Tangihanga: The ultimate form of Māori cultural expression - overview of a research programme

Death, observed through the process of tangihanga (time set aside to grieve and mourn, rites for the dead) or tangi (to grieve and mourn), is the ultimate form of Māori cultural expression. It is also the topic least studied by Māori or understood by outsiders, even after televised funeral rites of Māori leaders and intrusive media engagements with more humble family crises. It has prevailed as a cultural priority since earliest European contact, despite missionary and colonial impact and interference, and macabre Victorian fascination. Change is speculative rather than confirmed. Tangi and death rituals have yet to be rigorously examined in the Māori oral canon, or in the archival and historic record that may be discarded or reinforced by current practice. As researchers we are committed to studying tangi, conscious of the belief that such work carries the inherent risk of karanga aituā (inviting misfortune or even death itself) by drawing attention to it. Contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand is constantly touched by aspects of tangi practice through popular media and personal exposure. This volatile subject nevertheless demands careful and comprehensive scrutiny in order to extend and enrich the knowledge base, reveal the logic that guides ritual, inform the wider New Zealand community and, more importantly, support the cultural, social, ritual, economic and decision making processes of bereaved whānau (family, including extended family), people affiliated with marae (communal meeting complex) and iwi (tribe, tribal). This paper provides an overview of a research programme that began in July 2009, based at The University of Waikato. The programme is funded by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, the Marsden Fund of New Zealand and the Health Research Council of New Zealand

Farewell from the Co-Chairs

Has it been three years already?!?!? Indeed it has. We have been honored to serve as Co-Chairs for the Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community. As a farewell, we would like to reflect on our time as Co-Chairs and revisit our mission and strategic goals. The mission of the Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community is to serve as a resource for higher educationprofessionals who have a professional interest in young-adult (i.e., college students) leadership training, education, and development. The Community will share best practices, provide critical evaluation of the field, examine standards for leadership programs, support national and regional efforts to develop student leadership programs, make contributions to the literature, recognize exemplary programs, and cultivate a forum for the presentation of new ideas. Our 2012-2014 Strategic Goals are outlined below

Farewell from the Co-Chairs

Has it been three years already?!?!? Indeed it has. We have been honored to serve as Co-Chairs for the Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community. As a farewell, we would like to reflect on our time as Co-Chairs and revisit our mission and strategic goals. The mission of the Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community is to serve as a resource for higher educationprofessionals who have a professional interest in young-adult (i.e., college students) leadership training, education, and development. The Community will share best practices, provide critical evaluation of the field, examine standards for leadership programs, support national and regional efforts to develop student leadership programs, make contributions to the literature, recognize exemplary programs, and cultivate a forum for the presentation of new ideas. Our 2012-2014 Strategic Goals are outlined below

Cross Continental Readings of Visual Narratives: An analysis of Six Books in the New Zealand PictureBook Collection

This article argues that, by analyzing the ways in which illustrators use certain visual codes, we can learn much about a country's history/culture and demonstrates this by analyzing the visual narratives of six picture books from the New Zealand Picture Book Collection (NZPBC) Emphasis is placed on how the front covers-which introduce both the stories and the new culture to young readers-are used to facilitate cultural understanding by focusing on Intercultural stimuli/cultural exchanges; respecting beliefs/values; observing cultural lifestyles, sharing visual imagery and discussing the interplay between text and imag

Transforming tradition: performances of Jingju ('Beijing Opera') in the UK

Jingju (‘Beijing opera’) is China's most iconic traditional theatre, marketed as a global signifier of Chinese theatre and national identity. Although troupes from mainland China regularly tour Europe, audiences in the UK have also had access to Jingju via two indigenous organizations: the UK Beijing Opera Society (now defunct) and the London Jing Kun Opera Association (now in its ninth year). These organizations consist of Chinese, overseas Chinese and Western performers performing both Jingju and Kunju (‘Kun opera’). Where there is a mix of ethnicity, can ‘traditional Chinese theatre’ still be conceived of as ‘traditional’? How is Jingju mapped onto non-Chinese bodies? Can Jingju performances by ethnically white performers reflect diasporic identities? Drawing on the theories of Judith Butler and Homi Bhabha, this article argues that by highlighting the performativity of identity, the performance of Jingju by non-Chinese performers challenges the notion of Jingju as a global signifier of ‘authentic traditional Chinese theatre’

A Fond Farewell

With the graduation on May 22, 2004, two valued members of the law school faculty retired. Not only were they valued members of the faculty, but they were two of my personal friends. Because I had a significant role in their law school education and their hire onto the faculty, it is difficult to put into words my deep feelings about their departure. Therefore, I present this tribute with mixed emotion —happy for them but sad to see them depart

Tributes to Professor Cyril A. Fox, Jr.

Cy Fox often forgets that he was supposed to be “only” an academic. For three decades, as he helped thousands of law students through the intricacies of the Rule in Shelley’s Case, or watched them calculate a “life in being plus twenty one years” for the Rule Against Perpetuities, he failed to appreciate that law school was supposed to be an amalgam of theory and confusion, not the place for his teaching law students about helping real people solve real life problems

Tributes to Professor Robert Berkley Harper

In 1977, I began teaching at The University of Pittsburgh Law School and in short order one of my closest friends during my tenure there was Professor Robert “Bob” Harper. I wondered when I was hired whether I was selected because I looked strikingly similar to Bob, and perhaps the faculty thought my favoring Professor Harper would make my assimilation into the law school faculty that much easier. Students constantly called me Professor Harper and, indeed, many on the faculty called me Bob for several years; I never bothered to correct them. I thought if they paid that little attention to detail in law school, I would just let them go through life missing some of the finer points their education, and life for that matter, has to offer