Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Sydney, 1980. / Includes diagrams, graphs, tables. Bibliography: leaves 136-157. Also available in print form.

Thesis (M.A.)--Monash University, 1994. / Title from PDF title screen as viewed on Sept. 30, 2003. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Despite social scientists' interest in globalization, mobility, the effects of colonialism, and the intercultural situations that result, little attention has been devoted to expatriates as a contemporary transnational group. This thesis is an enquiry into the ways eight individuals define themselves as expatriates, through their oral narratives of life in Papua New Guinea. The paper focuses on expatriates' characterizations of themselves in terms of: their communities; their relationships with locals; their status as foreigners in post-colonial Papua New Guinea; arid their experiences of mobility. Set against social scientific notions of expatriates and contemporary ideas of mobility and its relation to identity, expatriates' personal narratives indicate that scholarly depictions are too simplistic to access contemporary expatriates or the complex situations in which they live.

Ura, a minority language spoken in Papua New Guinea, appears to be a candidate for eventual extinction, with an estimated 1,900 speakers, very few (if any) of them monolinguals. Any language is a unique vantage point from which to see humanity and our world in its various facets, and preserving endangered languages seems at least as worthy a pursuit as the many efforts globally at saving endangered species of flora and fauna. Also of great importance is the revitalisation (or first-time facilitation) of identity, esteem and dignity for speakers with regard to their language (and, inseparably, culture). This thesis gives an overview of the sociolinguistic context of Ura, followed by a description and analysis of the phonology of Ura, and then addresses of some of the morphophonology. Features explored include vowel centring and harmony, phonologically and morphophonologically conditioned epenthesis, and diachronic and synchronic alternations. The final chapter provides practical application of the issues discussed as they would relate to an Ura dictionary, and includes samples of the suggested wording and format of introductory notes and entries. It is hoped that what is currently in progress or completed in the Ura language in terms of records, translation, literacy and linguistic analysis (of which this thesis is a part) will facilitate and support progress towards strength and vitality that will not perish.

How do religious and political elites in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands see the modern state? This thesis addresses this question. The thesis shows that these two countries do not fit with the ideal structure of the modern state provided here. This is despite the state building efforts of Australia as the two countries largest aid donor. It shows that there are a number of ways that the state can be seen by elites. Amongst both groups of elites can the state can be seen by some as something for the security and betterment of the population. It can be seen as a structure to oppose by some religious groups. Other religious leaders see the state as a partner for the development of both countries. Political elites can see keeping the state weak as being beneficial to finance its operations. Some leaders see the state as an item of capture. It finds that though religious leaders have generally good intentions for the state, they are limited in their authority and influence. The thesis also finds that though political elites are much more important than religious elites in shaping the state, their role is limited by and tied to the people. It finds that the two societies are extremely fragmented and competitive with many differing interests. This leads to the state being seen as an item of competition. This competition does not create the conditions that the state as a structure depends on to reach its ideal form. It concludes that for the state to succeed in both countries there needs to be a shift in attitude towards it.

This is as much an experiment in investigative reporting as it is a thesis. It explores the possibility of carrying out “research journalism” on a specific issue in a New Zealand academic environment, after a failure to complete the mission within newsrooms. The thesis debates theoretical and practical “restraints” to reporting this conflict and New Zealand’s role in it. Such restraints might include the degree of conservatism and intractability in Western traditions and practices of both the mainstream media, and of the other potential “commentating power”, universities.

Internet message boards are a medium by which educated Papua New Guineans who are living outside of Papua New Guinea (PNG) maintain ties to one another and to their home country. One of the languages that they use on these message boards is Tok Pisin (TP), an English-based creole spoken in PNG that has changed rapidly in theapproximately 120 years since its creation as a pidgin.Romaine (1992) suggests that decreolization by means of new changes toward English is occurring in the TP language. Smith (2002) disagrees and claims that there is no evidence for decreolization. This study shows that there is evidence in favor of decreolization, in particular a Matrix Language (ML) turnover (Myers-Scotton 2002), in the TP used on seven Internet message boards. This conclusion is also derived through the study of 139 letters to the editor in the TP weekly newspaper Wantok written during 2003 and 2006.In looking for English `late system morphemes,' whose existence in bilingual complementizer phrases that have TP as the ML would indicate the beginning of a ML turnover (Myers-Scotton 2002), this study counts deletion of the TP particle i as a late system morpheme.Results show that on Internet message boards, the particle i only marks the predicate in 33% of the locations where it would occur in Standard TP. In Wantok letters to the editor, i occurs 95% of the time. Internet users are more likely to be influenced by English and have less access to Standard TP. Although TP is still valued by highly educated Papua New Guineans in the English domain of the Internet to discuss personal topics and show solidarity with one another, it is not their first choice of language, and the loss of the particle i shows evidence for a ML turnover having begun in the language. One conclusion that may be drawn from this study is that planning for the future of TP by the leaders of PNG is essential to maintain TP as a community language. / Department of English

