Arts and Social Sciences Papers

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/2

This collection houses research from Te Kura Toi School of Arts, Te Kura Whatu Oho Mauri School of Psychology, and Te Kura Aronui School of Social Sciences at the University of Waikato.

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Lost in translation or lack of nuance? Perception of (near-)synonymy of common te reo Māori loanwords in New Zealand English
(Australian Linguistic Society, 2024) Pohl, Alexander; Calude, Andreea S.; Zenner, Eline; Rosseel, Laura; Whaanga, Hēmi
Ongoing contact between languages and their speakers inevitably leads to a flow of words being borrowed from one language into another. Research in the field of language contact has established and documented the kinds of borrowed words that stick in their recipient language (Haspelmath 2009; Winford 2010). However, one question that has received comparatively less attention is how a newly adopted loanword relates to the structure of the existing lexicon it enters. In recent years, language contact research has thus seen a paradigm shift towards an onomasiological perspective (see Anderson et al. 2017; Crombez et al. 2022; Zenner et al. 2023). Within this approach, most studies looking at lexical variation between loanwords and their (near-)synonyms employ corpus linguistics methods (e.g. Onysko & Winter-Froemel 2011; Soares da Silva 2013). However, there is variation in how these corpus studies have investigated loanword meanings, and, to our knowledge, there has been almost no experimental research focussed specifically on the relationship between loanwords and their (near-)synonyms to date. This project presents a large-scale experimental approach from a case-study examining Māori loanwords borrowed into New Zealand English (NZE). NZE presents an unusual language contact situation because it involves a dominant language (NZE) receiving an exceptionally high amount of lexical material (words and phrases) from an Indigenous language: Māori. Further adding to the uniqueness of this contact situation is the fact that only a fraction of the population (<10%) speaks Māori fluently (Statistics New Zealand 2019). Nonetheless, Māori loanwords are ubiquitous, salient, and probably still increasing within the NZE lexicon (Macalister 2007; Trye et al. 2019). One important dimension of this set of borrowings are their semantic characteristics, which straddle three main classes of words: flora and fauna (mānuka ‘tea tree’), material culture (maunga ‘mountain’) and social culture (mana ‘power’). Here, we report on a Qualtrics experiment devised to probe the perceived relationship between 60 Māori loanwords and their NZE equivalents, as ascertained from published sources. The synonymy judgements were elicited for pairs (e.g. whānau – family) using an analogue slider (ranging from 0 = non-synonymous to 100 = fully synonymous). Data was collected using a three-tiered questionnaire: 1) assessing synonymy of loanwords; 2) eliciting strategies for semantic assessments; and 3) collating background information about participants. Following cleaning and exclusions, the dataset showed a skew towards female participants, and for this reason, we focus our statistical analysis on the core sample containing (n = 170) young women (18-24 years). The results of the synonymy judgements analysis consist of qualitative inspections of box plots in relation to the semantic characteristics of Māori words in question, as well as sociodemographic variables of interest, specifically: years lived in Aotearoa NZ, and a composite score capturing exposure to and attitude towards Māori (TRMO). Preliminary findings suggest that many people think Māori loanwords are (highly) synonymous with NZE lexical alternatives. Our regression analyses exhibit evidence that years lived in Aotearoa NZ (p = 0.0054) and TRMO (p = 8.26e-10) can predict knowledge of Māori words. No statistically significant evidence was found for any predictors regarding the scores of the synonymy judgements; instead, we found that the random effects account for most of the variation. This is indicative of idiosyncratic loanword behaviour, in line with situations where variation is in-flux. These findings will be complemented by qualitative analyses of comments provided by participants in the open answer section (2). The talk will conclude with a summary of contributions to the general understanding of loanword meanings and contact-induced lexical change.
