This phenomenological study explored the experiences of farm families starting and operating agritourism. Many extant studies of agritourism have privileged positivistic methodologies and quantitative approaches. To better understand the lived experiences of farm families who have started and embrace agritourism and to fully appreciate the intertwined and complex nature of the various factors involved within the family, a more interpretative approach was required. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis(IPA) guided the design, analysis, and overall implementation of the study. Phenomenology allowed meaningful experiences and essential structures associated with the phenomenon of agritourism, from the perspective of those directly involved in it, to be fully and deeply explored. In this study, three multi-generational farm families actively engaged in agritourism within Ontario participated. Unlike previous agritourism studies which just involved one family member, usually the farmer, as many members of each farm family as possible were included in this study. A total of 17 members across the three families participated and data were collected through a combination of on-site observations and active interviews. Beginning with a simple introductory question of each participant, “Can you tell me how agritourism got started on your farm”, a number of themes emerged. By taking an interpretative stance, the individual themes were further baled into six super-ordinate themes: • Retailing, Educating, Entertaining– describing agritourism; • Being the Face of Farming–the re-connecting of farms and farmers to consumers; • We Are the Farm–impressions about how agritourism is retaining and sustaining a farming identity while introducing unique challenges associated with embracing agritourism on the farm; • Family Comes First–speaking to the prevalence of economics as a reason for embracing agritourism, while also further exploring agritourism’s role in sustaining the family farm; • Coming Home–focuses on the inseparability of the farm as a place of residence and work where new challenges, opportunities, and attitudes towards intergenerational transfer of the farm emerge; and finally, • Becoming an Agritourism Farm–captures the incremental process and key watershed moments associated with switching into agritourism. By exploring the experience of agritourism from the perspectives of the families, our understanding of agritourism has been expanded, while some of our pre-existing beliefs and assumptions about agritourism are also challenged. Getting involved in agritourism was articulated by farm families as occurring through a series of smaller, incremental decisions usually over several years as the farm naturally took on new and additional activities and eventually evolved into an agritourism enterprise. The transition revealed the place – the farm, and the people integral and historically associated with it – as a productive agricultural space was changing into being consumptive spaces. The unplanned transition into agritourism affected the farmer as well as other members of the family. However, the transition also sustained a farming identity and way of life in an era of intense globalization and agricultural intensification. This study sheds light on how different members of the families have been involved in the process, as well as illuminated new perspectives on: how agritourism sustains key characteristics defining a family farm, how the farm re-engages with consumers, how an entrepreneurial spirit is fostered, and how continuous adaptation on the farm ensures its viability for future generations of the family.

This qualitative research study explored the perceived experiences of doing science with an artistic spirit through the voices of living scientists who also engage in the arts. The purpose was to understand how accomplished scientists who engage in the arts make sense out of their experience of doing science and to gain the scientists’ perspectives on the context of their experience. Four highly able scientists (ages 31-61) with expertise in their field who also self-identified as actively engaged in the fine arts were given a voice on the following issues: 1) What are your perceived experiences of doing science? As such, what can we infer about the role of the arts in doing science? 2) Based on personal experiences, are there implications for the integration of the arts and sciences in education? Through hermeneutic phenomenological methodology using thematic analysis, four major themes emerged: 1) Risking Success in a Scientific Vocation; 2) Feeling Healthy through the Arts (Satisfying an Inner Drive; Coping in a Stressful World); 3) Gaining and Giving Different Perspectives through the Arts (Complementary Tools of Perception; Complementary Processes of Perception); 4) Feeling Connected to Something More through the Arts. Each theme alluded to some aspect of aesthetic experience or extracognition, emphasizing the role of the arts in attaining such experiences. Educational implications are discussed in light of aesthetic experience, extracognition, and also interdisciplinary education in today’s context of science education.

This project attempts to translate my experience of the everyday street for the viewer; to reveal my experience of walking and looking through drawing. The everyday is an elusive and slippery subject that has been used for various and sometimes radical agendas by many writers and artists in the last two centuries. It is seen as having potential for finding the authenticity that is lacking in other spheres of human activity. However, there is an inherent contradiction for the artist engaged with the everyday in that, by definition, the mundane is barely noticed yet it can swiftly become extraordinary when examined closely. This project uses a toolbox of everyday tactics, processes and methods to explore and devise appropriate modes of representing the everyday street, while taking this contradiction into account.

