Ocean-island flank collapses are amongst the most dangerous of all landslide related hazards in the world, as they have the potential to trigger ocean-wide tsunamis that can cause damage and loss of life to communities thousands of kilometres from their source of origin. The implications for landslide-induced tsunami originating from high volcanic islands in the Pacific are serious; and consequent hazards to life, infrastructure, and emergency management need to be constantly reviewed, monitored, and investigated. Ta’u, the easternmost inhabited island in the Samoa Islands volcanic chain, exhibits a series of down-faulted benches on its southern flank; believed to be the remnant of catastrophic collapse involving ~30km³. An historical map of Ta’u, charted during the first United States exploring expedition into the Pacific Ocean (Charles Wilkes Expedition), suggests that the event was recent; having occurred less than 170 years ago. A collapse event of this magnitude would have generated a locally devastating tsunami, with possible impacts experienced at the regional level. However, there exists no written or oral record of such an event. It appears that half the island, involving an estimated 30km³, disappeared off the map less than 170 years ago without anybody noticing it. A number of key questions thus emerged. Did this event actually happen within the last 170 years, and if so, how and why could it have gone unnoticed? Is the event much older than the impression obtained from the literature? More importantly, what is the likelihood of a future collapse and subsequent tsunami, and what would the hazard impacts be at the local and regional levels? These questions formed the research basis for this thesis. Specific aims were developed to address the issues identified, and a range of inter-disciplinary scientific techniques using innovative methods and new datasets were implemented to achieve them. The results demonstrate that the collapse most likely occurred more than 170 years ago, raising serious debate on the accuracy of observations made during the Charles Wilkes Expedition. The results also show that the eruptive-hazard at the site exists. Given that the nature and frequency of active volcanism in the area is uncertain, the risk of a future collapse and subsequent tsunami in the medium-term is considered high. The inter-disciplinary approach to landslide-tsunami hazard investigation on an oceanic island presented in this thesis, can be developed and applied by disaster managers to similar hazard investigations on other oceanic islands. Ultimately, the increase in knowledge-base can be used as a tool for developing safer and more resilient coastal communities.

The following study was conducted over 21 months in the South Pacific. I served as Academic Coordinator for World Learning’s SIT’s Study Abroad program in Samoa for three semesters. While overseeing independent study projects, facilitating working relationships, and promoting cross-cultural communication among the American and Pacific Islander/Samoan tertiary students, I concluded that -- through cultural immersion, experiential education and deliberate, academically fostered communication and discussion both Western and Indigenous identities are capable of converging to better mutual and lasting understanding. I spent ten months in Samoa completing my field research and five months in New Zealand completing my library research. Over the course of three academic semesters, this study evolved through my volunteer work with the group Rotaract Samoa, my research and teaching experiences with an experiential education programme, and indirectly incorporating 36 American students from various US tertiary institutions participating in the SIT Study Abroad’s Pacific Communities and Social Change semester in Samoa, and over 120 Pacific Island students and staff on the University of the South Pacific (USP) campus in Alafua, Samoa. Encouraging American students to foster relationships with indigenous peoples offered insights into the process and progress of the students’ shared interactions. Students were uncomfortable and awkward in their initial associations, however, over time, through the program’s immersion techniques, the students learned valuable lessons, about Samoan culture and themselves as human beings. I found the use of experiential education programmes and convergence methodology in multicultural learning environments ultimately promoted multi-perspective, culturally responsive student development. I collected my data through interviews, participant-observations, surveys, questionnaires, volunteering and teaching. I analysed my data using a self-reflexive anthropological perspective.