Mainstreaming managed retreat in Aotearoa New Zealand [Policy Brief]
(Resilience to Nature's Challenges, 2023-04) Hanna, Christina Jane; White, Iain; Cretney, Raven
Retreat in Aotearoa has evolved from early indigenous practices which saw relocation from harm as a viable option, to the onset of colonisation and more protection-based approaches, to more passive policy that acknowledged the option of retreat but provided little guidance or implementation support, to today, when retreat is becoming a strategic part of our national risk management framework.
Final report: Reducing burglary through Secured by Design: a meta-analysis
(Te Puna Haumaru | New Zealand Institute for Security and Crime Science, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato | The University of Waikato, 2024-09) Armitage, Rachel; Sidebottom, Aiden; Tompson, Lisa
Secured by Design (SBD) is a UK-based crime prevention initiative that sets security standards for the built environment. Buildings that meet prescribed security standards are awarded SBD status and, all things being equal, are assumed to be at lower risk of crime. SBD draws heavily on the principles of situational crime prevention and crime prevention through environmental design. This study reviewed the evidence on whether properties that meet SBD standards experience less crime than properties that do not. Following a comprehensive search of the literature, nine UK studies were included in our review. Eligibility was limited to studies that (1) measured levels of crime in SBD developments compared to matched non-SBD developments or (2) reported changes in crime before and after SBD accreditation in a treatment and control group. This sample included studies of new dwellings built to SBD standards (n = 7) and existing dwellings refurbished to SBD standards (n = 2). Our analysis found that eight of the nine included studies reported that SBD accreditation was associated with lower levels of burglary. In only three of these studies was the observed effect statistically significant, however. Synthesising data across all nine studies, our results indicate that overall, burglary in SBD properties was 53% lower than in non-SBD properties. The impact on burglary was greater still when focussing only on new properties built to SBD standards. For this sample of studies, we found a 65% relative reduction in burglary compared to matched non-SBD properties. No statistically significant effect was observed for other forms of crime and disorder. Insufficient data meant that we could not measure the impact of SBD specifically in refurbished properties nor could we test for crime displacement or diffusion of crime control benefits. Importantly, there was no evidence of SBD leading to an increase in crime and disorder. The findings from this review support the general hypothesis that more secure households experience less burglary. They also lend further support for the basic idea that crime can be reduced by removing opportunities to commit it. From a policy perspective, our results re-emphasise the importance of engaging with manufacturers and design professionals to ensure that crime prevention is considered at the design and planning stage of urban developments. More specifically, our findings indicate that upgrading and/or maintaining effective SBD standards is a sensible strategy to reduce burglary. Simply put, properties which met SBD standards were significantly less likely to be burgled. Although the results of this study are generally positive, there are some notes of caution. Only a small number of studies met the inclusion criteria for this review (n = 9). This was most pronounced for studies of existing properties refurbished to SBD standards (n = 2). Of those studies that were included in the review, weaknesses were identified concerning study design and limited data were provided on factors such as the quality of SBD measures and crime displacement. Moreover, three of nine included studies are now over twenty years old and relate to SBD standards that have been superseded. Relatedly, the quality of security in non-SBD properties has, in general, improved over time, influenced by a combination of technological developments, policy changes and, potentially, the growth and influence of SBD itself. One consequence of these general improvements is that the difference in security between SBD and non-SBD developments may, on average, be less pronounced today than it was thirty years ago. This raises concerns about the equivalence of SBD vs non-SBD evaluation sites; some properties might meet SBD standards despite not being SBD accredited, thereby muddying SBD vs non-SBD comparisons. Newer high quality evaluation studies are therefore needed to determine whether the positive effects reported here hold in contemporary urban environments, with greater attention paid to the quality of household security being compared across SBD and non-SBD developments. Furthermore, to advance the evidence base for SBD, we recommend that future evaluation studies include a wider range of outcome measures (including displacement) and put data collection measures in place better to understand what specific aspects of SBD affect crime, through what mechanisms and under what conditions.
Research methods in psychology (Aotearoa New Zealand edition)
(Lulu Press, 2020) Price, Paul C.; Jhangiani, Rajiv S.; Veale, Jaimie; Williams, Matt N.
