"Appear as crucified for me" : sight, suffering, and spiritual transformation in the hymns of Charles Wesley

Early Methodist laypeople often described their conversion experiences in terms of seeing the suffering of Christ. This article considers this theme within early Methodist culture by examining the relationship between sight, suffering, and spiritual transformation in the hymns of Charles Wesley. Many of Wesley's hymns depict the suffering of Christ in evocative detail, encouraging the singer or reader to imagine and respond to this suffering in particular ways. I argue that Wesley presents the sight of Christ's suffering as having profound transformative power, at the heart of Christian experience. In doing so he constructs Methodist spirituality in a way that draws upon both the ancient Christian tradition of Passion devotion and contemporary eighteenth-century convictions about the power of the sight of suffering.

Use of long-distance migration patterns of an endangered species to inform conservation planning for the world's largest marine protected area

Large marine protected areas (MPAs), each hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, have been set up by governments around the world over the last decade as part of efforts to reduce ocean biodiversity declines, yet their efficacy is hotly debated. The Chagos Archipelago MPA (640,000 km2) (Indian Ocean) lies at the heart of this debate. We conducted the first satellite tracking of a migratory species, the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), within the MPA and assessed the species' use of protected versus unprotected areas. We developed an approach to estimate length of residence within the MPA that may have utility across migratory taxa including tuna and sharks. We recorded the longest ever published migration for an adult cheloniid turtle (3979 km). Seven of 8 tracked individuals migrated to distant foraging grounds, often ≥1000 km outside the MPA. One turtle traveled to foraging grounds within the MPA. Thus, networks of small MPAs, developed synergistically with larger MPAs, may increase the amount of time migrating species spend within protected areas. The MPA will protect turtles during the breeding season and will protect some turtles on their foraging grounds within the MPA and others during the first part of their long-distance postbreeding oceanic migrations. International cooperation will be needed to develop the network of small MPAs needed to supplement the Chagos Archipelago MPA.

Image-encounters with the techno-mediated other: Regarding post-election Iran on Youtube

In June 2009 large-scale public demonstrations on the streets of Tehran followed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s controversial claiming of victory in the Republic’s most recent election. As the scale of the unrest rapidly escalated, foreign journalists were expelled from the country and unprecedented numbers of Iranian journalists were imprisoned (Sreberny and Khiabany 176). Observers outside of Iran learned of the events as Iranians on the streets embraced image production and distribution as a central component of their protest. Evading the attempts of the regime to control media coverage of the post-election violence, Iranians uploaded rough footage, still images, and blog entries, seeking to make real their experiences for the international community. A stream of citizen-produced footage of mass demonstrations, beatings and deaths was relayed to the world at large via Internet-based social networking channels and mobile phones. This paper takes a series of images from the mediated turmoil in Iran as a prism through which to consider the problem of what it is that such images make real for distant observers.

Functional extruded snack products based on chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) flours

Background – Chickpea and fenugreek are both legumes that confer several nutritional and functional virtues, especially to diabetes and associated metabolic syndrome conditions. They are high in protein and fibre, low in fat and prove to be low glycaemic. They also provide a gluten-free alternative to those suffering from celiac disease. Though these seeds are locally available, hardly any products appear on the supermarket shelves.
Objectives – The aim was to utilise the health and nutritional benefits of chickpea and fenugreek and develop acceptable snack products by extrusion technology.
Design – Preliminary trials were conducted with different proportions of rice and chickpea at a range of extruder conditions to optimise the raw material and processing conditions. Studies were then conducted at optimum processing conditions using a 7:3 chickpea and rice combination replacing with 2% fenugreek or 5, 10, 15 and 20% FenuLifeÒ (deodorized fenugreek powder). Products were evaluated for their physical (expansion, crunchiness and colour) and sensory ( texture, colour, flavour and overall acceptability) characteristics in order to identify their suitability as snack products.
Outcomes – Addition of chickpea up to 70% with rice showed increased expansion and stable product characteristics. Addition of fenugreek and FenuLifeÒ, indicated slight reduction in product expansion (radial) and crunchiness. However, the product made with 20% FenuLifeÒ had significant changes in expansion, crunchiness and colour values. The median scores of sensory evaluation indicated that all products were within the acceptable range. Inclusion of fenugreek showed lower ratings for flavour due to the strong bitter taste of fenugreek. There were no significant differences between products containing FenuLifeÒ (5-15%) in their colour, flavour, texture and overall quality.
Conclusion – This study demonstrates an opportunity for using chickpea and fenugreek in functional product development. Fenugreek in the form of deodorize powder (fenulifeÒ) could be incorporated up to 15% in a mixture of chickpea and rice to develop snack products of acceptable physical and sensory properties.