This is a practical experience study to examine the perspectives and experiences of the teachers, students and parents towards teaching and learning Home Economics or Food and Textiles Technology (FTT) in Secondary schools in Samoa. The study attempts to understand the major factors that impede the successful implementation of the Food and Textiles Technology teaching and learning in the classroom. The research methodology of the study is drawn from qualitative case study approaches. Teachers, students and parents were interviewed and observed to gather relevant data for the study. Additional research includes analysis of educational documents to assist in creating a well-developed view of the FTT teaching. The study showed that though a great deal of research is being done to address identified needs in the Samoan education system, little work has been done in the area of home economics/food and textile technology. Additionally, the promotion of technical assistance through the vocational education training programmes is relevant for Samoa but it has not been addressed adequately in the change literature. This study attempts to contribute to meeting these two needs. The important findings of the study address innovation and support for all curriculum areas. The FTT innovation is a component of the Samoan education system, however, it is still regarded by many Samoans as a ‘second–class’ option in relation to formal education rather than ‘second chance education’ (Jones 1994; and Sharma 1995). Many Samoans accustomed to academic education regard FTT as a low status subject, a belief that is shared by many parents. In some countries women are considered second-class citizens but it is clear that ‘second chance’ education provides an equal opportunity to educate everyone and to provide a safe, respectful and nurturing environment. In addition, the opportunity of a second chance education can enhance the options available for early school leavers. The Ministry of Education Sports and Culture (MESC) needs to develop strategic policies to strengthen its approaches to the implementation of FTT in the secondary school. It is clear that teaching and learning FTT in schools in Samoa is not a compulsory component of the school system. It is only taken by the schools with resources, a trained teacher and enrolled students who are willing to participate in these courses. The MESC policies are related to its shared vision of a change process that provides teachers with strategies to achieve the desired goal or a set of goals. Therefore MESC policies should be flexible, usable, timely and applicable to the teaching and learning of FTT. Very importantly, the supply of pre- service and in- service training of teachers by MESC is needed to ensure there is a pool of high quality teachers to provide the successful implementation of FTT in the secondary school curriculum. It is also clear and understood that MESC should provide the appropriate quality resources to the learners to ensure the effective delivery of the FTT programmes in the secondary schools. Normally, FTT is expensive but this should not prevent or limit students’ access to the programmes. All efforts should be made to make the programmes accessible to all students. In order for the implementation of FTT to be successful, all the stakeholders should be active participants of the change process in the FTT programmes and all these programmes should be high quality, sustainable and on going. In the light of the above findings, it is important for the MESC, principals, teachers and stakeholders to participate and appreciate FTT implementation as a learning opportunity to develop new concepts, skills and behaviour (Huberman and Miles 1984; Joyce and Showers 1998; Fullan, 1991). These interactive and cumulative learning processes have important implications, which are addressed in this study in relation to the numerous target groups involved.

My novel, ‘Sam and Susana’ is set in Auckland in 1968. The story centres on the developing relationship between two students: Sam, a 21 year old from a middle class palagi family, and Susana, a Samoan girl from Otara. When they meet Sam is cynical about university, dedicated to sports and to his drinking companions, but unresolved in almost all other areas of his life. He desperately wants to free himself from the well-to-do St Heliers home where he still lives with his parents, and move out into the world with a more secure set of values and ambitions. He has liberal ideas, bordering at times on Socialist, fuelled by the political events of the day, but not yet translated into any actions. Susana is overflowing with enthusiasm and sees being at University as a privilege. She is very uncertain about academia, but has a strong set of attitudes about everything else, especially the value of family, religion and morality. She is deeply conscious of her extended family’s pride and expectations. Their romance does not progress smoothly. For both of them, their relationship, together with the radical examination of values and attitudes arising from the political and social upheavals of 1968, demands large, uncomfortable challenges and changes to enter their lives.

This project is an exploration of the endless negotiation of the va, the relationships that consistently define and redefine themselves in the space between two cultures. The va consists of relationships between people and things, unspoken expectations and obligations: the inherent and changeable patterns, of obligations and expectations between people and their environment. The va space can be viewed as the stage upon which all patterns and motifs carry meaning. How the patterns and motifs change meanings are subject to other elements in the va. Meaning in my work will evoke the interweaving connections of past and present through oral history, genealogy, and fagogo¹ (story telling) memory and artist sentiment. As participant, the artist reflects through the remembrance of sifting through images, person, family, events, time, and space. An emphasis will be placed on the exploration of pattern and motif as a signifier of events and sign of respect, with a focus on notions of the va. The project explores notions of visual patterns and motifs to be utilized as a vehicle to signify in that all patterns and motifs carry meaning in that they signify an event, person, time, and space. Written from a Samorians² perspective of one who lives in the space between. ¹ See Sean Mallon (2002) for an explanation on fagogo in Samoan Art and Artists O Measina a Samoa p. 163). ² The term ‘Samorians’ refers to a play on words of Samoans and an American treat called ‘samores’ containing a marshmallow that is cooked in the microwave or roasted in the fire and then placed in between two chocolate biscuits. It can also refer to an afakasi (half-caste).

My novel, ‘Sam and Susana’ is set in Auckland in 1968. The story centres on the developing relationship between two students: Sam, a 21 year old from a middle class palagi family, and Susana, a Samoan girl from Otara. When they meet Sam is cynical about university, dedicated to sports and to his drinking companions, but unresolved in almost all other areas of his life. He desperately wants to free himself from the well-to-do St Heliers home where he still lives with his parents, and move out into the world with a more secure set of values and ambitions. He has liberal ideas, bordering at times on Socialist, fuelled by the political events of the day, but not yet translated into any actions. Susana is overflowing with enthusiasm and sees being at University as a privilege. She is very uncertain about academia, but has a strong set of attitudes about everything else, especially the value of family, religion and morality. She is deeply conscious of her extended family’s pride and expectations. Their romance does not progress smoothly. For both of them, their relationship, together with the radical examination of values and attitudes arising from the political and social upheavals of 1968, demands large, uncomfortable challenges and changes to enter their lives.