Psychology has its own set of tools to investigate the important research questions of its field. Psychology is a relatively new field with methods and practices that are evolving at a rapid rate. With this textbook, we introduce students to the fundamental principles of what it is like to think like a psychology researcher. In recent years, the conversation in psychology has shifted to an introspective one, re-examining the knowledge that we consider foundational. As many introspective conversations do, this one caused a crisis of faith. Psychologists are questioning if we really know what we thought we knew or if we simply got lucky. We are struggling with understanding our publication biases and the training that we provide our students. Instead of shying away from this controversy, this textbook invites the reader to step right into the middle of it. With every step of the way, the research process in psychology is fraught with decisions, trade-offs, and uncertainty. It is not an easy route to traverse, but we hope this textbook will be a roadmap that can inspire the direction if not give absolute instructions. As the field grapples with its identity, we will use better tools, more transparent practices, and more open conversations to improve our understanding of human behaviour.
Words on Walls: Te reo Māori (loan)words in Aotearoa New Zealand primary school classrooms
(2024) Burnette, Jessie; Calude, Andreea S.; Whaanga, Hēmi
The unique language contact situation within Aotearoa New Zealand has informed a range of studies of the defining and increasingly salient feature of New Zealand English (NZE): the integration of loanwords from the indigenous, donor language, te reo Māori, into the dominant recipient language, English (Hay et al. 2008). As NZE is experiencing a state of great lexical flux, it is important to establish which (loan)words children are regularly exposed to and what social meanings they may be acquiring in relation to these. One relevant domain that can be examined for this purpose is that of the classroom. The classroom is educational in the traditional sense, but also in the developmental sense, in the acquisition of broader social meaning. Previous schoolscape research has highlighted not only the pedagogical importance of these spaces, but their influence in the construction and transmission of language ideologies (Pzymus and Huddleston 2021; Brown 2012). The present study aims to answer two questions: RQ1) Which (loan)words are children regularly exposed to through schoolscapes in Aotearoa (and do these words align with the loanwords identified as frequently appearing in previously collected corpora)? RQ2) What implicit language ideologies does the presentation of loanwords display (e.g. are loanwords presented as ‘flagged’/foreign (Levendis and Calude 2019))? This study brings together quantitative and qualitative analysis methods in an in-depth investigation of nine classrooms within three separate primary schools, and aims to provide a broad and perationalizable framework for conducting LL.
Exploring the Acceptability, Appropriateness, and Utility of a Digital Single-Session Intervention (Project SOLVE-NZ) for Adolescent Mental Health in New Zealand: Interview Study Among Students and Teachers
(JMIR Publications Inc., 2026-01-13) Blind, Morgan Taylor; Starkey, Nicola; Bird, Amy; McMillan, Hoana
Background: Globally, we face a significant treatment gap in mental health care, with extensive wait times, exorbitant prices, and concerns about appropriateness for non-Western clients. Digital single-session interventions (SSIs) may offer a promising alternative. SSIs target particular mechanisms that underlie broad-ranging psychopathology, including deficits in problem-solving skills. Objective: Developed in the United States, Project SOLVE is a digital SSI that teaches problem-solving skills to adolescents. This study evaluated the acceptability, appropriateness, and utility of an adapted version, Project SOLVE-NZ, among rangatahi (young people) in Aotearoa New Zealand. Additionally, we evaluated a comparable online activity, Project Success-NZ, as a potential active control condition in a future randomized controlled trial of Project SOLVE-NZ. Methods: A sample of school students and teachers completed Project SOLVE-NZ and Project Success-NZ. Feedback on the interventions was collected through focus groups and semistructured interviews. