Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA, 2002. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-214).

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This thesis serves the following purposes: (1) to understand the importance of green space values, (2) to understand the importance of the use of values in the decision-making process, and (3) to employ and evaluate a technique called the structured value referendum to elicit values (including green space values) that are important in making a land use decision. Green space is any area that is predominantly undeveloped witJiin the urban environment. Although the importance of green space has been widely recognized since the 1960s, there still exists a limited appreciation for green space functions. The lack of comprehensive values incorporation that includes green space values in land use decision-making processes is a primary cause of green space loss. In order to understand the importance of green space loss and the lack of values incorporation in decision-making, a general concept of value is established. Development of a taxonomy exposes green space's economic, social, ecological, and sustainability values, and helps to underscore their importance in decisional settings. A general discussion on values elicitation reveals that their incorporation into decision-making processes can help set priorities, promote a better understanding of the issue, and lead to the development of more effective decisions. Despite these assets, inclusion of a comprehensive set of values rarely occurs in decision-making processes involving green space, and green space values are often ignored. There are, however, value elicitation techniques that can be used to account for green space values. One technique that has yet to be examined extensively for its effectiveness in aiding land use decision-making processes is the structured value referendum (SVR). The SVR is a voting-based structure that can elicit a full range of values. A literature review and case study evaluate the SVR. In the case study, a referendum based on a land use decision mvorving 100 acres in Richmond was designed and distributed to a random sample of200 voters. The results of the case study could aid Richmond public officials in making a decision for the best use of the land. This case study also reveals that the SVR approach is an effective and feasible means for eliciting values and aiding decision makers in making comprehensive land use decisions that involve green space.

This study focuses on the nature of the school advisor's roles within a collaborative educational setting, specifically, a partnership involving a school district, university and teachers association referred to as the Richmond Teacher Education Project. The study investigates how school advisors view their roles and responsibilities within a cohort group. School advisors describe their experiences according to role, motivations, preparation and training, improvements to the program and professional/ethical considerations. Findings from the study indicate that the role development of school advisors is dependent on the amount of time spent as a member of the Richmond Practicum Project and on the relationship-building process between the student teachers and other members of the cohort grouping. All subjects mention some difficulty in their role as the primary evaluator and believed that the faculty advisor should share this role.

Since the liberalization of Canadian immigration policy in the late-1960s, a significant development has been the increase in the ethnic and racial diversity of Canada's population. Indeed, the visible minority status of many immigrants to Canada has powerfully shaped interpretations of social and physical change. In the context of substantial Asian immigration to Greater Vancouver, a number of commentators have argued that critical responses to change on the part of long-term Caucasian residents represent a 'reinvented', and often subtly expressed, racism. It is the contention of this author, however, that such conclusions are compromised by an uncritical assumption of what constitutes racism and a diminished empirical focus on sensationalized media accounts. Working from this premise, this thesis attempts to examine in greater depth two categories poorly examined in these accounts: racism and the long-term resident. It traces the emergence of the category of race, the analytical and political imperatives which gave rise to a shift in focus from race to racism, and how—under the rubric of social constructionism-—theories on racism have been deployed to understand contemporary social relations in Greater Vancouver. A critique of this literature provides the springboard for further analysis of long-term resident responses to change. Extended interviews conducted with fifty-four long-term residents of Richmond, BC—a Vancouver suburb that has received considerable numbers of Chinese immigrants over the past twelve years—strongly suggest that our understanding of social and physical change at the community level cannot be reduced to one dimension. Moreover, the complexity of these responses also demands that the analytical and political import of evaluative terms like racism be prised open and subjected to scrutiny and open debate. Perhaps most importantly, the diversity of long-term Richmond residents' responses cautions against the production of racialized stereotypes in immigration research, and points to the need to provide more nuanced and contextualized interpretations of immigration and its impact on society.

The thesis looks at developing a new model for a mental health support program which is integrated into a natural recreational environment. Its starting point is Beginning Again, a registered charity in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, which provides a supportive workplace, called Treasures, to engage psychiatric patients in meaningful and productive work. The intent of the thesis is to develop an architecture that reflects the mission and objectives of the program in order to increase the opportunity for recovery and interaction with the local community. This is done by creating a more general prototype or “parent seed” which can be applicable to many locations and then testing the model by planting it in the Oak Ridges Corridor Park, located in the suburban community of Oak Ridges, Ontario. This thesis builds upon the long history of rehabilitative environments to create a community model of care that regards work as primarily a social and cultural activity.