The outer limits of read-ability

This is a 20-minute presentation that involves 3 simultaneous 16mm film projections and live performance of sound poetry, which addresses issues of traumatic effect and affect. The Outer Limits of Read-ability extends the concerns of my earlier film, entitled Traum A Dream (Australia, 2003), into the immediacy of the performance situation. Traum A Dream has been described as “a representation of traumatised space, depicting a person who is consumed by a body of pain in which slowly something is remembered.” The Outer Limits of Read-ability enlists the strategies of experimental film, direct cinema, and punk, while invoking Artaud's notions of “cruel performance”

Pain, passion and faith : revisiting the place of Charles Wesley in early Methodism

Pain, Passion and Faith: Revisiting the Place of Charles Wesley in Early Methodism is a significant study of the 18th-century poet and preacher Charles Wesley. Wesley was an influential figure in 18th-century English culture and society; he was co-founder of the Methodist revival movement and one of the most prolific hymn-writers in the English language. His hymns depict the Christian life as characterized by a range of intense emotions, from ecstatic joy to profound suffering.

Duly delivered : women's experiences of birth planning

Critically examines the construct of power differentials in the childbirth experiences of forty-two women following the birth of their first child. Detailed data was collected using questionnaires and in-depth interviews with women from a range of localities around the State. The research demonstrated that childbirth processes in Victoria effectively ignore the wishes of pregnant women leading to them suffering significant physical and psychological health consequences.

Ontogenetic development of migration : Lagrangian drift trajectories suggest a new paradigm for sea turtles

Long distance migration occurs in a wide variety of taxa including birds, insects, fishes, mammals and reptiles. Here, we provide evidence for a new paradigm for the determinants of migration destination. As adults, sea turtles show fidelity to their natal nesting areas and then at the end of the breeding season may migrate to distant foraging sites. For a major rookery in the Mediterranean, we simulated hatchling drift by releasing 288 000 numerical particles in an area close to the nesting beaches. We show that the pattern of adult dispersion from the breeding area reflects the extent of passive dispersion that would be experienced by hatchlings. Hence, the prevailing oceanography around nesting areas may be crucial to the selection of foraging sites used by adult sea turtles. This environmental forcing may allow the rapid evolution of new migration destinations if ocean currents alter with climate change.

Breeding short-tailed shearwaters buffer local environmental variability in south-eastern Australia by foraging in Antarctic waters

BACKGROUND: Establishing patterns of movements of free-ranging animals in marine ecosystems is crucial for a better understanding of their feeding ecology, life history traits and conservation. As central place foragers, the habitat use of nesting seabirds is heavily influenced by the resources available within their foraging range. We tested the prediction that during years with lower resource availability, short-tailed shearwaters (Puffinus tenuirostris) provisioning chicks should increase their foraging effort, by extending their foraging range and/or duration, both when foraging in neritic (short trips) and distant oceanic waters (long trips). Using both GPS and geolocation data-loggers, at-sea movements and habitat use were investigated over three breeding seasons (2012-14) at two colonies in southeastern Australia. RESULTS: Most individuals performed daily short foraging trips over the study period and inter-annual variations observed in foraging parameters where mainly due to few individuals from Griffith Island, performing 2-day trips in 2014. When performing long foraging trips, this study showed that individuals from both colonies exploited similar zones in the Southern Ocean. The results of this study suggest that individuals could increase their foraging range while exploiting distant feeding zones, which could indicate that short-tailed shearwaters forage in Antarctic waters not only to maintain their body condition but may also do so to buffer against local environmental stochasticity. Lower breeding performances were associated with longer foraging trips to distant oceanic waters in 2013 and 2014 indicating they could mediate reductions in food availability around the breeding colonies by extending their foraging range in the Southern Ocean. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance of foraging flexibility as a fundamental aspect of life history in coastal/pelagic marine central place foragers living in highly variable environments and how these foraging strategies are use to buffer this variability.

Long incubation bouts and biparental incubation in the nomadic Banded Stilt

Parental care strategies have been widely investigated in shorebirds that undertake long-distance regular migrations. In contrast, virtually nothing is known of the parental care of nomadic, opportunistically breeding shorebirds, although the irregular and short-lived nature of their breeding potentially accentuates the trade-offs between investment in successive clutches and between the sexes. We investigated the incubation behaviour of the nomadic, opportunistically breeding Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus). Seven nests, filmed continuously with day–night cameras over 2–7 days, revealed that both sexes contributed to incubation, with males apparently the sole carer during hatching and early brood-rearing; this is a possible adaptation, which enables females to quickly produce a second clutch if favourable conditions persist. All incubator changeovers occurred after dark; incubation shifts averaged 44.8 ± 10.9 (s.e.m.) h (n = 11, 17.5–139.6 h), the longest recorded for any shorebird. Incubation constancy averaged 96.5%; this high value is possibly an adaptation to high predation and the need for rapid embryonic development in the face of ephemeral resources for breeding. Long incubation shifts may be explained by extended foraging trips to distant areas of the partially inundated salt-lake surface, where food resources had been concentrated by wind-driven water movement.