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: In total, 12 students (aged between 13 and 14 years; female students: n=6, 50%) participated in a focus group, and 8 teachers (teaching experience: mean 8.75, SD 7.96 years; female teachers: n=5, 62.5%) participated in individual interviews. Participants endorsed the sociocultural relevance of Project SOLVE-NZ and Project Success-NZ to rangatahi in Aotearoa New Zealand and viewed all existing adaptations favorably. Participants felt that the interventions would be valuable to a wide range of rangatahi, helping to fill gaps in students’ learning and providing benefits to mental health. Participants also believed that the interventions may be particularly relevant for youths experiencing economic hardship. Interestingly, most participants had no preference for either Project SOLVE-NZ or Project Success-NZ, and they believed that both interventions could provide ongoing support to rangatahi throughout the school year. Teachers provided some suggestions on increasing student engagement with the interventions, namely, through increased cultural and gender representation, visual and literacy aids, whakawhanaungatanga (relationship building), and teacher guidance. Overall, interviews revealed that both interventions were perceived as acceptable, appropriate, and useful for rangatahi in New Zealand and highlighted further adaptations that could be made prior to a randomized controlled trial of Project SOLVE-NZ across schools nationwide. Conclusions: Digital SSIs show promise in addressing the mental health treatment gap for adolescents. Both Project SOLVE-NZ and Project Success-NZ were well-received by students and teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand and may provide benefits to youth mental health. We make the following recommendations for others interested in designing digital SSIs or similar tools for young people: involve rangatahi and relevant stakeholders in the design process, consider how the intervention will be implemented, ensure that the intervention accommodates a range of cognitive abilities, and ensure that the intervention reflects the diversity of rangatahi today.
Enclosures and Oceans
(Routledge, 2025) McCormack, Fiona; Foley, Paul; Silver, Jennifer
Enclosure is a concept used to describe how spaces, previously outside the reach of capitalist discipline, become subsumed to market logics, primarily through processes of privatisation. Beginning in Europe in the late Middle Ages, enclosure movements sliced up common fields, pastures and wasteland into private holdings, expropriating peasants from their land while leaving them ‘free’ to sell their labour on the emergent market economy (Hanna 1990; Polanyi 2001). This is a transformation of human and non-human lives and, crucially, of the socioecological relations that had worked to sustain this intersection. Notions of improvement, efficiency and modernization underpin enclosure drives, ideologies carried to the colonies to justify the removal of indigenous peoples from ancestral territories; a violence enacted through both military and legal means (Thompson 1991).
Gender affirming or disenfranchised grief? Considering death rights in Aotearoa New Zealand
(Routledge, 2026) Schott, Gareth R.; Doyle, Benjamin Kauri; Grant, Wairehu; Lykke, Nina; Mehrabi, Tara; Radomska, Marietta
The pre-colonial Māori world treated variety in gender and sexual expression in an accepting and encompassing manner (Te Awekotuku, et al. 2005; Aspin and Hutchings 2007). Among the many negative health implications of colonialism for Māori, it is acknowledged that “tangata takatāpui [LGBTQ+ people] moved from a social and cultural situation where minority stress was simply not a factor … to one where it has become a key force in the negative health outcomes they experience” (Stevens 2016, 15). This chapter acknowledges how death can generate ‘ownership battles’ over the deceased, resulting in members of the LGBTQ+ community, receiving final farewells that have been unrepresentative, or a reversal of the freedom to self-determine identity. We reflect on how death rights for takatāpui individuals is a human and cultural right in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. In doing so, it calls for an extension of the principles of the Māori health framework Te Pae Māhutonga currently being applied in advocation of gender affirming health research and practice conducted in Aotearoa New Zealand (Veale et al. 2019). This chapter reconsiders how we understand ‘templated’ rituals and death rites by introducing the challenges of a more responsive and gender affirming parting.
How going to space changes the debate about radical human enhancement
(Wiley, 2025) Agar, Nicholas
This paper predicts that humans will venture into space and that, to survive and thrive in space, we will need to enhance our capacities radically. Moderate enhancement is insufficient for a humanity that commits to a future in Space. The paper is a partial retraction of the author's claims about the morality and prudential rationality of radical human enhancement. It allows that radical enhancement may be imprudent and immoral for Earth-bound humans, but essential for humans who settle in space. The paper advances a conjecture about how to assess which kinds of radical enhancements are required and which should be rejected. A humanity that commits to a future in Space may make progress on some disputes that today seem intractable.