This study aims to undertake a thematic investigation of core issues and concerns around peace, conflict and security for residents of three municipal wards of Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. I provide a contextual analysis of the socio-economic and political circumstances prevailing in 3 municipal wards of Richmond, suggest core contextual issues to consider when designing a sustainable peace education programme for Richmond and finally, reflect on my application of Freirean methodologies in the study. While collecting the data I was project manager of a UKZN peace education programme in Richmond and my research participants were either directly involved in the programme, or peripherally, as NGO workers in complementary peace projects in the area. Data was gathered from minutes of project meetings, structured interviews, and collegial reflections on the project work, but predominantly from informal face-to-face, telephonic and email dialogues with participants during the course of regular project work. Both the theoretical and methodological approaches I adopt for this action research study are centrally framed by a Freirean pedagogy which emphasizes authentic dialogue, praxis, problem-solving education, the importance of social and personal transformation, collaborative inquiry and the production of knowledge that is collectively owned and shared. My findings, which I present in the form of discussions around the generative themes which emerged from the data, largely corroborate my documentary analysis of the context. Historical violence issues such as “unfinished business”, police and military complicity in the political violence, and the proliferation of weapons emerge as powerful generative themes, while displacement of people and families, trauma and fractured families (which also stem from the history of violence), emerge as serious current social challenges to peace and stability. Substance abuse and prostitution, poverty and unemployment, and lack of development also feature strongly as generative themes. One of the key findings of this study is the extent to which political partisanship, power struggles and patronage hamper the implementation of peace and development initiatives. While I suggest some specific contextual issues which need to be considered when designing an holistic peace education programme for Richmond, I recommend that significant stakeholders (including affected communities and their leaders, the university, various NGOs, religious groupings, organs of state, and traditional healers) unify and direct their respective capacities towards a common goal of peace and reconciliation in order to address these issues: creating a culture of healing through jointly organizing cultural events and peace rallies, helping to establish and support Peace Committees, training people in non-violent conflict resolution skills, providing counseling for survivors of political and domestic violence, supporting fractured and vulnerable families, providing better recreational spaces and job opportunities for the youth. Each of these initiatives would furthermore provide a useful opportunity for non-formal peace education. In addition, I suggest the university could partner with the provincial Department of Education to explore ways of integrating peace education throughout existing school curricula, and the establishment of learner peace clubs where learners could form peace committees to provide in-school peer mediation services. I conclude by reflecting on my application of Freirean methodologies. While I lament my failure to apprehend the extent to which my privileged background and my position as a member of the elite class prevented me from experiencing authentic dialogue with my primary participants, and how I consistently missed opportunities to dialogue and employ core Freirean pedagogical techniques such as problem-posing, and how I failed to get to the point of “re-presenting” to participants the generative themes as problems, and coinvestigating solutions to these problems, I manage to end on an optimistic note by recognizing the significance of the personal transformative learning I gained from the experience. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.

Summary: It is probably true that the Anglo-Maori Wars have received more attention from historians than any other single topic in New Zealand history. This is as it should be, because that event was a watershed - albeit an unhappy one - in the settlement in this country. I therefore make no apology for adding another piece of research which includes a consideration of events in 1859 and 1860. I first �discovered� C.W. Richmond when asked to present a tutorial on him whilst engaged in post-graduate studies at the University of Otago. Regular histories of the period of the Anglo-Maori Wars were consulted, but they dealt with Richmond only in passing. It was at this point that G.H. Scholefield�s two volume edition of the Richmond-Atkinson family papers came to my attention and I discovered in them a wealth of information hitherto unrevealed about the Minister for Native Affairs. Accordingly, I was attracted to a study of the man, and the present paper is the result. The wonder is that so little has been written on a man who played a key role (one could argue the key role) in the Waitara dispute which led the Anglo-Maori Wars. One thesis was written on him in 1948, and W.D. Stewart wrote a short book on him in 1947.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Harding University Graduate School of Religion, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 247-259).

Thesis (M.A.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the Internet.