{"id":1060,"date":"2015-05-15T16:43:14","date_gmt":"2015-05-15T04:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/?p=1060"},"modified":"2015-05-15T16:51:18","modified_gmt":"2015-05-15T04:51:18","slug":"nuts-nz-issue-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/2015\/05\/15\/nuts-nz-issue-6\/","title":{"rendered":"NUTS NZ Issue #6"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editorial<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Welcome to the\u00a0sixth\u00a0edition of\u00a0NUTS NZ\u00a0<\/strong>– the Newsletter for University Theatre Studies New Zealand. The purpose of the newsletter is to help us\u00a0communicate more effectively as a community of scholars interested in Theatre and Performance. We have an interesting selection of stories and news items for you in this mid-year\u00a0issue of of the newsletter for\u00a02015. In this issue we have included the first of what we hope will be a series of ‘correspondences’ from Dr. Sharon Mazer who will be discussing issues related to the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) exercise, and\u00a0the challenges we face as a community in how\u00a0performance research is evaluated. Sharon raises the possibility of beginning a conversation about PBRF at the ADSA annual conference which is just around the corner. This year’s Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies (ADSA) conference\u00a0‘Revisiting\u00a0The Player\u2019s Passion<\/em>: the Science(s) of Acting in 2015′<\/a>\u00a0is being hosted by the University of Sydney. We understand there will be good representation by Kiwi scholars at this event. The new book ‘Embodying Transformation:Transcultural Performance<\/a>‘ (Monash University Press, 2015) will be launched at the conference. The book features a substantial contribution from scholars based in\u00a0Aotearoa\/NZ, including Hilary Halba, James McKinnon, George Parker, Bronwyn Tweddle, and Rand Hazou.<\/p>\n

We are conscious that this issue of NUTS is very Auckland focused. We are sure that other programmes around the country are producing wonderfully exciting theatre projects and research that we should know about. So\u00a0please\u00a0send us information on any upcoming events or initiatives that you think our wider theatre and academic community should be informed about. Perhaps you could nominate someone within your programmes to be a NUTS NZ media officer? Please refer to the important dates below. We plan to circulate our seventh\u00a0issue in mid-August\u00a02015, and we will need items of news by\u00a031st of July<\/strong>. As always, submissions should be sent to the NUTS NZ editor Jane Marshall:\u00a0\u00a0j.g.marshall@massey.ac.nz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Newsletter Issue<\/strong><\/td>\nInformation Required by<\/strong><\/td>\nDate of Circulation<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Issue 7<\/td>\n31 July 2015<\/td>\n14 August 2015<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Issue 8<\/td>\n30 October 2015<\/td>\n13\u00a0November 2015<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Kind regards,<\/p>\n

NUTS NZ editors: Jane Marshall and Rand Hazou.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

PBRF Corespondent’s Report<\/strong><\/h1>\n

This is a critical year in the lead-up to PBRF 2018. Now is the time to be discussing strategies for meeting the challenges ahead within our own institutions and with each other more widely. We need to be thinking creatively both about the way our work is produced and about how it is to be represented in our portfolios. I expect PBRF will be central to our regular November meeting (hosted by Auckland University this year). In addition, if there is sufficient interest, perhaps we can organise an earlier conversation \u2013 at ADSA, for example, and at other regional gatherings (Auckland, anyone?).<\/p>\n

In fact, we have less than three years to produce the work \u2013 performances and publications \u2013 that will be pulled into portfolios, counted and evaluated. Manuscripts of articles, book chapters, books and play texts must be in process by the end of the year to ensure they\u2019re in print by the end of 2017. Even e-journals need a fair bit of lead time. And research-oriented performances will surely need to be in development, in order to elicit the sorts of critical, international attention that can lift the apparent value of the work in the eyes of the assessors.<\/p>\n

There have been some significant changes to PBRF for the next round: an attempt, it seems, to emphasise quality over quantity, to place a higher value on reception of research (ie \u2018impact\u2019) in the wider community and to simplify the work of panellists somewhat. The number of \u2018Nominated Research Outputs\u2019 remains four, but the number of \u2018Other Research Outputs\u2019 has been reduced to twelve. The \u2018Peer Esteem\u2019 and \u2018Contribution to the Research Environment\u2019 categories have been merged into a single \u2018Research Contributions\u2019 category, with a maximum of fifteen examples allowed. There will be limits to the percentage of staff at any one institution who can claim \u2018special circumstances\u2019, and staff will no longer be able to request cross-referrals between panels.<\/p>\n

You may also be aware of a number of consultations circulating. The proposal to collapse Creative and Performing Arts output categories into a single \u2018Original Creative Work\u2019 is especially problematic, I think, for those of us working in theatre and performance research. The suggestion to reduce the designations for conference contributions to just (1) paper published in proceedings, and (2) other (including full papers presented orally) is also troubling from my perspective. Your institutions\u2019 PBRF coordinators can provide copies of the relevant documents and involve you in the discussion, if you\u2019re at all interested. Truth is, they\u2019d probably be delighted to be asked.<\/p>\n

My new role at AUT directly involves supporting staff and student research in theatre and performance, PBRF included. While there is an aspect of competition between institutions, I remain committed to lifting the profile of our disciplines in this national exercise. Feel free to contact me:\u00a0smazer@aut.ac.nz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Best to you all<\/p>\n

Sharon<\/p>\n

Dr Sharon Mazer<\/em><\/address>\n
Associate Professor of Theatre & Performance Studies @ AUT<\/em><\/address>\n
Convenor, NZ Universities Committee for Theatre\/Performance Research<\/em><\/address>\n

NUTS PEOPLE<\/strong><\/h1>\n

In each edition of NUTS NZ we profile\u00a0an academic and a postgraduate student to show case \u201cour people\u201d and their current research\/interests. It is our pleasure to be profiling Lecturer Emma Willis\u00a0and postgraduate student James Wenley from the\u00a0University of Auckland.\u00a0 NUTS NZ asked each of them to answer the following questions:<\/p>\n