This thesis is an ethnographic study of AIDS-related stigma in the work and discourse of healthcare providers in Wamena. Wamena is located in the highlands of Papua, the eastern-most province of Indonesia. HIV/AIDS rates in Papua are dramatically rising and stigma continues to hinder HIV/AIDS programs and initiatives. This thesis looks at assumptions about stigma and shows intersections of stigma with Christianity and racism to be integral aspects of AIDS-related stigma in Wamena. The connection between stigma and HIV/AIDS as a disease is not as strong as intervention programs appear to assume. In 2010, I conducted ethnographic research among health care providers in Wamena. I employed semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and casual interviews to collect materials and assess current practices that contribute to stigma in the healthcare setting. The results of this research challenges current HIV/AIDS-focused approaches to stigma by showing stigma is expressed in subtle ways even among well-trained healthcare providers, that stigma is expressed through Christian values and through assessments of racism, and that some aspects of stigma can also work to protect patients from other forms of discrimination. / Graduate

New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse region in the world. There are over 1000 languages found there, reflecting a complex history of migration and interaction. The Upper Sepik is one of New Guinea’s most linguistically heterogeneous areas but because the area has not been marked by the significant population movement and intense and far-reaching exchange systems apparent for some parts of New Guinea, this diversity may be more indicative of processes that maintain rather than lead to linguistic diversity. Accordingly, the region may offer great potential for those investigating population histories. With this potential in mind ethnographers went into the Upper Sepik during the 1960s and 1970s with the intention of making representative material culture collections for the language groups found there. These collections combine to be, arguably, one of the most fine-grained material culture datasets that exist for New Guinea. This thesis describes the manner in which these collections were documented and used to create a dataset to test for relationships between material culture and language. It begins with an overview of the study area including descriptions of the geography, environments, subsistence systems, settlement structures and social patterns, including an appraisal of marriage exchange, ritual, trade and warfare and how these may have facilitated or inhibited the spread of culture. This appraisal leads to an assertion that the sociality and mobility of men and women are affected differentially by such mechanisms, and that material culture belonging to men and women may differentially reflect population histories and the social processes that underpin the evolution of linguistic diversity. The thesis then describes a round of analytical procedures used to test for relationships between language and attributes belonging to string bags and arrows which are respectively and exclusively produced by women and men. Associations between languages, measured in terms of their material culture similarity, are then compared to those determined according to their linguistic family relationship and their relative positions in geographical space. The analysis also tests whether differences in the way that women and men socialise and move through space influence the way in which material culture patterns through space. The thesis concludes that attributes of classes of material culture are distributed differently for objects made by men compared to those made by women, that distance seems to be a stronger factor than language, and that environmental factors are also relevant. This study foreshadows ongoing research involving the dataset. / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, 2009

New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse region in the world. There are over 1000 languages found there, reflecting a complex history of migration and interaction. The Upper Sepik is one of New Guinea’s most linguistically heterogeneous areas but because the area has not been marked by the significant population movement and intense and far-reaching exchange systems apparent for some parts of New Guinea, this diversity may be more indicative of processes that maintain rather than lead to linguistic diversity. Accordingly, the region may offer great potential for those investigating population histories. With this potential in mind ethnographers went into the Upper Sepik during the 1960s and 1970s with the intention of making representative material culture collections for the language groups found there. These collections combine to be, arguably, one of the most fine-grained material culture datasets that exist for New Guinea. This thesis describes the manner in which these collections were documented and used to create a dataset to test for relationships between material culture and language. It begins with an overview of the study area including descriptions of the geography, environments, subsistence systems, settlement structures and social patterns, including an appraisal of marriage exchange, ritual, trade and warfare and how these may have facilitated or inhibited the spread of culture. This appraisal leads to an assertion that the sociality and mobility of men and women are affected differentially by such mechanisms, and that material culture belonging to men and women may differentially reflect population histories and the social processes that underpin the evolution of linguistic diversity. The thesis then describes a round of analytical procedures used to test for relationships between language and attributes belonging to string bags and arrows which are respectively and exclusively produced by women and men. Associations between languages, measured in terms of their material culture similarity, are then compared to those determined according to their linguistic family relationship and their relative positions in geographical space. The analysis also tests whether differences in the way that women and men socialise and move through space influence the way in which material culture patterns through space. The thesis concludes that attributes of classes of material culture are distributed differently for objects made by men compared to those made by women, that distance seems to be a stronger factor than language, and that environmental factors are also relevant. This study foreshadows ongoing research involving the dataset. / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, 2009