Teaching and Professional Fellowship Report 2007/8 : The role of E portfolios in postgraduate art and design courses

To investigate the various concepts of E portfolios and their application in Postgraduate Art and design contexts as modes of tutorial and reflexive practice, portfolio presentation and commercial promotion

Picturing the perpetrator

There is considerable potential in examining images associated with atrocity that do not depict the actual act of violence or the victim itself, but rather depict the circumstances around which such acts occurred. Such images of the absence of visible violence can lead the viewer into an imaginative engagement with the nature of atrocity, and the nature of those who perpetrate it. In exploring this absence, Hannah Arendt’s “banality of evil” can be taken to mean that the spaces in which atrocities take place are often nondescript, everyday and banal, and that the people who commit them may appear on the surface to be so as well, even if their interior motivations and rationales are far more complex than that they were simply following orders. Photography, with its optical -mechanical process, is adept at recording such banal facts of the scene, and, by inviting the viewer to scan the image for minute details, often generates a tension between such mundanities and the audience’s knowledge of the potential import of the situation garnered via a caption. This strategy of the “aesthetics of the banal” has become a common one in contemporary photographic practice.1 However, the idea that an image that appears on the surface to be of an ordinary scene or person but which the viewer then discovers contains another, deeper and more imaginative reading is one that has long been effective. In order to explore the possibility of an absence in the image being a key to understanding, it is useful to examine a constellation of images that gather around a key perpetrator of the Holocaust, images that do not overtly show either the victims or the violence itself, but by the very absence of such evidence propel the viewer into an imaginative act of engagement with the nature of evil. Publishers notes about the book 'Picturing Atrocity: Photography in Crisis': Picturing Atrocity Photography in Crisis Geoffrey Batchen, Mick Gidley, Nancy K. Millers and Jay Prosser 'It is hard to look: My Lai, Dachau, Abu Ghraib, Wounded Knee. We know these atrocities through the painful evidence of unforgettable documentary photographs. But these images are far from innocent. Just as "atrocity" itself is a loaded term, every photograph of such an event is a bit of high-level propaganda in a moralized political argument, encouraging the viewer to bear witness, make judgments, take sides. This important new collection of essays by some of the most brilliant analysts of photography shows how deliberately horrifying pictures have shaped – and continue to shape – the ethics and politics of the modern era.' – Brian Wallis, Chief Curator, International Center of Photography 'Picturing Atrocity is an excellent examination of the dilemmas implicit in photography’s representation of human suffering, whether caused by torture, war, poverty, the political chaos and neglect that multiplies the toll from natural disasters (as in Africa’s Horn region today), or other gross rights violations. Multi-layered and lucid, these essays demolish any lingering pretence that images of suffering can be understood without also considering the context and media in which they are presented, and the often far-from-the-scene viewer who consumes them. Picturing Atrocity is critical reading for communicators in the aid, development and human rights communities who participate in the dissemination of these essential but volatile images.' –Ellen Tolmie, Senior Photography Editor, UNICEF Ever since the landmark publication of Susan Sontag’s On Photography, it has been impossible to look at photographs, particularly those of violence and suffering, without questioning our role as photographic voyeur. Are we desensitized by the proliferation of these images? Or do the images stir our own sense of justice and act as a call to arms? Are we consuming the suffering of others? What should our responses to these images be? To answer these questions, Picturing Atrocity brings together essays from some of the foremost writers on photography today, including Rebecca Solnit, Alfredo Jaar, Ariella Azoulay, John Lucaites, Robert Hariman and Susan Meiselas, to offer close readings of images that reveal the realities behind the photographs, the subjects and the photographers. From the massacre of the Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee to the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, from famine in China to apartheid in South Africa, Picturing Atrocity examines a broad spectrum of photographs. Each essay focuses specifically on an iconic image, offering a distinct approach and context, in order to enable us to look again – this time more closely – at the picture. In addition, four photo-essays showcase the work of photographers involved in the making of photographs of brutality as well as the artists’ own reflections on these images. Together these essays cover the historical and geographical range of atrocity photographs and respond to current concerns about such disturbing images. Picturing Atrocity is an important read, not just for insights into photography, but for its reflections on human injustice and suffering. In keeping with that aim, all royalties from the book will be donated to Amnesty International. Geoffrey Batchen is a photography historian and Professor of Art History at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Mick Gidley is Emeritus Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Leeds, UK. Nancy K. Miller is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature, the Graduate Center, CUNY. Jay Prosser is Reader in Humanities in the School of English at the University of Leeds, UK

Impacts of deforestation and burning, and the role of bracken fern, on the properties of surficial or buried soil A-horizons

Bracken fern (Pteridium spp.) is an aggressive plant that commonly invades disturbed sites. Its success as an invader is attributable, in part, to its ability to produce abundant growth, both below ground in the form of rhizomes and fine roots and above ground as fronds and stems. This biomass production has been shown to affect numerous soil properties. In describing soils of the „Pumice Lands‟ (Pumice Soils or Vitrands mainly) in New Zealand, Molloy and Christie (1998) attributed black A horizons „to bracken fern, which replaced much of the forest‟. Analyses of humus and phytoliths in the A horizons of soils developed especially on Kaharoa and Taupo tephras in central North Island (buried beneath 1886 Tarawera eruptives in the Rerewhakaaitu area) showed that type-A humic acids predominated and that fernland and grassland had replaced the pre-existing forests (Birrell et al., 1971; Sase et al., 1988; Hosono et al., 1991; Sase and Hosono, 1996). Pollen, phytolith and associated studies, together with tephrochronology, have shown that human-induced deforestation by burning began in New Zealand soon after Polynesian settlers arrived (e.g. McGlone, 1989; Clarkson et al., 1992; Kondo et al., 1994; McGlone et al., 1994; Newnham et al., 1998; McGlone and Wilmshurst, 1999; Watanabe and Sakagami, 1999; see also article on Polynesian settlement by Lowe, this volume). The repeated burning resulted in the formation of extensive fernlands (McGlone et al., 2005)

A review of late Quaternary silicic and some other tephra formations from New Zealand: their stratigraphy, nomenclature, distribution, volume, and age.

