This research records a three year journey of exploration through the visual arts, specifically painting and drawing in relation to the landscape. The written work presented here provides a support document to my final exhibition of paintings that were exhibited in the John Curtin Gallery at Curtin University of Technology from November 24th - December 15th 2002.The writing of this exegesis is in itself a creative piece, but it is not the same as the visual research that culminates in the paintings. I am convinced that to talk about creating art actually leads one away from being in the experiencing of that art, hence this writing discusses the processes involved and not the finished work. My primary objective within this exegesis is to present a discussion centred around some of the philosophical issues that became visible whilst carrying out my practical work. This discussion is also about process itself in art making practices and research, hence this exegesis is intended to run as a parallel to the visual body of work as presented in the final exhibition of works held in the John Curtin Gallery.I have intentionally used my own practice as a device to question the choices and outcomes of art making generally in an effort to add a little colour to the larger discourse of creative practices. Some of the writing may seem personal (apart from the journal notes) and again, this is an intentional device in order to bring about a sense of embodiment within the writing itself and a way of mirroring the processes within the paintings.

Growing pressure is being placed upon educational institutions as students, employers and governments look at the economic, demographic and technological environments of the present, expecting them to have the answers for the future. Many institutions are turning to information and communication technology (ICT) for some of these answers. The focus of this study is two fold - the use of ICT in teaching and learning by teaching staff within an Australian tertiary institution (Curtin University of Technology) and the mechanisms the University has established in order to realign themselves with the information age. At certain stages these two coincide to provide an insight into the organisational culture and teaching environment of one Australian University. The key research questions that guided this study are as follows: How are Curtin University teaching staff utilising ICT in their teaching and learning?; What is the relationship between the ICT behaviour of a University's teaching staff and the strategies used to implement the University's ICT strategic planning initiatives?; What is an appropriate model for future implementation of ICT into teaching and learning at an Australian university? A combination of qualitative (interview and case study techniques) and quantitative (survey and Likert-type instruments) methods was employed. Overall, this study can be described as longitudinal in nature, relying upon such tools as observation, interviews and survey instruments, to collect data at appropriate points in time from the various samples. Since it has already been acknowledged that such change takes time, the study focused specifically on those changes which occurred during the two academic years (1999-2000) at Curtin University of Technology. / It appears that the critical mass stage for integrating ICT into teaching and learning has been reached by the teaching staff involved in the Curtin survey sample. The most common teaching mode adopted by the survey sample is the traditional lecture and tutorial (workshop or laboratory) mode. However, the data revealed that over the 16 month period of the study there was a large increase in the use of Web-based material for teaching and learning. The data revealed that a number of factors emerged which affected the adoption of ICT. These factors included: leadership across the university, attitude toward the use of ICT; the perceived benefits of adopting ICT in teaching and learning; incentives, modeling mechanisms, the provision of adequate support structures; the time factor; training; facilities and resources. The reflective monitoring system utilised in this study (the TracIT reports) revealed the changes in ICT behaviour and the changes in the ICT environment, as well as the source of initiation of the change. It appears that most of the 'real changes' which occurred in the teaching practice of the case study sample were individually driven, with some others being influenced by their own Department/School or by student pressure. The study also found that the adoption of ICT into the working environment of a university teacher significantly increases the workload of individual staff. The existence of transformational leadership across all levels of the University was identified as a major factor in the promotion and adoption of ICT and ultimately the development of a truly professional learning community. / From the extensive data collected in this longitudinal study an empirical model or framework, the "Curtin University Professional Learning Community Model", was introduced. Many of the teaching staff at Curtin University involved in this particular study have clearly demonstrated their commitment to the adoption of ICT for teaching and learning. The detailed case study data has also revealed that many of the teaching staff possess professional attributes which would be admired and valued in any university. Universities are facing the challenge of identifying what role ICT will play in the future of higher education and how to implement the appropriate strategies which will meet these needs. This study has found that the key to meeting the challenge seems to be to harness strategies that lead to the development of a professional learning community. The Curtin University Professional Learning Community Model has identified the key elements which need to be in place if the use of ICT for teaching and learning is to be not only adopted, but sustained and more importantly, effective in the teaching and learning process. This study has clearly revealed that it is only through the synergy of university commitment and individual commitment that real change can actually take place, the change in this case being the adoption of ICT in teaching and learning practices. The strategies suggested by the empirically derived model can begin this journey to a truly professional learning community.