Ocean-island flank collapses are amongst the most dangerous of all landslide related hazards in the world, as they have the potential to trigger ocean-wide tsunamis that can cause damage and loss of life to communities thousands of kilometres from their source of origin. The implications for landslide-induced tsunami originating from high volcanic islands in the Pacific are serious; and consequent hazards to life, infrastructure, and emergency management need to be constantly reviewed, monitored, and investigated. Ta’u, the easternmost inhabited island in the Samoa Islands volcanic chain, exhibits a series of down-faulted benches on its southern flank; believed to be the remnant of catastrophic collapse involving ~30km³. An historical map of Ta’u, charted during the first United States exploring expedition into the Pacific Ocean (Charles Wilkes Expedition), suggests that the event was recent; having occurred less than 170 years ago. A collapse event of this magnitude would have generated a locally devastating tsunami, with possible impacts experienced at the regional level. However, there exists no written or oral record of such an event. It appears that half the island, involving an estimated 30km³, disappeared off the map less than 170 years ago without anybody noticing it. A number of key questions thus emerged. Did this event actually happen within the last 170 years, and if so, how and why could it have gone unnoticed? Is the event much older than the impression obtained from the literature? More importantly, what is the likelihood of a future collapse and subsequent tsunami, and what would the hazard impacts be at the local and regional levels? These questions formed the research basis for this thesis. Specific aims were developed to address the issues identified, and a range of inter-disciplinary scientific techniques using innovative methods and new datasets were implemented to achieve them. The results demonstrate that the collapse most likely occurred more than 170 years ago, raising serious debate on the accuracy of observations made during the Charles Wilkes Expedition. The results also show that the eruptive-hazard at the site exists. Given that the nature and frequency of active volcanism in the area is uncertain, the risk of a future collapse and subsequent tsunami in the medium-term is considered high. The inter-disciplinary approach to landslide-tsunami hazard investigation on an oceanic island presented in this thesis, can be developed and applied by disaster managers to similar hazard investigations on other oceanic islands. Ultimately, the increase in knowledge-base can be used as a tool for developing safer and more resilient coastal communities.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-66). Also available on the World Wide Web.

The Kin Selection Hypothesis proposes that the genes associated with male androphilia (i.e., sexual attraction/arousal to adult males) may be maintained over evolutionary time if the fitness costs of not reproducing directly are offset by increasing one’s indirect fitness. Theoretically, this could be accomplished by allocating altruism toward kin which would increase the recipient’s ability to survive and reproduce. Evidence for this hypothesis has been garnered through research conducted in Samoa however, no support has been garnered from research conducted in more industrialized cultures (i.e., USA, UK, Japan). In this thesis, I use a Canadian population to examine: (1) the role geographic proximity plays in the expression of androphilic male avuncularity and (2) whether androphilic males direct altruism toward the children of friends who might represent proxies for nieces and nephews in more industrialized cultures. Other sociocultural factors that potentially influence the expression of androphilic male avuncularity are also discussed. / ix, 81 leaves ; 29 cm

Contemporary Samoan society is a reflection of a number of different cultures and influences. As a result of several attempts at colonisation by the British, German and New Zealand Administrations the cultural landscape of Samoa has been influenced by many different groups and peoples. As a result of integration and assimilation into the Samoan way of life the Chinese have been accepted into Samoan society and have contributed to the development of Samoan culture and identity. This thesis explores the history of the Chinese in Samoa as a method of uncovering the true extent of the influence played by the Chinese, both as a people and as a nation, in the make-up of Samoan society. It uncovers the roles and impacts of the Chinese in the island nation from the first Chinese arrivals in the late 19th century, through various political administrations and into the present day. The thesis will illustrate the importance of the Chinese in Samoa and how they have contributed to, and helped to shape, the Samoan people, politics, culture, identity and economy. This thesis explains the importance of the Chinese in Samoa by examining important events in Samoan history in the past 150 years. Such events include the forbidding of Chinese settlement in Samoa through the Malietoa Laupepa Law of 1880, the establishment of the Chinese indentured scheme, and the ‘new wave’ of Chinese aid being poured into the Pacific, including Samoa, in recent times.