Anatomies of the subject: Spinoza and Deleuze

PhDThis thesis centres on an examination of Gilles Deleuze's non-subject centred philosophy and the influence of the earlier (seventeenth century) work of Benedict Spinoza, whom Deleuze describes as one of an "alternative" tradition of philosophers, and whom he claims as an antecedent. Historically, the subject has always appeared as a question, or as in question, as a problem around which concepts cluster. The focus here is on Deleuze's approach to the problem of subjectivity, his treatment of it and his attempt to configure an "antisubject" based on his own transformations of Spinozist concepts, which he takes up and modifies for his own purposes. The proposal is that Spinoza provides a key or a way into Deleuzean concepts, and at the same time that Deleuze's readings of Spinoza's theories reinvigorate them. What unites Spinoza and Deleuze, and is a recurring theme of this thesis, is that they both conduct their critiques and elaborate models from within a conceptual framework of a radical immanence that opposes all transcendence, and especially the' transcendent subject of consciousness. It is on the basis of Spinoza's radical immanence and his non-analogical approach to Being/beings that Deleuze constructs a theory of becoming - as "de-individualising" process - that will be his alternative to models of the subject based on identity

Successful Pedagogical Leadership: Bibliometric Analysis from the Web of Science database (2017-2021).

The concept of pedagogical leadership (PL) is vague and still developing in the field of Educational Leadership. This article examines the body of knowledge on this elusive term, to extract the key components that constitute the studies of PL in the last five years (2017-2020). The keyword of pedagogical leader* was solely used to search in the Web of Science database, and subsequently narrowed down to 54 reviewed articles through listed criteria for bibliometric analysis. Apart from the global bibliometric descriptions of PL, it is evident that the term pedagogical leadership is an emerging theme in WoS databases and is mostly cited from Nordic and European countries. Future suggestions for eastern scholars are to collaborate with western scholars, to better understand its concepts as compared to other prominent types of leadership such as Transformational, Distributed, and Instructional Leadership.The concept of pedagogical leadership (PL) is vague and still developing in the field of Educational Leadership. This article examines the body of knowledge on this elusive term, to extract the key components that constitute the studies of PL in the last five years (2017-2020). The keyword of pedagogical leader* was solely used to search in the Web of Science database, and subsequently narrowed down to 54 reviewed articles through listed criteria for bibliometric analysis. Apart from the global bibliometric descriptions of PL, it is evident that the term pedagogical leadership is an emerging theme in WoS databases and is mostly cited from Nordic and European countries. Future suggestions for eastern scholars are to collaborate with western scholars, to better understand its concepts as compared to other prominent types of leadership such as Transformational, Distributed, and Instructional Leadership

Regulation 5.35: Coerced treatment of detained asylum seekers on hunger strike: Legal, ethical and human rights implications

In September 1992 three Cambodian asylum seekers launched a hunger strike refusing all food and taking only small quantities of water. They were detained in Villawood Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Sydney, Australia. All three were hospitalized for dehydration and after two weeks on the hunger strike were ‘thought to be in grave danger of death’.2 The then Australian Minister for Immigration sought orders in the Supreme Court of New South Wales to permit the administration of lifesaving medical treatment to two of the women without their consent. The court issued an interim order permitting the government ‘to feed or to administer nourishment to the defendants against their will in order to prevent their death or serious bodily damage and for that purpose to use such force as is reasonably necessary.’3 Prior to the full hearing of the case the Australian government passed a law giving the Secretary of the Department of Immigration power to authorize medical treatment to be given to a person in immigration detention without their consent. This law is contained in regulation 5.35 of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth). The regulation authorizes the use of ‘reasonable force’ to administer medical treatment including the reasonable use of restraint and sedatives. This power has been used in respect of detained asylum seekers on hunger strike, most notably for rehydration and naso-gastric feeding

How can rural health be improved through community participation?

Executive summary Rural Australians generally experience poorer health than their city counterparts. Rural Australia is a vast geographical region, with significant diversity, where there is good health and prosperity, as well as disadvantage. The purpose of this issue brief is to provide evidence on how the health of rural Australians can be improved through community participation initiatives, which are currently being funded and delivered by health services and networks. Rural Australians need innovative health services that are tailored to the local context and meet increasing healthcare demands, without increases to expenditure. There are community participation approaches supported by research that can improve existing practice. Avoiding duplication, including the current work of Medicare Locals and Local Hospital Networks, is important for ensuring good outcomes from community participation initiatives. The following recommendations are made to improve practice: New ways to contract and pay for health services are needed, which use ideas developed with communities, within current budgets State and federal government competitive grants and tenders should prioritise proposals that demonstrate effective community participation approaches Community-based services, such as community health centres, Medicare Locals and Local Health Networks, have an important role to play in facilitating community participation, including: Building partnerships between existing services and leveraging existing participation strategies, rather than developing new services or standalone initiatives—to leverage available funds and maximise outcomes Employment of a jointly-appointed, paid community leadership position across existing community-based health services, to avoid duplication and overcome barriers of over-consultation and volunteer fatigue Formal and robust evaluation of initiatives is necessary to guide future policy and research A national innovative online knowledge sharing portal is required to share best practice in rural community participation, save time and money on ineffective approaches, and to support the rural health workforce

