Celebrating Achievement
Celebrating Achievement
Three outstanding New Zealanders will be celebrated at Victoria University’s May graduation ceremonies this week (17, 18, 19 May).
Constitutional law expert Peter Hogg, anthropologist Michael D. Jackson and Treaty claim pioneer Sir Tipene O’Regan will be honoured with honorary doctorates at the ceremonies along with hundreds of other graduands.
During the ceremonies, 16 PhDs will be conferred. Topics include the interbreeding between two Chatham Islands parakeet species, the condition of aphasia, and the strategic importance of humour in the workplace.
The traditional street parade of staff and graduands will depart from the Government Buildings Historic Reserve on Wednesday and Thursday at noon, parading along Lambton Quay and Willis and Mercer Streets to finish in Civic Square, where they will be welcomed by Deputy Mayor Alick Shaw.
If the parade is cancelled, notification will be given on NewstalkZB from 11am on the morning of the parade.
Ceremony Details:
Wednesday 17 May: Michael Fowler Centre
Noon
graduation parade
Ceremony 1: 1.30pm Faculty of Commerce
& Administration
Honorary doctorate: Sir Tipene
O’Regan
Ceremony 2: 6.30pm Faculties of Commerce &
Administration and Law
Honorary doctorate: Peter W. Hogg
QC
Thursday 18 May: Michael Fowler Centre
Noon
graduation parade
Ceremony 3: 1.30pm Faculty of
Humanities & Social Sciences
Ceremony 4: 6.30pm Faculty
of Humanities & Social Sciences
Honorary doctorate:
Michael D. Jackson
Friday 19 May: Michael Fowler
Centre
Ceremony 5: 1.30pm Faculty of
Education
Ceremony 6: 6.30pm Faculties of Architecture &
Design and Science
Graduation Stories
Psychology degree
helps recovery
Leo McIntyre is about to graduate with a
BA(Hon.) in Psychology. In 1992, he was diagnosed with
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after working with extremely
explicit police video material in the NZ Police National
Video Unit. Having previously experienced depression, in
1997 he decided to begin studying for a degree in psychology
with a view to becoming a clinical psychologist. He has
found the “inclusive and non-discriminatory environment” of
Victoria University a crucial part of his recovery process,
and is now employed as the chairperson of mood disorder
support organisation Balance NZ Bipolar and Depression
Network and its Wellington branch. Contact Leo on
021-265-4629.
Hip to be a
Graduate
Thirty-five-year-old mother of four Larisa
Mckenna decided to train as a teacher after her youngest
child started school. For three years, she juggled full-time
study with marriage, motherhood and osteo-arthritis. A
congenital hip disorder was to blame for the arthritis,
causing great pain in the simplest of movements. Larisa has
just had hip replacement surgery and intends to complete the
requirements to become a teacher in July. Her husband Phill
says that their children “are enormously proud of their
mother and her achievements, and we know she…will make a
great difference in the lives of any young people fortunate
enough to know her.” Contact Phill on 025 555 5753.
New
Graduate for a New Course
Ngahaka Puketapu-Deys is one of
11 other students to be graduating with a Diploma in Early
Childhood Education, a course held at the Waiwhetu Primary
School in Lower Hutt. Ngahaka began the Whâriki Papatipu
course with her mother Jean Puketapu, founder and driving
force behind the Te Kôhanga Reo movement, who was awarded
her Diploma earlier. Sadly, one of the course graduates
passed away a few weeks before receiving her Diploma. A
second class of students, now in their second year, has been
established and there are 22 students who all work within Te
Kôhanga Reo. Contact Ngahaka on 027-496-4228.
Father of
six finally leaves school
Rob Ferris, describing himself
as “a consummate daydreamer”, left his Catholic college aged
15. Working in construction jobs as a labourer, he
eventually became a journeyman carpenter, builder and
draftsman. He married at 20 and is now the father of six
children. Aged 40, Rob enrolled at Victoria University in
the Bachelor of Architecture degree. In 2006, he graduates
as a B.Arch. Contact Rob on 04 902 1182.
50 years of
separation
Dr Roger Morton Ridley-Smith (74) will
graduate with a BA(Hons) in French on May 17, having
completed his BA from Canterbury University College more
than 50 years ago. He also holds a medical degree from
Otago University College (1959) and worked as a general
practitioner in Wellington for many years. His Honours
research included a translation of the diary of a French
farmer who lived close to the front during World War I. Dr
Ridley-Smith bought the diary at a jumble sale while
holidaying in France 10 years ago and has since met the
grandson of the farmer, who still lives in the tiny town of
Vavincourt. Contact: Dr Ridley-Smith on 04 479 1919
Peter
Gallagher
Peter Gallagher is graduating with his PhD and
explored an alternative view to current conventional
thinking about the relationship between theory and practice
in the education of nursing professionals. Student nurses
described how they experienced and managed situations when
the theory and practice of nursing misaligned and clashed
with core personal principles about nursing care. The
conflict influenced the worth each student placed on the
relevance of theory in practice. In order to maximise
nursing learning in practical contexts, educators must
ensure the personal experience of students is highly
respected and integrated into a programme of study. Contact
Peter on (06) 952 7001 ext. 70012.
Patricia McLean
By
mapping Maurice Gee's fiction for adult audiences, Patricia
McLean’s PhD thesis uncovered a new masculine ethic in his
works that included the possibility of love. It examined how
the foundational myths of Pâkehâ culture – such as
egalitarianism, male camaraderie and the ‘Just City’ – are
reinterpreted, even replaced, by a set of values that
include forgiveness, self-acceptance and a restorative and
redemptive love. In addition to offering a new perspective
on Maurice Gee’s work, Patricia McLean’s research
contributes to critical accounts of gender and
post-colonialism in twentieth-century New Zealand literary
culture. Contact Patricia on (04) 383 9841.
Lauren
Cloutman
Lauren Cloutman's PhD thesis explored the
condition of aphasia – the inability to produce or
understand language as a result of stroke-related brain
damage. Aphasia sufferers commonly have difficulty finding
particular words, such as the names of objects. Semantic
context or meaning relationships were used to learn more
about the mental processes involved in word retrieval and
how these can fail in aphasia. This information provided
insights into both impaired and normal language production,
which may be used to develop better treatment interventions
for overcoming these language difficulties in the future.
Contact Lauren on (04) 977 7763 or 021 263
1421.
Alison Sutherland
Alison Sutherland’s PhD
thesis explored the perception of schooling among young
serious offenders, adding their voice to the literature on
young people who commit crime. Drawing on more than 20
years’ teaching experience, her passion for education was
the antithesis of the shared dislike of school by those in
the youth prison system. She found while schools did not
necessarily cause a young person to commit crime, the
cumulative effect of negative school experiences could
propel a vulnerable young person toward persistent criminal
offending. A unique opportunity emerges for schools to
interrupt the pathway to prison through early identification
and timely intervention. Contact Alison on (06) 378 6686 or
021 201
5007.
Ends