The telescopic eye: aqua optica

The Telescopic Eye: Aqua Optica was an installation work which explores concepts and philosophies related to instrumental, lens based observations of heavens as experienced when seeing through a telescope. In particular it considers how the eye of the observer and the lens of the telescope must act in unison to extend both the perception and conception of that which is remote and beyond direct naked eye sensing - an act of transcendence. A series of projected images (the video) of celestial objects are observed by the viewer through a large spherical aquatic lens which is mounted on a large wooden tripod. These images slowly dissolve and morph into each other. The sequence in which these images are presented is based on approximate chronological order in which these celestial objects were historically observed through the telescope – such as the local bodies of our the solar system starting with the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn (as first observed by Galileo in 1610) and eventually extending out to distant nebula, star clusters and galaxies. For the Transduction exhibition the Telescopic Eye: Aqua Optica was installed outside in a small quadrangle next to the Tech Bar and as the night drew darker it was able to also embody the lighting and other visual elements from the surrounding buildings and streets. The Aqua Optica system often encompasses such local lighting and images as a added layer to the video projection work. In this case (at night and outside at Federation Square) the extent of the layering was very successful and increased dramatically as the night became darker. This multi layering of images invokes (for the viewer) a connection between the immediate environment of the Federation square and cityscape with the vastly distant images of the cosmos. For me such a multilayered imaging represents how scientific instruments of observation can generate a complex and augmented visualisation of reality, one which has historically come to re-define our conception of the cosmos and our place in it both spatially and temporally.

Still suffering from the `silo effect`: lingering cultural barriers to collaborative care

This research project sought to draw out the contesting definitions of collaborative care among professional subgroups in maternity services. The paper contrasts medical and social models of knowledge and reports on qualitative evidence from midwives and doctors in Australian hospitals. The evidence indicates that collaborative care is welcomed by both midwives and doctors but that there remains a lingering residue of the ‘silo effect’ of the ‘old’ professionalism, characterized by hierarchical relations, divergent philosophies and competing domains. Although a ‘new professionalism’ has emerged that challenges the old hierarchies and professional dependencies, it too harbours lingering residues of the former dichotomy between midwives and obstetricians. These tensions and enmities will need to be resolved before genuine collaboration may take full effect. The objective is a relationship focused model of care that transcends professional or woman-focused models. The ‘new’ professionalism may be expedited through mediation strategies, a version of which is the ‘sociological intervention method’ discussed in this article.

An epistemically distant God? a critique of John Hick's response to the problem of divine hiddenness

God is thought of as hidden in at least two ways. Firstly, God's reasons for permitting evil, particularly instances of horrendous evil, are often thought to be inscrutable or beyond our ken. Secondly, and perhaps more problematically, God's very existence and love or concern for us is often thought to be hidden from us (or, at least, from many of us on many occasions). But if we assume, as seems most plausible, that God's reasons for permitting evil will (in many, if not most, instances) be impossible for us to comprehend, would we not expect a loving God to at least make his existence or love sufficiently clear to us so that we would know that there is some good, albeit inscrutable, reason why we (or others) are permitted to suffer? In this paper I examine John Hick's influential response to this question, a response predicated on the notion of 'epistemic distance': God must remain epistemically distant and hence hidden from us so as to preserve our free will. Commentators of Hick's work, however, disagree as to whether the kind of free will that is thought to be made possible by epistemic distance is the freedom to believe that God exists, or the freedom to choose between good and evil, or the freedom to enter into a personal relationship with God. I argue that it is only the last of these three varieties of free will that Hick has in mind. But this kind of freedom, I go on to argue, does not necessitate an epistemically distant God, and so the problem of divine hiddenness remains unsolved.

Is near to . . . and is . . . distant from : exegetical manoeuvres in Janet Frame’s The Carpathians

This paper argues that Janet Frame’s 1988 novel, The Carpathians, can be read as a series of manoeuvres operating at the frontiers of exegesis and fiction. The overall effect of these manoeuvres is to interrogate the conditions of an exegetical (or literary critical) engagement with Frame’s writings. In particular, The Carpathians drills down into the metaphorics of one of the key notions of literary criticism: critical distance. Critical distance is a catch phrase of exegesis, as well as of literary criticism, because it serves to appropriately position the exegete (like the literary critic) as both near to and distant from the object of study: the literary text. However, Frame’s fictional/Scientific concept of the Gravity Star deconstructs the metaphorics of distance and, by extension, critical distance itself, by suggesting a para-doxical relationship of propinquity and remoteness. The Gravity Star is ‘both relatively close and seven billion light years away.’ Thus, Frame introduces chaos into language and logic, with the dual effect of undermining exegetical activity (which depends on the  metaphorics linked to critical distance) and of creatively multiplying the meanings of The Carpathians. In this way, Frame’s novel replaces conventional exegesis with creative exegesis. My paper also looks at the games Frame plays, in this novel and in Towards Another Summer (2007), with Roland Barthes’s notion of the ‘death of the Author.’ Like critical distance, the Author is a prop for exegesis that certain manoeuvres of writing can undermine, thus allowing the literary text to reproduce itself on an interior plane.