‘Asian students poorly treated’
Dan Eaton, The Christchurch Press, 25 August 2007, page A14

Some New Zealand communities have treated Asian students as “cash cows”, leaving many to return home with bad memories of their time here, new research shows.

Eighty per cent of Asian students return home after their studies and most report a failure to connect with their host communities or Kiwi peers.

The findings are in research published by the Asia New Zealand Foundation titled Friends and Allies: the Impacts of returning Asian Students on New Zealand-Asia Relationships.

Read more…

Media articles | No Comments »

Read an article I wrote on Christianity and migrant communities in New Zealand in the Aotearoa Ethnic Journal at http://www.aen.org.nz/journal/2/2/AENJ.2.2.Butcher.pdf

The full issue of ‘Faith for all: New Zealand’s growing religious diversity’ can be found at www.aen.org.nz/journal

Academic writing, Christian writing, Published Writing, Published articles | No Comments »

Read a new report by Terry Mcgrath, Paul Stock and Andrew Butcher:

Friends and Allies: The Impacts of Returning Asian Students on NZ-Asian relationships here

Academic writing, Published articles, Research reports | No Comments »

Bob Woodward, State of Denial: Bush at War - Part III

David Cohen, A Perfect World: A Father’s Quest to Unravel the Mysteries of Austism

Christopher J.H. Wright, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative

David Crystal, By Hook or by Crook: A Journey in Search of English

Writers and Readers | No Comments »

SUPERB PERFORMANCE SHOWS MUSIC-MAKING AT ITS BEST

What: Vector Wellington orchestra, conducted by Mark Taddei with Michael Houston (piano), Patricia Wright (soprano), Carmel Carroll (contralto), David Hamilton (tenor), Roger Wilson (bass), Orpheus Choir. Music by Psathas and Beethoven.
Where: Town Hall, August 11
Reviewed by: John Button

If the last two concerts by the Vector Wellington Orchestra are any indication, they they are on a roll.

For the second time in a month the Town Hall has been packed - indeed, this was a sold-out concert - and there was a buzz; a real sense of occasion. Read more…

Music, Other | No Comments »

To listen to my participation on National Radio’s ‘The Panel’ programme, talking about Asian students and Robert Putnam’s research on diversity at [from 10:43-25:50] http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/aft/the_panel_-_part_1

 

Media articles, On Radio | No Comments »

Introduction

The theology of Karl Barth has been described as central to modern Western theology (Webster, 2000), while Barth himself has been described as the most important Protestant theologian since Schleiermacher, in the company of a handful of thinkers in the classical Christian tradition (Webster 2000a, 2004); a major and yet disputed figure in the history of theology in the twentieth century (Heron, 2000), and yet by his own admission ‘a child of the nineteenth century’ (Webster, 2004); and a Reformed dogmatician, moral theologian, and exegete (Webster, 2000b); with his doctrine of election being Barth’s greatest contribution to the development of church doctrine (McCormack, 2000). And yet, being the systematic theologian par excellence we would do great injustice to read Barth only where he speaks of The Trinity or the Word of God or moral ethics or in regard to Calvin, Kierkegaard or Luther. As Gunton (2000:143) identifies, nothing Barth writes is said, Read more…

Christian writing, Theological Writing | No Comments »

To see where sociologists, including me, end up, visit:

http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/departments/index.cfm?P=11134 

Academic writing | No Comments »