Mental health and legal representation for asylum seekers in the ‘legacy caseload’

This article examines the legal challenges asylum seekers arriving by boat to Australia experience when seeking assistance with their claims and its impact on their mental health. The authors outline the experiences of asylum seekers in the “legacy caseload” group who have been waiting up to four years to have their protection claims assessed. The complex interplay between legal assistance to support refugee claims and the way those making claims inevitably struggle to understand, engage and participate in the process is analysed. It is argued that provision of legal assistance for this group will be essential to ensuring that the refugee status determination process is fair and allows asylum seekers to understand and participate more fully in the process. Recent changes to the assessment of claims combined with a reduction in funding for legal assistance create significant hurdles and combine to compound existing stress and emotional trauma leading to detrimental outcomes on the mental health of asylum seekers

Validation and Improvement of the Beef Production Sub-index in Ireland for Beef Cattle

End of project reportThe objectives of the following study were to: a. Quantify the effect of sire genetic merit for BCI on: 1. feed intake, growth and carcass traits of progeny managed under bull or steer beef production systems. 2. live animal scores, carcass composition and plasma hormone and metabolite concentrations in their progeny. b. Compare the progeny of : 1. Late-maturing beef with dairy breeds and 2. Charolais (CH), Limousin (LM), Simmental (SM) and Belgian Blue (BB) sires bred to beef suckler dams, for feed intake, blood hormones and metabolites, live animal measurements, carcass traits and carcass value in bull and steer production systems

Refugees and asylum seekers living in the Australian Community: the importance of work rights and employment support

While Australian legislation allows for the mandatory detention of asylum seekers arriving without a valid visa, in recent years the Australian Government has released thousands from immigration detention prior to their protection claims being finalised. This article outlines the results of interviews with eleven men who had been released into such community-based arrangements after long periods of immigration detention. The major challenge for most of the men who had been granted the right to work upon their release was securing employment, while being denied the right to work was the major challenge for those released without this right. This article explores the social and personal benefits that employment can offer asylum seekers and refugees and the implications it has for integration into their host country

A Guide for VET Teachers with a Focus on Aquaculture: Using Student Rapid Response Systems (SRRS) for Formative Assessment and for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Introduction: This Optimal Guide is organised into 6 Parts as illustrated below. The reader is free to follow the sequence of parts or simply go to the parts of relevance

A Guide for VET Teachers With a Focus on Aquaculture: Using Student Rapid Response Systems (SRRS) for Formative Assessment and for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Optimal was a European Commission funded Erasmus+ Key Action 2 Strategic Partnership Project KA2-SP, titled – ‘Optimised Training: Innovative Methods and Tools for Acceptance of Prior Learning in Qualifications and Workplace Training’. It started in 2016 and ended in October 2019. The Optimal project involved a consortium of partners as follows: Norway - Blue Competence Centre and Guri Kunna VET School, Hitra and Froya Belgium - Federation of European Aquaculture Producers (FEAP) Scotland - Pisces Learning Innovations (PLI) Ltd Ireland - Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI). The partnership investigated the delivery of VET to work-based learners through the application of Student Rapid Response Systems (SRRS), Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and teaching methodologies and tools, considering how teachers and/or instructors could optimise their approach to training adult workbased learners about relevant industry knowledge and skills in the classroom and during self-directed learning. The project built on the partners’ expertise and experience of different VET teaching and training methodologies and methods, exploring approaches to both formal and non-formal learning and the range of assessment and qualifications used in each partner’s system. This included reviewing different curriculum structures and learning outcomes. The project also engaged with industry to explore current needs and demands for training and qualifications. The partners looked at the practical application of using different types of questions and feedback in the classroom. The partners validated project material and outcomes through peer review engagement during transnational meetings. The project outcomes are based on the collaborative participation of all the project partners. The project piloted and tested several combined teaching and learning methodologies and methods in a VET school with adult learners studying fish farming. The project was aware of the aquaculture and fish farming sectors need to both upskill workers and to provide accredited training for new workers