a regional plan and two case studies. The first case study examines the multiple discourses in a case about noise in a quiet suburb, and the second deals with an application to abstract water for irrigation from a Northland river. 
The heart of this study was the stories citizens tell as they deal with the impact of proposed environmental change on their lives. The study shows the discursive interaction between citizens and administrative organisations, and the way that citizens constructed themselves and others in language in bids to influence policy and environmental decisions. In doing so, it examines the effect of the dialectic relationships between the moment of discourse and other moments in the social process (Harvey, 1996). Finally, the research shows the effect in the material world of discursive shifts from "nature" to "the environment". 
The research has contributed to knowledge by telling the stories of disputed applications for resource consent from the points of view of the citizens who were involved and showing the discourse resources available to them to position themselves against the discourse of the official position. It has also contributed to knowledge by showing that, despite the definitions of the environment contained in the discourse of the official position, each case is the site of citizens' struggles for their concept of the environment and their experience of it. In this regard, the research has examined the impact of the specific discursive constructions used by citizens on the environment. Finally, the research has placed the citizens' stories against the conjuncture of social practices (Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999) connected with applications for resource consent, and revealed instances of the working of the Resource Management Act (1991) in the lives of citizens.

text: Contested environments: A critical discourse analysis of applications for resource consents in Northland This thesis reports on a study of disputed applications for environmental resource consent conducted in Northland. The study was placed against the backdrop of the Resource Management Act (1991) as a major social artefact that has the capacity to change the social fabric of Northland through its influence on environmental policy in the region. The purpose of the study was to analyse the discourses that are produced in cases of disputed application in order to show the ways that the environment is constituted in language and to contend that the material reality of the Northland environment increasingly results from the communication that occurs within the legislative framework of the Resource Management Act (1991). 
Data for the study were collected through archival research augmented by semi-structured interviews and observations. The collected texts were assembled in case studies which told the stories of the cases for disputed applications for resource consent and analysed using the systems of critical discourse analysis developed by Fairclough (1992; 2003) and Chouliaraki and Fairclough (2000). The empirical work collects, considers and analyses three district plans, elements of a regional plan and two case studies. The first case study examines the multiple discourses in a case about noise in a quiet suburb, and the second deals with an application to abstract water for irrigation from a Northland river. 
The heart of this study was the stories citizens tell as they deal with the impact of proposed environmental change on their lives. The study shows the discursive interaction between citizens and administrative organisations, and the way that citizens constructed themselves and others in language in bids to influence policy and environmental decisions. In doing so, it examines the effect of the dialectic relationships between the moment of discourse and other moments in the social process (Harvey, 1996). Finally, the research shows the effect in the material world of discursive shifts from "nature" to "the environment". 
The research has contributed to knowledge by telling the stories of disputed applications for resource consent from the points of view of the citizens who were involved and showing the discourse resources available to them to position themselves against the discourse of the official position. It has also contributed to knowledge by showing that, despite the definitions of the environment contained in the discourse of the official position, each case is the site of citizens' struggles for their concept of the environment and their experience of it. In this regard, the research has examined the impact of the specific discursive constructions used by citizens on the environment. Finally, the research has placed the citizens' stories against the conjuncture of social practices (Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999) connected with applications for resource consent, and revealed instances of the working of the Resource Management Act (1991) in the lives of citizens.

year: 2004

title: Microbiological quality of Toroi:  A Māori food delicacy

authors: Dixon, Lorraine Louise

subjects: Maori

abstract: A study was undertaken to determine the food safety of the fermented Māori delicacy, Toroi.  Ten batches of Toroi were prepared by a commonly used traditional method that consisted of boiling the vegetable component, either watercress or puha, and combining it with chopped mussel flesh.  The mixture was cooled and then stored in a refrigerator for up to eight months to allow natural fermentation to take place.  All ingredients were sourced from retail outlets.  The Toroi was examined at intervals over eight months for a range of pathogens (seven in all) that have been related to incidents of food poisoning in ready-to-eat foods in New Zealand.  The survival of a faecal contamination indicator, the laboratory grown strain Escherichia coli NZRM 916, was mapped over eight months.  Two strategies to prevent the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in Toroi were also investigated.  