Bibliography: leaves 349-369. / xiv, 369 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / A study, informed by phenomenology, which describes 24 nurses' meaningful experiences in practice, for the purpose of capturing the spirit embodied in nursing practice. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Clinical Nursing, 1996

The relationship between teacher and student has always been a central interest of the educational process. While the nature of this relationship can be understood from various theoretical frameworks, research that seeks to understand the “lived experience” of this relationship is less prevalent. This research explores the phenomenological nature of the teacher-student relationship in the context of teacher education. Stories of the lived experience of this relationship were hermeneutically interpreted against the philosophical writings of Heidegger, Gadamer, and Buber. The research answers the question: what is the meaning of the teacher-student relationship? Relationships are essential to the educational experience whether this is recognised or not, and whether we are consciously aware of this or not. Once established, relationships continue to exist beyond the time and space of the individuals influencing future relational experiences. In addition, a teacher’s comportment has been found to have a communicative aspect that is felt and sensed by others. A further essential understanding opens the play of relating. That is, the teacher and student experience their relationship as a play that is unscripted, uncertain, and lived beyond the rules of engagement. In this play, teachers who are attuned to relationship show a phronesis, or practical wisdom, as they relate moment by moment. The outcomes of this research call into question technicist and instrumental models of teacher education which are presently underpinned by the dominant neoliberal ideology. Consistent with critical and humanistic approaches to education, this research calls for the humanising of the educational experience through the educating and re-educating of teacher educators and teachers towards essential understandings of relationship.

This research project will explore American philosopher John Dewey’s theory of transaction, and Shannon Sullivan’s interpretation of Dewey’s theory, the ‘Transactional Body’, and their inherent potential for the making and reception of painting. Dewey stated (Dewey, cited in Sullivan: 1-2) that organisms live as much in processes across and 'through' skins as in processes 'within skins'. Sullivan’s ‘transactional body’ is always in a state of flux, a morphic body in perpetual motion. Within an artistic context this raises the possibility of exploring the theory of transaction as it applies to painting, using the concept of automatic intuitive art practice. Central to this investigation will be direct connection between senses, instincts, intuition, and the painting. Sullivan suggests that truth and wisdom can be pursued through somatic experience. Therefore the process will be explored by an extension of the corporeal body through the physicality of gesture, movement, rhythm, colour, and mark making. A recurring subtext throughout this investigation will be that of ‘duality’; specifically that defined as the struggle between the use of the conscious, critical mind, allowing for the transaction between artist, paint and canvas to occur naturally and intuitively. The conscious mind / intuition duality manifests at various stages during the manufacture and reception of a painting. Whilst the project relies upon automatic and intuitive praxis, conscious decisions are made regarding the size and shape of the canvas, the medium used, and through reflective analysis of the completed work.

The work in progress, Pick Up Styx, investigates re-sensing and extra-sensing of the world. It is an exploration of communications with reference to quantum theory which challenges current sense perceptions, while engaging and exploring the notion of communications as signals. The methodology is a winding, coiling motion between research and creative practice based on the way my grandmother used to wind wool from a skein into a ball. The project investigates the game as a tool to examine the ciphers of perfumes that have been designed for love and happiness since 2001. The project aims to develop aesthetic pleasure in game play beyond the industry focus on games technology. Picking up the sticks and experiencing the perfumes in them is procedural to encountering the War on Terror, and the perfumes that have accompanied its progression over the last 8 years. In a materialist culture where technologies are enabling psycho kinesis, via the transmission of information signals, and where thought can influence matter in a variety of ways, we are training ourselves out of separatist thinking and fixation on the Western scientific paradigm. This project has grown from my curiosity regarding anomalous forms of cognition and paranormal perception, motivated by the need to address current issues of human relationship and environmental concerns.

