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Numerous attempts to capture the morphological variability of the genus Caulerpa have resulted in an unstable classification of numerous varieties and formae. In the present study we attempted to test taxon boundaries by investigating morphological and genetic variation within and between seven taxa of Caulerpa, supposedly belonging to four species, sampled at different sites in a Philippine reef system. Using both field and culture observations, we described the relation between the variability of a set of morphological characters and ecological parameters, such as wave exposure, light intensity, and substrate type. Statistical analyses showed that the limits between two (out of three) ecads of the C. racemosa (Forsskål) J. Agardh complex were obscured by the presence of morphological plasticity. Other studied taxa of Caulerpa (i.e. C. cupressoides [Vahl] C. Agardh, C. serrulata [Forsskål] J. Agardh, and two formae of C. sertularioides [S. Gmelin] Howe) could be grouped based on morphology despite the presence of morphological plasticity. Our results indicated a strong association between light intensity and several quantitative morphological variables. Genetic diversity of these taxa was assessed by partial sequencing chloroplast rbcL and tufA genes and the ycf10-chlB chloroplast spacer. In all phylogenetic analyses, C. serrulata, C. cupressoides, C. sertularioides, and the three ecads of C. racemosa emerged as distinct genetic units. Despite the presence of morphological plasticity and morphological convergence, a subset of morphological characters traditionally used in taxonomic delimitation still had sufficient discriminative power to recognize the terminal phylogenetic clades.

This paper discusses theories of postgraduate pedagogy through analysing the narratives and metaphors used to represent relationships between supervisors and candidates. It examines current dominant discourses to ® nd the use of hierarchical models and often combative dynamics based on unequal power relations prevail. Some narratives also replicate oppressive patriarchal and Oedipal family dramas. Using an experiential and feminist methodology, the paper then suggests ways around this familial model. It offers some alternative and creative strategies of representation which could shape new forms of supervisory relationships. With an emphasis on the pleasures, rather than the pain of intellectual knowledge making, such models are suggestive rather than prescriptive, and seek to cater for diverse student backgrounds to make the experience of postgraduate research enjoyable, strengthening and completable.Not much has changed since Bob Connell, over a decade ago, identi® ed postgraduate supervision as one of the`most genuinely complex' and`least discussed' aspects of academic teaching (1985, p. 38). One of the reasons why PhD supervision roles are dif® cult to discuss is the highly¯exible character of one-to-one teaching. It is commonly believed that because each supervisor and candidate develops a distinctly individualised relationship, it is therefore impossible to discuss or theorise the dynamics of such relationships. However, both feminism and post-structuralism have alerted us to the dangers of believing in the myth of`special individuals' operating in a cosy apolitical sphere, especially when those individuals are actually working within powerful institutions whose ideologies intersect, inscribe and determine the paradigms within which individuals operate. As well, those theoretical perspectives have emphasised the importance of language in encoding ideologies, an assumption that underpins our interest in the narratives and metaphors employed to discuss the power dynamics of postgraduate supervisory relationships.As feminist lecturers in literature, we want to re¯ect on our practice of postgraduate supervision and the ways in which it entwines with our feminist methodologies. We also want to re¯ect on the formative relationship we constructed for ourselves as supervisor and student during Alison' s candidature which, as this

This article begins by wondering how the writer’s transformation into motherhood affects her practice of reading, writing and research: how maternities are made academic. Specifically, this article is interested in thinking through lactating breasts, as a particularly complex and potentially subversive ‘performance’ of maternity. In addition, this article reframes ‘maternal thinking’ through 1990s theories of embodiment and corporeality, and asks how embodied practices like breastfeeding might be theorized, as well as how ‘embodied theory’ might be practised. In looking at various cultural texts about breasts and breastfeeding, the article is scripted into a series of connective and reflexive scenes around performance, space, language and knowledge, coming to rest in the imaginative project of an epistemology of breasts. It sets reflexive accounts of lived experience alongside theoretical reflections to create a dynamic and thoughtful reading of breasts, entwining personal and public discourses, maternal and academic writing, theorizing and cultural practices.

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