This study focuses on analyzing and discussing the interpretation of the vocal chamber music Ariel by the 20th century American composer Ned Rorem. (1923-) In 1971, Rorem was commissioned to compose a vocal chamber music for soprano, clarinet and piano by one of his good friend, an American well-known soprano, Phyllis Curtin(1921) . He picked up five pieces of works from the anthology, Ariel, of Sylvia Plath(1932-1963), the American female poet, for this composition. With a tie-in of Plath¡¦s poems and the poetry¡¦s life experience, Rorem used various musical language to reveal the sorrow and frustration in the mind of a woman whose husband has affair, and also the ideology of death in these poems . This essay consists of five parts: 1. Composer Ned Rorem¡¦s life, 2. Rorem and his art songs, 3. Poet Sylvia Plath's life, 4. The composed background of the vocal chamber music, Ariel, 5. Analysis and interpretations of the five lyrics and songs of Ariel. Through my study of Ned Rorem¡¦s Ariel, I hope to assist the readers having a better understanding to this work, as well as providing useful ideas for the interpreta-tion.

Thesis advisor: Amir H. Hoveyda / In the course of a total synthesis of quebrachamine, we were faced with a late-stage enantioselective ring-closing metathesis that could not be promoted by any of the state-of-the-art chiral metathesis catalysts. To overcome this deficiency, we designed and developed a new class of catalysts based on mechanistic and theoretical principles. The new catalysts contain a stereogenic metal center and display unprecedented levels of reactivity and selectivity in enantioselective olefin metathesis, enabling us to complete our planned synthesis of quebrachamine. We have also discovered that non-productive metathesis reactions with stereogenic-at-Mo catalysts, generated and used in situ as a mixture of diastereomers, are crucial to the efficiency and enantioselectivity of the ring-closing metathesis reactions. Specifically, our studies have indicated that the two diastereomers of catalyst are in rapid equilibrium due to non-productive metathesis with ethylene, generated as the desired ring-closing reaction proceeds, thereby establishing a reaction manifold that is under Curtin-Hammett control. Finally, in our efforts to prepare air-stable precursors to stereogenic-at-Mo olefin metathesis catalysts, we have examined the addition of N,N-chelating ligands to Mo bis-pyrrolide complexes. Upon addition of 2,2′-bipyridyl to bis-dimethylpyrrolide Mo complexes, rather than the expected octahedral chelate, a five-coordinate monopyrrolide alkylidyne complex is generated. The complex displays good air-stability and efficiently serves as a precursor to stereogenic-at-Mo alkylidene catalysts; several alkylidyne complexes have been prepared. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Chemistry.

Le travail rapporté dans ce manuscrit s'attache à comprendre l'influence des groupements silylés en position C7 sur l'équilibre de valence entre cycloheptatriène (CHT) et norcaradiène (NCD) et sa réactivité afin de développer de nouvelles approches synthétiques. Nous avons ainsi synthétisé 3 nouveaux cycloheptatriènes silylés et réalisé des réactions de cycloaddition [3+2] et [4+2] visant à les désymétriser. Bien qu'une rationalisation complète n'ait pu être établie, ces travaux ont mis en évidence les réactivités complexes des CHT/NCD silylés. Selon les substituants portés par le silicium, des structures cycliques à 7 chainons ou bicycliques à 6 chainons sont rapidement accessibles. De plus, les groupements silylés permettent aussi une bonne discrimination diastéréofaciale. L'utilisation de composés issus de la désymétrisation de cyloheptatriènes silylés pour la synthèse de mimes de sucres constitue un aspect majeur de nos travaux. La réaction de dihydroxylation appliquée aux CHT silylés a conduit à l’obtention de diols qui ont pu être fonctionnalisés pour conduire à trois aminoheptitols originaux. Les endoperoxides issus des réactions de photo-oxygénation ont été désymétrisés par réaction de Kornblum-DeLaMare asymétrique et une étude des différentes fonctionnalisations possibles, notamment par voie radicalaire, a également été réalisée. / This work sets out to understand the influence of the silyl group at the C7 position on the valence equilibrium and reactivity of the cycloheptatriene (CHT) - norcaradiène (NCD) system, and to use this knowledge to develop new synthetic methodologies. Three new cycloheptatrienes have been synthesized and we have undertaken [3+2] and [4+2] cycloaddition reactions with the aim of desymetrizing them. Although a complete rationale could not be established, this study has highlighted the complex reactivities of silylated CHTs/NCDs. Depending on the nature of the silyl group, 7-membered rings or bicyclic 6-membered rings can be rapidly obtained, and the silyl groups also allow diastereofacial discrimination. The application of the desymetrization reaction of silylated cycloheptatrienes to the synthesis of sugar mimics constitutes a major aspect of this work. Dihydroxylation of silylated CHTs has afforded diols which could be functionalized into three novel aminoheptitols. Endoperoxides from photooxygenation have been desymmetrized by an asymmetric Kornblum-DeLaMare reaction, and a study of possible further functionalization (notably by radical processes) has also been carried out.