A meta-analysis on the relationship between climate anxiety and wellbeing
(Elsevier, 2024-03) Gago, Tomás; Sargisson, Rebecca J.; Milfont, Taciano L.
Climate anxiety refers to the negative emotional reactions that a person can experience in response to climate change irrespective of prior direct experience with it. Research suggests this emotional reaction ranges from successful coping and adaptation to clinical-level psychological impairment. The Climate Change Anxiety Scale (CCAS) was designed to measure a person's level of climate anxiety impairment. However, inconsistent results when testing the relationship between CCAS scores and psychological wellbeing measures have raised questions about the scale's validity and usefulness for assessing climate change's mental health impacts. Our goal was to quantitatively summarise the direction and strength of the correlations between climate anxiety (as indexed by the CCAS) and measures of psychological wellbeing. We identified 25 studies and 60 effect sizes for inclusion, and meta-analytic results indicated a moderate negative correlation between overall CCAS scores and psychological wellbeing (r = −0.296, 95% CI [-0.360; −0.230], p < .001). The meta-analytic estimates were consistent across CCAS subscales and diagnosis-specific measures of wellbeing. Multilevel meta-regressions used to estimate the influence of potential moderators indicated that the correlations were stronger when the sample's mean level of environmental identity was higher, and when a measure indicative of mental unwellness was used. We discuss implications for the nature of the relationship between climate anxiety and psychological wellbeing in general, and for the use of the CCAS in clinical and broader contexts.
Mindful publishing in the AI era: An editor’s perspective on trends, challenges, and insights in mindfulness research
(2024) Medvedev, Oleg N.
In an age where AI influences many facets of academic pursuit, the dissemination of mindfulness research is undergoing significant transformation. This keynote delivers an editor's perspective on the latest trends in mindfulness research, navigating through the possibilities and perils that AI presents to scholarly publishing. The talk will cover the core trends revolutionizing how mindfulness research reaches academic and public domains. It will also elaborate on how AI impacts the success rates of paper acceptance and publication, and the broader implications for researchers striving to contribute novel insights in a highly competitive space. This discussion will outline the increased efficiency and new opportunities for disseminating research findings, while also considering the challenges of maintaining rigorous peer-review standards in the fast-paced digital era. From an editorial vantage point, we share insights on harnessing AI to enhance the visibility and impact of mindfulness studies, and how this influences the themes and narratives that gain prominence in the literature. The talk will reflect on the emerging challenges such as ensuring the ethical use of AI, addressing the digital divide in research accessibility, and preserving the integrity of mindfulness as a discipline amidst rapid technological change. This keynote presentation aims to equip researchers with an understanding of current publishing trends in mindfulness research, stimulate discussion on overcoming associated challenges, and inspire innovative approaches to sharing their work effectively. Attendees will leave with a clearer vision for navigating the evolving landscape of mindfulness research publication in the era of AI integration.
Mindful publishing in the AI era: Navigating trends and fostering environmental awareness
(2023) Medvedev, Oleg N.
Mindful publishing plays a key role in bridging technological advancement with environmental mindfulness. This presentation is offering an editor’s perspective on the current trends and future directions in the publishing world, with a central focus on fostering environmental awareness by considering potential benefits and risks of AI engagement. Drawing upon recent data and publications journals such as Mindfulness, we illustrate the powerful potential for a symbiotic relationship between mindfulness research, AI technologies and environmental stewardship in publishing. The talk further navigates the emergent pathways of conducting research and dissemination of knowledge leveraging AI tools, while minimizing environmental footprint. By introducing the Special Issue on Environmental Mindfulness, we invite stakeholders to explore the landscape of mindful publishing in the AI epoch, a venture promising to open fresh avenues for research and discussions. By delineating the contemporary nexus of mindful publishing and AI, we aim to spearhead a movement towards more conscious, environmentally sustainable knowledge dissemination paradigms, thereby championing the nurturing of a society that is both informed and sustainable.
