Arts Faculty

Employing the dramaturgical methodology of Pandemic/Epidemic Embodied Performance (‘PEEP’), this practice-led research project staged a live theatre production of the ancient Greek tragedy Antigone, by Sophocles, in Auckland, New Zealand, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the restriction placed on theatre because of the global pandemic, the resulting production actualised a range of methods for theatre to respond in times of crisis while retaining the aesthetics and ephemeral qualities of live performance. Integral to this research is an exploration of how ancient Greek tragedy is relevant to contemporary theatre audiences.

The research project extensively engages with the scenographic work of practitioners Lizzie Clachan and Soutra Gilmour (focusing on their performance design contributions in British theatre), which influenced and informed the design of PEEP: Antigone. Artist Marcel Duchamp’s theoretic perception of spectatorship and liveness in Art is explored through his sculpture Étant Donnés: 1. La Chute d’eau, 2. Le Gaz d’éclairage (Given: 1. The Waterfall, 2. The Illuminating Gas). An examination of Robert Lepage’s roles as a dramaturg, director, and designer of the theatre, makes personal the pressures of working within the theatre and supported comprehension of the external conflicts that can obstruct the nature of theatre-making. Central to PEEP’s contextual focus is Feminist Theory and Theatre (FTT) in conjunction with Research as Theatre (RaT). These theories are explored through critical scholars Judith Butler and Yelena Gulzman, who subsequently argue for and against the approach that all research is categorically performative but not necessarily theatrical.

Positioning the research through an epistemologically dramaturgical and theatrical
perspective, the written thesis follows the structure of an ancient Greek tragic plot, with titles to guide the audience through the story of this research process.

Specimens of a late Bajocian to early Callovian isocrinid assigned to Pentacrinites cf. P. californicus (Clark), and specimens collected by Hikuroa in 1999–2000, are described as a new species of Chariocrinus. All specimens were collected from rock exposures of the Latady Formation at eight localities in the Behrendt and Hauberg Mountains, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica.The fauna, preserved in situ at all localities, is essentially complete, but due to tectonism, localities may have been moved many kilometres from their original position. Chariocrinus latadiensis n. sp. is compared with congeneric species and those of Hispidocrinus. It is the first record of the genus in the Southern Hemisphere, which has European Tethyan affinities. Columnals are pentastellate to pentalobate, and the symplectial articula appear diagnostic of Hispidocrinus but are included in Chariocrinus on the basis of spineless axillaries and fused adjacent crenulae; those of Hispidocrinus are spined and separated by a furrow or smooth band, respectively.A single pluricolumnal (?Apiocrinus) is the only associated crinoid found at any of the localities. Chariocrinus latadiensis lived a semi‐sessile existence on a volcarenite substrate in association with vagrant ammonites, epifaunal and infaunal bivalves, and epifaunal brachiopods. The benthic taxa lived in shallow, low energy marine environments in the Middle Jurassic, part of a submarine back‐arc basin near the shore off southeastern Gondwana.

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a recent geotechnical technique used to observe subsurface stratigraphy in a continuous transect. GPR emits short pulses of electromagnetic energy into the ground that are reflected back to the receiver according to the dielectric permittivity of the sediments below. Prominent reflectors within the sediment are then used to construct a GPR profile that can then be interpreted to yield information on depositional history. GPR has been used in a variety of settings outlined by Neal .

Habitat restoration is a low cost solution to water quality and runoff management issues. When planning a watershed scale restoration project, the choice of sites must be optimized to minimize financial and social cost whilst maximizing environmental benefits such as nutrient removal. This project has developed a land score system for prioritizing habitat restoration sites using the cost-benefit analysis framework. Benefits were assessed using a combination of two quantitative metrics: terrain-landuse analysis to identify areas of high areal pollutant flux and the Mauri Model decision-making framework to account for social, cultural, environmental and economic factors. The result is a simple, flexible restoration site prioritization tool that utilizes readily available data and can easily be implemented by land planners in a variety of watersheds. This decision making tool was applied as a case study to the Tarawera Watershed in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand with the objective of decreasing nutrient pollution in the watershed. The metrics used in this tool proved effective in anticipating hydrological, environmental and anthropologic constraints that were used to pick sites for restoration. The final result was an ordinally ranked map of potential restoration sites. It is anticipated that this technique will prove useful in a variety of watersheds despite variation in management goals and geographic location.

Mātauranga Māori spans Māori knowledge, culture, values and worldview. Pūrākau and maramataka, forms of mātauranga Māori, comprise knowledge generated using methods and techniques developed independently from other knowledge systems. Hitherto mostly ignored or disregarded by the science community because it seemed to be myth and legend, fantastic and implausible, mātauranga Māori includes knowledge generated using techniques consistent with the scientific method, but explained according to a Māori world view. Acknowledging this extends the history of scientific endeavour back to when Māori arrived in Aotearoa and Te Wai Pounamu, many centuries ago.