Thesis advisor: Amir H. Hoveyda / Chapter 1. Mechanistic Insights and Factors Influencing Polytopal Rearrangements in Stereogenic-at-Ru Carbenes. Herein, the mechanistic elucidation of the stereochemical inversion in stereogenic-at-Ru carbene complexes through olefin metathesis (OM) and non-olefin metathesis (non-OM) based polytopal rearrangements is provided. Our investigations involve the isolation and characterization of previously hypothesized higher-energy (e.g., endo-anti) and lower-energy (e.g., exo-anti) diastereomers, and their interconversion under thermal and/or acid-catalyzed conditions is demonstrated. Furthermore, our computational efforts highlighting the importance of the anionic ligands, due to their critical role in trans influence, dipolar interactions, and e-e repulsions, in polytopal rearrangements are reported. Finally, the positive influence of H-bonding in OM and non-OM processes is also rationalized. (a) Khan, R. K. M.; Zhugralin, A. R.; Torker, S.; O'Brien, R. V.; Lombardi, P. J. and Hoveyda, A. H. "Synthesis, Isolation, Characterization, and Reactivity of High-Energy Stereogenic-at-Ru Carbenes: Stereochemical Inversion Through Olefin Metathesis and Other Pathways," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 12438-12441. (b) Torker, S.; Khan, R. K. M. and Hoveyda, A. H. "The Influence of Anionic Ligands on Stereoisomerism of Ru Carbenes and Their Importance to Efficiency and Selectivity of Catalytic Olefin Metathesis Reactions," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 3439-3455. Chapter 2. Highly Z- and Enantioselective Ring-Opening/Cross-Metathesis of Enol Ethers Through Curtin-Hammett Kinetics. The first instances of Z- and enantioselective Ru-catalyzed olefin metathesis are presented. Ring-opening/cross-metathesis (ROCM) reactions of oxabicyclic alkenes and enol ethers and a phenyl vinyl sulfide are promoted by 0.5-5.0 mol % of enantiomerically pure stereogenic-at-Ru complexes with an aryloxy chelate tethered to the N-heterocyclic carbene. Products are formed efficiently and with exceptional enantioselectivity (up to >98:2 enantiomer ratio). Surprisingly, the enantioselective ROCM reactions proceed with high Z selectivity (up to >98% Z). Moreover, reactions proceed with the opposite sense of enantioselectivity versus aryl olefins, which afford E- isomers exclusively. DFT calculations and deuterium-scrambling experiments, indicating fast interconversion between endo- and exo-Fischer carbene diastereomers, support a Curtin-Hammett situation. On this basis, models accounting for the stereoselectivity levels and trends are provided. Furthermore, the correlation of Fischer carbene character to the observed chemoselectivity in ROCM with enol ethers is also disclosed. Finally, a general proposal for the substrate-controlled Z selectivity in OM is also discussed. (a) Khan, R. K. M.; O'Brien, R. V.; Torker, S.; Li, B. and Hoveyda, A. H. "Z- and Enantioselective Ring-Opening Cross-Metathesis with Enol Ethers Catalyzed by Stereogenic-at-Ru Carbenes: Reactivity, Selectivity, and Curtin-Hammett Kinetics," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 12774-12779. (b) Torker, S.; Koh, M. J.; Khan, R. K. M. and Hoveyda, A. H. "Origin of Z selectivity in Olefin Metathesis Reactions of Certain Terminal Alkenes Catalyzed by Typically E-Selective Ru Carbenes," manuscript submitted. Chapter 3. A New Class of Highly Efficient Ru Catalysts for Z-Selective Olefin Metathesis. Herein, we outline a general design for Z-selective OM, which led to the development of a new class of stereogenic-at-Ru carbene complexes (Ru4-9). Furthermore, we demonstrate that the newly developed dithiolate complexes Ru4b and Ru5 efficiently promote high activity and selectivity in ROMP reactions of norbornene and cyclooctene. Notably, the catechothiolate Ru4b catalyzes Z-selective ROCM with a broad scope of alkenes involving various functional groups (e.g., alcohols, enol ethers, vinyl sulfides, amides, heterocycles, and conjugated 1,3-dienes). More importantly, we disclose that the catecholate