Science-practice roadshow 1: Summary perspectives from centralised entities and agencies
(NIWA | Taihoro Nukurangi, 2022-02) Serrao-Neumann, Silvia; White, Iain
Flooding is Aotearoa-New Zealand’s most frequent natural hazard, regularly damaging buildings and infrastructure networks, and causing months of disruption to communities and businesses (Hutchings et al. 2019). Also, floods have indirect, cascading, and more intangible impacts (Lawrence, Blackett, and Cradock-Henry 2020), such as the withdrawal of future investment or the emotional stress of recovery. flood risk is predicted to rise quickly due to the combination of climate change and rapid urban intensification (Ministry for the Environment and The Flood Risk Management and River Control Review Steering Group 2008). Currently, there is no consistent approach to accurately determine flood risk on a national scale, nor how this may be changing as the climate warms. Instead, flooding risk assessments are done for individual catchments or locations, with the goal of managing and mitigating on the local scale. Local and regional governments vary widely in their capability and capacity to undertake this work (Ford, Berrang-Ford, and Berrang Ford 2011) and, thus, significant differences in data availability and modelling approaches mean that integration of results to gain a pan-region or nationwide picture has not been possible. The ‘Mā te haumaru ō nga puna wai ō Rākaihautū ka ora mo ake tonu: Increasing flood resilience across Aotearoa’ research develop a detailed nationwide model that could inform strategic and co-ordinated nationwide decision-making and regulations to support improved resilience to flood risk across the country. Utilising new methods and advances in computer processing and automation, the programme is developing a dynamic risk modelling framework that will assess flood hazard for every catchment in the country and under differing climate scenarios. The model will account for the risks to both built infrastructure and communities so that a fuller understanding of societal costs and impacts can be established. The model’s utility for supporting decision-making will be investigated using an initial set of scenarios for environmental planning, policy settings and infrastructure investment options. Two overarching themes across all of the research - Mtauranga Mori and Uncertainty – are designed to utilise the diverse knowledge systems available to develop tools that are relevant for communities throughout Aotearoa-New Zealand, and to take into account and communicate more clearly flood risks. Improved resilience to flooding across Aotearoa-New Zealand is a key outcome sought by the research programme, however it cannot be achieved by research alone. Instead, knowledge and information developed within the programme must be utilised by practitioners in their work to assist communities to plan for, manage, mitigate and avoid flood risks. New knowledge from the programme must be incorporated by practitioners into further tools, policy and decision-making frameworks. This knowledge translation however is not a straight forward process (Dilling and Lemos 2011). Cultural, behavioural and cognitive differences between those who produce and those who utilise knowledge mean that research outputs may not fit the requirements of their intended users, and thus, uptake of research outputs may be compromised. Conversely, strong engagement of knowledge users in the knowledge production process is known to increase the likelihood, and impact, of knowledge implementation. Stakeholders are key members of the programme’s research team, representing views across central and local government, engineering, planning consultancies, emergency management, insurance and banking industries, and Te Rūnanga o Wairewa (Banks Peninsula). To broaden the range of stakeholder perspectives, and to facilitate relationships across the programme, we have established a boundary organisation – Te W Te W . Boundary organisations (Guston 2001; Kirchhoff, Esselman, and Brown 2015) are forums that bridge between the two relatively different social worlds of knowledge producers (researchers/scientists) and users (practitioners/policy makers). These forums create and sustain legitimate space and collaboration for knowledge/information to be co-designed, co-produced and co-disseminated (Serrao-Neumann, Di Giulio, and Low Choy 2020). Within our programme, Te W Te W is responsible for organising and facilitating communication and collaboration activities – events (Science-Practice oadshows), communications channels such as an electronic newsletter and website, and learning opportunities. Through this organisation, we are fostering trust, legitimacy and capacity for information use so that our research results will be usable, useful, and used. This report summarises the discussion and perspectives shared at the first Science-Practice Roadshow held in October 2021.
