Celebrations in the city to mark graduation week

Celebrations in the city to mark graduation week

Renowned documentary photographer Ans Westra will be among the more than 670 graduates to have a degree conferred by Massey University at its graduation ceremonies in Wellington on Thursday.

She will be awarded an honorary doctorate as a Doctor of Fine Arts at the Michael Fowler Centre in the first of two graduation ceremonies.

Another 17 graduates will have PhD doctorate degrees conferred by Chancellor Chris Kelly.

Comedian, broadcaster and Massey alumnus Jeremy Corbett will address graduates, their family and friends at the afternoon ceremony for the Massey School of Business, College of Health, College of Humanities and Social Sciences and College of Sciences.

Co-owner of Wishbone Design Studio Jennifer McIver is guest speaker for the morning ceremony of graduates from the College of Creative Arts, the New Zealand School of Music and Professional and Continuing Education.

Another recent graduate singer, songwriter Lizzie Marvelly, who was capped with a Bachelor of Arts at the Massey Auckland campus graduation last month, will be performing at each of the Wellington ceremonies.

In total, 672 graduates, including numerous staff, will have degrees conferred.

Māori and Pasifika graduates will also be honoured at separate ceremonies on Friday.

Below are research outlines for some of the PhD doctorates:

Norman Meehan: Examined historically significant jazz musicians and the forms their practice took. His conclusions called into question more traditional models of jazz history and criticism, while acknowledging the music’s collective nature, which have tended to emphasise the roles of individuals as primary in jazz. His research suggested that creativity is best achieved in group contexts.

Patricia Thomas: Explored how emigration agencies in the 1800s used typographic advertising posters to attract and engage prospective emigrants to New Zealand.

Jessica McIvor: Investigated the most effective methods for making needle injections less stressful for chronically ill children.

Rosemary Gibson: Researched the sleep problems of people with dementia as well as the effects on their caregivers. It involved a five-week trial comprising sleep education, light therapy and an exercise programme for people with dementia and their family carers.

Bronwyn Sweeney: Investigated changes in sleep and mood during pregnancy, and after birth, in a group of 316 Maori and 635 non-Māori women. Sleep quality was lowest and sleep quality and mood were poorest in late pregnancy and by three months after birth had not returned to usual levels. Minor postnatal depression symptoms were reported by 16 per cent of women and eight per cent reported major postnatal depression symptoms. Both sleep quality and quantity were related to postnatal depression, especially when the magnitude of sleep changes was large, or when sleep continued to decline after birth. A sleep-education intervention was trialled in a separate group of 40 mothers. Intervention group mothers experienced a greater increase in postnatal sleep and reported more confidence to manage their infants’ sleep compared to the control group.

Robyn Tuohy: Researched disaster preparedness from the perspective of independent older adults. She found that older adults considered disaster preparedness to be a personal responsibility. Older adults also associated preparedness with managing age related decline, which was fundamental to maintaining their ability to remain independent in the community.

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