This project attempts to translate my experience of the everyday street for the viewer; to reveal my experience of walking and looking through drawing. The everyday is an elusive and slippery subject that has been used for various and sometimes radical agendas by many writers and artists in the last two centuries. It is seen as having potential for finding the authenticity that is lacking in other spheres of human activity. However, there is an inherent contradiction for the artist engaged with the everyday in that, by definition, the mundane is barely noticed yet it can swiftly become extraordinary when examined closely. This project uses a toolbox of everyday tactics, processes and methods to explore and devise appropriate modes of representing the everyday street, while taking this contradiction into account.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This research explores the possibility of a phenomenology of religion that is ontological, founded on Martin Heidegger’s philosophical thought. The research attempts to utilise Heidegger’s formulation of phenomenology as ontology while also engaging in a critical relation with his path of thinking; as a barrier to the phenomenological interpretation of the meaning of Religion. This research formulates Religion as an ontological problem wherein the primary question becomes: how are humans, in our being, able to be religious and thus also able to understand the meaning of ‘religion’ or something like ‘religion’? This study focuses on the problem of foundation; of whether it is possible to provide an adequate foundation for the study of religion(s) via the notion ‘Religion’. Further, this study also aims to explore the problem of methodological foundation; of how preconceptions of the meaning of Religion predetermine how religion(s) and religious phenomena are studied. Finally, this research moves toward the possibility of founding a regional ontological basis for the study of religion(s) insofar as the research explores the ontological ground of Religion as a phenomenon. Due to the exploratory and methodological/foundational emphasis of the research, the thesis is almost entirely preliminary. Herein, the research focuses on three main issues: how the notion of Religion is preconceived, how Heidegger’s phenomenology can be tailored to the phenomenon of Religion, and how philosophical thought (in this case, Pre-Socratic philosophy) discloses indications of the meaning of Religion. Pre-Socratic thought is then utilised as a foundation for a preliminary interpretation of how Religion belongs-to humans in our being. This research provides two interrelated theses: the provision of an interpretation of Religion as an existential phenomenon, and an interpretation of Religion in its ground of being-human. With regard to the former, I argue that Religion signifies a potential relation with the ‘originary ground’ of life as meaningful. Accordingly, the second interpretation discloses the meaning of Religion as grounded in being-human; that for humans in our being, the meaning of life is an intrinsic question/dilemma for us. This being-characteristic, I argue, can be called belief.

The professional practice of sport psychology has received a tremendous amount of attention over the past two decades. Among the various studies and discussions to date, the most desirable and undesirable sport psychology consultant characteristics have been reported (Orlick & Partington, 1987); boundaries for sport science and psychology trained practitioners in applied sport psychology have been suggested (Taylor, 1994); and various models of delivery have been examined (Hardy & Parfitt, 1994). Recently, Andersen (2000) and Tenenbaum (2001) have called for a further examination of the process of sport psychology consultant-athlete interactions. For example, Petitpas, Giges and Danish (1999) identified congruence, empathy and unconditional positive regard as important facilitative conditions in optimizing client-practitioner relationships. Many others have discussed the importance of establishing trust and respect as important factors relating to effective sport psychology service delivery (e.g. Halliwell, Orlick, Ravizza & Rotella, 1999; Ravizza, 2001). In order to further our understanding regarding the process of sport psychology practitioner-athlete interactions, a phenomenological inquiry was conducted in order to examine various lived experiences and associated meanings regarding the practice of sport psychology. The focus of this study was to describe and interpret the socially generated and shared intersubjective meanings operative within the service delivery of applied sport psychology. To this end, various meanings emerged as a result of the study of the practice of sport psychology. First, multiple identities were experienced by the practitioners and these created tensions both within the practitioner and with others in their immediate environment. Second, the practitioners' various roles and related actions were the result of negotiated realities that involved all members associated with their respective communities of practice. Finally, reflexive actions associated with practice occurred as the result of a number of contextual and internal considerations that occurred before, during and after incidents of practice. It was felt that by closely examining the nature of the interactions and individual perceptions of those involved in the process of sport psychology service delivery, a positive contribution could made to the literature pertaining to the practice of sport psychology.