Racism and intersections with health services
(2025-10-07) Cormack, Donna
WERO webinar hosted by Māori and Indigenous Analysis Ltd & AATEA Solutions.
Artificial Intelligence Attitudes Inventory (AIAI): Development and validation using Rasch methodology
(Research Square, 2024-05-14) Krägeloh, Christian U.; Melekhov, Vladimir; Alyami, Mohsen M.; Medvedev, Oleg N.
With the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), it is vital to develop psychometrically sound measures of public attitudes toward this technology. The present study aimed to refine a pool of candidate items to create a concise yet robust inventory for assessing attitudes toward AI. Using a dataset of 604 participants from the general population of the United States, a pool of 96 candidate items was subjected to iterative Rasch analysis to reduce the number of items while ensuring psychometric robustness. The resulting scale, named the Artificial Intelligence Attitudes Inventory (AIAI), consists of two 8-item subscales measuring positive and negative attitudes toward AI. Analyses revealed that these subscales are distinct constructs rather than opposites on a single continuum, and they are only weakly related to psychological distress. The AIAI provides a concise yet comprehensive measure of positive and negative attitudes toward AI that can be efficiently administered alongside other measures. The findings underscore the multifaceted nature of public perceptions of AI and highlight the need for further research into the profiles and determinants of these attitudes. As AI continues to shape our world, the AIAI offers a valuable tool for understanding and monitoring public sentiment toward this transformative technology.
Contemporary relevance of Anne Moody, Black studies and imprisoned Black intellectual thought
(Queen's University, 2025-12-31) Norris, Adele N.; Conley, Glen; Cooper, Garrick; Martin, Jessica
Anne Moody’s 1968 autobiographical text, Coming of Age in Mississippi, is receiving increased interest during this current moment of legislated anti-Blackness, most observable in the removal/outlawing of Black history and thought. Moody’s early life in the Deep South during the 1940s-1950s and as a foot soldier in the Civil Rights Movement inform how we understand the continuity of anti-blackness and racial terror. Glen Conley, an imprisoned citizen, examines and teaches Anne Moody within a Mississippi prison context. While her book is used across several academic disciplines, the study of Moody within the prison context is not well known. Conley’s political poetry explores Moody’s life and text, bringing renewed attention to themes of Black mental health, survival, and resistance under a harsh U.S. Southern regime. Using a prison-praxis framework, this paper centers the knowledge production from the civically dead (imprisoned population), which allows for broader insights into themes of racialized confinement, criminalization and surveillance. Thus, this essay situates Conley’s scholarship within the lineage of Black imprisoned radical tradition where he draws attention to Moody’s prescient voice during a political climate of overt forms of legislated anti-Blackness and systemic erasure.
Bridging disciplinary boundaries through facilitated teaching partnerships
(University of Newcastle, 2025) Jolley, Alison; Fester, Victor D.; Robertson, Nigel; Campion, Jennifer; Gibbons, Stephanie; McGaughran, Angela
In times of increasing workload, even the most well-intentioned of staff may struggle to dedicate time to reflect on and develop their teaching practices. One accessible and important way to engage in this work is through conversations with colleagues. Prior work suggests that even informal conversations can help several dimensions of teaching and learning – enabling colleagues to better manage practicalities, improve their practice, be reassured about their approaches, vent about events, and transform their mindsets. We describe a structured model for facilitating collegial conversations that might not otherwise happen organically. Participants of the ‘Teaching Partnerships Initiative’ (n=14) were assembled into duos or trios with similar teaching and learning interests, but different academic disciplines. With support from an academic developer, participants worked together to articulate their goals and progress then reflect on both over four to six months. Projects included enhancing engagement of online learners, developing more inclusive assessments, and creating interactive activities. Here, we present reflections from three participants on the impact that this work has had on their teaching development, both immediately and approximately 18 months after the initiative. Participants reported multiple benefits, including prompting changes in practice, affirming existing practice, receiving peer feedback from an ‘outside’ perspective, having accountability, and creating tangible teaching resources (activities and assessments). Alongside participant reflections, we present facilitator perspectives and contextualise our results within the wider academic development literature. We also discuss recommendations for future initiatives based on our findings, including intentionally partnering colleagues from different disciplines, balancing structure and flexibility, and providing choice for participants to focus on topics driven by their own specific interests.