The stratigraphic relationships and distribution of 36 named late Quaternary (≤c. 50 000 yr B P.) silicic tephra formations, erupted from 4 volcanic centres—Okataina, Taupo, Maroa, and Tuhua (Mayor Island)—are presented. The stratigraphy and status of several other named late Quaternary tephras are also discussed. This compilation brings together all the data, currently scattered through many publications, to make tephrostratigraphy more accessible and more easily used. The nomenclature of tephra formations is discussed and some rationalisations are suggested. The term “tephrology” is suggested as an appropriate title for the field of tephra studies. The deletion of grain-size (ash, lapi1li), shape (breccia), and lithologic (pumice) terms from all formation names is recommended, as is standardisation on a “Tephra Formation” formal Several tephra layers not previously formally named, or without designated type sections, are defined. The dominant ferromagnesian mineral assemblage of each tephra formation has been compiled as an aid to tephra identification. All available radiocarbon ages (384) on each tephra formation are presented, and each age is assessed for reliability in dating the eruption of that tephra. The standard-deviation weighted mean age of the reliable ages has been determined as the best current estimate of the age of each tephra. At least 10 tephra formations have no reliable ages, and efforts should be made to date thes

Considering Vietnam

The Vietnam War is evolving from contemporary memory into history. Fifty years on, it still serves as a benchmark in the history of war reporting and in the representation of conflict in popular culture and historical memory. This conference seeks to explore the legacy of the US involvement in South East Asia and the resonances it still has for the coverage of contemporary warfare. In particular, the conference will reassess the role of the media in covering the war and the implications this has had for the coverage of subsequent conflicts, the impact of the war on popular culture, the ways that wars and their aftermaths are experienced on the ‘home front,’ and issues around memorialisation and memory, particularly in museum culture. The conference will bring together practitioners, academics and curators in an interdisciplinary engagement with this complex but important issue

The Effect of Cooperative Group Work and Assessment on the Attitudes of Students towards Science in New Zealand

The improvement of secondary-level students’ attitude to science is encouraged in the New Zealand curriculum document. It is also noteworthy that employers in scientific institutions and commercial organisations place great value on group or teamwork. However, it is apparent that some teachers have reservations about cooperative group work, particularly problems with classroom management. There has been significant research done on cooperative learning and student attitudes, but investigations about the use of cooperative group work to improve the science-related attitudes of our younger secondary school students are rare. This thesis focuses on the effect of cooperative group work and assessment on the attitudes of 312 science students in four rural secondary schools in New Zealand. The cooperative groups were established using a simplified protocol which was non intrusive on curriculum delivery to help ensure wide acceptance by secondary science teachers. The students’ attitudes were assessed quantitatively using the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) while qualitative results were obtained through teacher and student interviews along with researcher observations.. The data were collected before and after three terms of cooperative learning in a variety of activities including practical classes, fieldwork, and written assignments and class tests. This part of the study revealed that group work and group assessment enhanced students’ attitudes to science, with both the teachers and students seeing real value in such activities, especially the formative group testing opportunities. The study also confirmed the reliability and validity of the TOSRA in New Zealand schools for the first time.The TOSRA was also used to make comparisons of the science-related attitudes of several subgroups within the study population. Such comparisons included the effects of gender, grade level and band along with consideration of the roles of the teacher and classroom environment on student attitudes. Finally, a teacher friendly set of guidelines for the implementation of cooperative group work and assessment in the classroom has been prepared as result of this ongoing research

The Maid from Nicobar

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/4391/thumbnail.jp

Stratigraphy and chronology of the Stent tephra, a c. 4000 year old distal silicic tephra from Taupo Volcanic Centre, New Zealand.

Tephrostratigraphic and chronologic studies in two areas of the North Island have identified a previously unrecorded, thin, distal silicic tephra derived from the Taupo Volcanic Centre. In Taranaki, three radiocarbon ages of the uncorrelated tephra are consistent with the independent radiocarbon chronology obtained from enveloping Egmontsourced tephras. In western Bay of Plenty, where the uncorrelated tephra is also directly dated, it is overlain by Whakaipo Tephra (c. 2.7 ka) and underlain by Hinemaiaia Tephra (c. 4.5 ka). From these sites in Taranaki and western Bay of Plenty, seven radiocarbon dates obtained on the uncorrelated silicic tephra yield an error-weighted mean age of 3970 ±31 conventional radiocarbon years B.P. The ages on the uncorrelated tephra (informally referred to as Stent tephra) from both areas are statistically identical but significantly different from those on both Waimihia and Hinemaiaia Tephras. occurrence of Stent tephra in Taranaki, c. 160 km upwind from the postulated source area, and in western Bay of Plenty, suggests that it represents the product of a moderately large plinian eruption. Until recently, its validity as a discrete eruptive event had been problematical, because a near-source equivalent deposit between Waimihia and Hinemaiaia Tephras was not recognised in the Taupo area. However, a revised stratigraphy proposed by C. J. N. Wilson in 1993 for eastern sectors of the Taupo area shows that multiple tephra layers were erupted from Taupo volcano between c. 3.9 and 5.2 ka. Of these newly recognised layers, unit-g--the product of a moderately large eruption (>0.15 km3) at c. 4.0 ka--is tentatively correlated with Stent tephra. Other eruptive units recognised by Wilson are either too old or too small in volume to be considered as likely correlatives