complex Ru4a is kinetically non-selective in OM and readily decomposes in the presence of mildly acidic moieties (e.g., alcohols and CDCl3). Subsequently, Ru9 is developed to efficiently promote highly Z-selective CM of a diol cross-partner with a wide range of alkene substrates. Most remarkably, the aforementioned protocol is employed in two natural product syntheses and the OM-based Z-selective cracking of oleic acid, which is unprecedented with existing Ru-carbenes and Mo/W-alkylidenes. (a) Khan, R. K. M.; Torker, S. and Hoveyda, A. H. "Readily Accessible and Easily Modifiable Ru-Based Catalysts for Efficient and Z-Selective Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization and Ring-Opening Cross-Metathesis," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 10258-10261. (b) Koh, M. J.; Khan, R. K. M.; Torker, S. and Hoveyda, A. H. "Broadly Applicable Z- and Diastereoselective Ring-Opening/Cross-Metathesis Catalyzed By a Dithiolate Ru Complex," Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 1968-1972. (c) Khan, R. K. M. ; Torker, S. and Hoveyda, A. H. "Reactivity and Selectivity Differences Between Catecholate and Catechothiolate Ru Complexes. Implications Regarding Design of Stereoselective Olefin Metathesis Catalysts," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 14337-14340. (d) Koh, M. J.; Khan, R. K. M.; Torker, S.; Yu, M.; Mikus, M. S. and Hoveyda, A. H. "Synthesis of High-Value Alcohols, Aldehydes and Acids by Catalytic Z-Selective Cross-Metathesis" manuscript submitted. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Chemistry.

This thesis examines the process by which an Australian policy of post-war economic reconstruction, the main focus of which was the achievement and maintenance of full employment, was developed in preparation for the return of peace at the conclusion of World War II, and the consequences which that policy had within the Australian community. Development of a policy of economic reconstruction took place largely at the instigation of the Curtin Labor government, which had come to power in October 1941, and which in December 1942 established a Ministry of Post War Reconstruction with J.B. Chifley as Minister. Those who were associated with the work of the Ministry in formulating economic policy were Ministers of the Labor Government and professional economists. In the contribution which they made, each was conditioned by the experience of the Great Depression, which motivated them to formulate a policy of full employment, by their adherence to the attitudes and values of the groups to which they belonged: the Labor Party which advocated a move to centralized powers and socialism on the one hand, and the school of Keynesian economic thought which gave the economic initiative to governments on the other, and by the pervasive climate of stringent government direction and control which the war had brought about. This thesis argues that the attitudes and values which were brought to the task of economic reconstruction policy defined the character of that policy, set limits on its scope, and created difficulties in reconciling political and economic views. As a consequence, the policy proposals which were put forward for public debate and endorsement were inadequately thought through, poorly co-ordinated, and too radical to be accepted by the Australian electorate. Because the response of the various interest groups within the community had not been taken into account when the policy was framed, nor had been considered when deciding on the measures to implement the policy, there was considerable opposition to the proposed program of post-war economic reconstruction. This program, when associated with other apparently radical policies such as the nationalization of the banking system, notably contributed to the defeat of the Labor Government in the 1949 elections. The rejection of the post-war reconstruction program might have been avoided or at least ameliorated had a broader perspective been taken in formulating the policy and assessing its consequences.