Only one of the seven pathogens sought was recovered from any sample.  This pathogen was Bacillus cereus, a spore-former known to be associated with vegetables.  All batches contained B. cereus on the day of preparation but after two weeks refrigerated storage there was no further recovery from any sample.  There was a very low incidence of natural E. coli in the Toroi, consistent with levels permitted in mussels sold in retail outlets.  The laboratory grown strain, E. coli declined substantially over two months and was not recovered from any samples at eight months.  
A laboratory grown strain of Listeria monocytogenes, (L70) was added to Toroi and grew well with an increase in concentration of about seven-fold, over 19 days storage in a refrigerator.  A bacteriocin producing lactic acid bacterium, Lactobacillus sake Lb706, was added in combined culture with L. monocytogenes to Toroi.  It was found that at least 5 x108 L. sake cells were required as an inoculum to ensure elimination of L. monocytogenes from the Toroi.  When a purified bacteriocin; nisin, was added, a concentration of 10 mg g-1 in the Toroi was required to eliminate L. monocytogenes.  The inhibition study results suggest that unacceptably high inocula or purified bacteriocin would be required to prevent the growth of L. monocytogenes in Toroi.

The results of this suggest that Toroi be prepared from mussels either purchased from a retail outlet or harvested from sites known to be free from contamination.  Toroi should be safe to eat if prepared carefully, chilled promptly and thoroughly and allowed to ferment for at least two weeks.  In addition, care should be taken to maintain Toroi at refrigerated temperatures until it is eaten.

text: Microbiological quality of Toroi:  A Māori food delicacy A study was undertaken to determine the food safety of the fermented Māori delicacy, Toroi.  Ten batches of Toroi were prepared by a commonly used traditional method that consisted of boiling the vegetable component, either watercress or puha, and combining it with chopped mussel flesh.  The mixture was cooled and then stored in a refrigerator for up to eight months to allow natural fermentation to take place.  All ingredients were sourced from retail outlets.  The Toroi was examined at intervals over eight months for a range of pathogens (seven in all) that have been related to incidents of food poisoning in ready-to-eat foods in New Zealand.  The survival of a faecal contamination indicator, the laboratory grown strain Escherichia coli NZRM 916, was mapped over eight months.  Two strategies to prevent the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in Toroi were also investigated.  

Only one of the seven pathogens sought was recovered from any sample.  This pathogen was Bacillus cereus, a spore-former known to be associated with vegetables.  All batches contained B. cereus on the day of preparation but after two weeks refrigerated storage there was no further recovery from any sample.  There was a very low incidence of natural E. coli in the Toroi, consistent with levels permitted in mussels sold in retail outlets.  The laboratory grown strain, E. coli declined substantially over two months and was not recovered from any samples at eight months.  
A laboratory grown strain of Listeria monocytogenes, (L70) was added to Toroi and grew well with an increase in concentration of about seven-fold, over 19 days storage in a refrigerator.  A bacteriocin producing lactic acid bacterium, Lactobacillus sake Lb706, was added in combined culture with L. monocytogenes to Toroi.  It was found that at least 5 x108 L. sake cells were required as an inoculum to ensure elimination of L. monocytogenes from the Toroi.  When a purified bacteriocin; nisin, was added, a concentration of 10 mg g-1 in the Toroi was required to eliminate L. monocytogenes.  The inhibition study results suggest that unacceptably high inocula or purified bacteriocin would be required to prevent the growth of L. monocytogenes in Toroi.

The results of this suggest that Toroi be prepared from mussels either purchased from a retail outlet or harvested from sites known to be free from contamination.  Toroi should be safe to eat if prepared carefully, chilled promptly and thoroughly and allowed to ferment for at least two weeks.  In addition, care should be taken to maintain Toroi at refrigerated temperatures until it is eaten.

year: 2007