Representations of te reo Māori and te ao Māori in a translingual picturebook: How my Koro became a Star
(Taylor & Francis, 2025) Barbour, Julie Renee; Walker, Bryony; Daly, Nicola; Joseph, Darryn; Price, Te Kani; Vanderschantz, Nicholas; Tahau-Hodges, Pania; Teepa, Kawata; Waitere, Eboni
While English is the most commonly used language in Aotearoa New Zealand, it is a multilingual nation with two languages recognised as official: te reo Māori (the Māori language) and New Zealand Sign Language. The English language is dominant in children’s literature published in Aotearoa New Zealand, but since the 1980s there has been an increase in the number of picturebooks featuring two languages, te reo Māori and English. Previous work has explored how representations of te reo Māori and English in pukapuka pikitia reorua (dual language picturebooks) in Aotearoa reflect changing attitudes towards the two languages. In this article, we focus particularly on Brianne Te Paa and Story Hemi-Morehouse’s picturebook How my Koro became a Star. Originally written in te reo Māori, this multi-award winning picturebook is located at the beginning of Matariki, the Māori New Year celebration. In a move away from the linguistic analysis of te reo Māori being ‘borrowed’ by English, we consider how storytellers like Te Paa weave Māori language together with English in a translingual publication, supporting reader comprehension of Māori vocabulary and cultural meanings through embedded illustrations and explanations, inviting the curious reader to learn beyond the story.
On artificial superintelligence and the problem of charismatic extinction threats
(Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), 2025) Agar, Nicholas; Vilaça, Murilo
This paper focuses on the challenge of finding a rational response to Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) as an extinction threat. We allow that artificially superintelligent beings are possible. This leaves open the question of how much we should worry about them. We treat ASI as a charismatic extinction threat. Our starting analysis of charisma comes from the sociologist Max Weber (1947). We extend the concept of charisma beyond individual personalities to events including extinction threats. Our principal example of a charismatic extinction threat is Skynet, the human-unfriendly AI of the movies of the Terminator franchise. Skynet’s charisma interferes with the processes by which we rationally evaluate future risks. Our exploration of the psychological and emotional dimensions of assessing extinction threats considers work by the Nobel laureate economist Robert Shiller (2019) in the emerging field of narrative economics. We connect the virality of extinction stories with the work of the psychologist Elke Weber. According to Elke Weber (2010) we have a finite pool of worry to allocate to all of our future concerns. The charisma of Skynet means that we risk worrying too much about it and, as a consequence, worrying insufficiently about the uncharismatic challenge of climate change. We conclude with a brief discussion of a proposal that could lead to a more rational allocation of worry about extinction and other threats to humanity. We counsel imagination insurance for an intrinsically uncertain future.
Disentangling assistive technology: Exploring the experiences of athletes with physical impairments in disability sport
(Taylor & Francis, 2023) Asare, Francis; Townsend, Robert C.; Burrows, Lisette
The use of assistive technology (AT) in sport raises critical questions about disability, access, equity, and embodiment in culture and society. In this paper, we seek to provide some clarity on the various ways that disabled people use, interact with, and experience AT through engagement in disability sport. Using semi-structured interviews, this paper centralises the experiences of twelve athletes with different physical impairments as they use AT for sports participation. We highlight a diverse range of experiences, illustrating how ATs function to provide athletes with a sense of embodied freedom and (im)possibilities, as well as exploring the influence of AT on athletes’ construction of self and other. Finally, we provide some insight into the dimensions of access that are required to fully utilise AT in sport, specifically focusing on the process of learning to use and respond to AT. We envisage this paper may inform disability and AT scholars, advocates, and sports sociologists as they build on and extend empirical work and advocacy at the intersection of AT, disability, and sport.

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