Sydney Ideas: Recent Episodes
Sydney Ideas
Sydney Ideas is the University of Sydney's premier public lecture series program, bringing the world's leading thinkers and the latest research to the wider Sydney community.
[Content warning: Please note there is mild coarse language]What can we say about the common good in a world marked by deep moral, philosophical, and religious disagreement? Join University of Sydney political philosophers Luara Ferracioli and Alexandre Lefebvre for a spirited discussion, hosted by Fenella Kernebone.Held on 16 July 2026 at the University of Sydney, this was the second event in a new public series, 'Conversations for Good', which explores how we find shared understanding, respect for different viewpoints and have conversations that can make a real difference, for good.Visit the Sydney Ideas website for more: https://go.sydney.edu.au/K0i9iP
What happens when Indigenous knowledge systems are elevated? Leading thinkers from the University of Sydney, Professor Reuben Bolt and Associate Professor Michael Mossman, discuss the creative potential and ways this can be realised in practice, from the fields of science and technology to architecture and design.This event was held live at the University of Sydney on 21 May 2026. For more details and resources, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://go.sydney.edu.au/Y53Q0S
Does the rise of AI mean the death of the humanities? Hear from University of Sydney star academics Sophie Gee, Sandra Peter and Kai Riemer; with music from Titus Grenyer.For centuries, the humanities and technology have existed alongside and augmented each other. If we dive into their shared story, we can learn valuable lessons about how to both embrace our humanity and engage with new technology. Explore a story 600-years in the making that will surprise, inspire, and help you thrive IRL in our tech-inflected future.Presented by Sydney Ideas, this event was held live at the Sydney Opera House on 19 May 2026. For more info and resources, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://go.sydney.edu.au/wGRDGA
Dr Joanne Gray and Dr Rebecca Huntley discuss public discourse, digital platforms and democracy. Hosted by Fenella Kernebone.Is big tech skewing our views and undoing our capacity for tolerance? What actually divides Australians and more importantly, what brings us closer? How do we create – and regulate – spaces for dialogue that encourage open exchange, not outrage; that expand our worldview, not retreat into echo chambers? Held on 22 April 2026 at the University of Sydney, this was the first event in a new public series, 'Conversations for Good', which explores how we find shared understanding, respect for different viewpoints and have conversations that can make a real difference, for good.Visit the Sydney Ideas website for more: https://go.sydney.edu.au/aj9QAR
What stories have taken hold in the public imagination about sharks and marine animals? How does this shape attitudes and policy responses to ocean conservation?Hear political scientist Christopher Pepin-Neff and Australian wildlife scientist Vanessa Pirotta discuss Australia’s relationship with the ocean. Hosted by Helen Sullivan, Senior Journalist at the BBC.This recording is from a public event held on Wednesday 11 March at the University of Sydney, presented by Sydney Ideas with Sydney Environment Institute during Climate Action Week Sydney.
How, and for what, should life be optimised? Is the growing culture of optimisation leading us towards the homogenisation of culture?These days we're using technology to help us write, make decisions, as well as augment, biohack, sculpt and transform our bodies, inside and out, to look and feel younger and fitter. As we seem to optimise virtually every aspect of our everyday lives, do we somehow end up creating more labour and inefficiencies?The pursuit of human development and self-improvement is a perennial subject of fascination and study, from Aristotle’s eudaemonia to Confucian ethics, Maslow’s theory, and now, in a form familiar to many: self-help. What does it signal though, when the dominant messages of the marketplace today, and the markers of success and progress of experience, are defined by terms like efficiency and maximum engagement? Marking the year-end – and with a new year around the corner – we're examining what it means to optimise life. Hear hot takes from Infinite Scroll 荧屏沉溺 curator and creative technologist Thea-Mai Baumann, philosopher Emily Hulme, comedian and writer Alex Lee and computer scientist Elliot Varoy. Hosted by Steph Harmon, Culture Editor of Guardian Australia.This podcast is a recording of a live public event held on 10 December 2025. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: bit.ly/48Rdjg5
How can we eat well to live longer, feed future populations, and sustain planetary health? What's the science behind creating the world's most resilient hybrid wheat?Food makes us who we are. The ways we eat together change lives and communities. In this Sydney Ideas event, we bring together some of the best brains to cook up new ideas and solutions to shift how we think about food for the better. They serve inspired visions for changing the way we eat, produce and understand why food is so important.- Alice Gibson, researcher exploring emerging hybrid food environments, with expertise in the prevention and dietary management of chronic health diseases;- Peng Zhang, who is using advanced biotechnology and genetic techniques to grow resilient and disease-resistant crops such as wheat;- Sophie Gee (host), English professor, co-host of the popular literary classics podcast The Secret Life of Books, and author of The Barbarous Feast: Writing and Eating in the Eighteenth-Century World (forthcoming, Princeton University Press);This Sydney Ideas event was presented on 22–23 October at Riverside Theatres, with the support of City of Parramatta as part of Parramatta Lanes, one of Sydney’s most exciting street festivals, transforming the city's streets, laneways and car parks into a playground of Eats, Beats and Art.This podcast is a recording of a live public event held on 23 October 2025. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: bit.ly/3LRYhNV
How can we eat well to live longer, feed future populations, and sustain planetary health? What's the science behind creating the world's most resilient hybrid wheat?Food makes us who we are. The ways we eat together change lives and communities. In this Sydney Ideas event, we bring together some of the best brains to cook up new ideas and solutions to shift how we think about food for the better. They serve inspired visions for changing the way we eat, produce and understand why food is so important.- Juliet Bennett, a researcher applying critical social theory to systems of food production and consumption;- Rebecca Cross, rural and environment geographer with insight into sustainable, regenerative farming and agricultural practices;- Shadia Djakovic, a dietician bringing extensive experience in nutrition and health promotion;- Sophie Gee (host), English professor, co-host of the popular literary classics podcast The Secret Life of Books, and author of The Barbarous Feast: Writing and Eating in the Eighteenth-Century World (forthcoming, Princeton University Press);This Sydney Ideas event was presented on 22–23 October at Riverside Theatres, with the support of City of Parramatta as part of Parramatta Lanes, one of Sydney’s most exciting street festivals, transforming the city's streets, laneways and car parks into a playground of Eats, Beats and Art.This podcast is a recording of a live public event held on 22 October 2025. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: bit.ly/3LRYhNV
Is Australia still the Lucky Country? In public opinion polling, more and more Australians believe things are, on the whole, getting worse than better. Various data such as the longstanding Scanlon Social Cohesion Report point to society becoming polarised. A culture of suspicion continues to grow around our most important institutions, and loneliness and social isolation is common across our community.Against such concerning trends, what can be done? In this open discussion led by one of Australia’s foremost social researchers, author and University of Sydney alumna Dr Rebecca Huntley, we address three key, interconnected issues that will have a defining impact on national progress and prosperity, for generations to come. Featuring Dr Marlee Bower (Matilda Centre and Sydney Environment Institute), digital innovation expert Dr Raffaele F. Ciriello, refugee advocate and UN Women Australia MBA scholar ('24) Chantal Mousad, and economist Dr Suneha Seetahul (Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion at Work).This podcast is a recording of a live public event held on 29 July 2025. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/45pcUhU
Science has shown us the universe began with a Big Bang but what about its endgame? Will everything burn out and freeze over, or collapse in on itself, or rip into shreds? How far away are we from this happening?Embark on a cosmic journey to the end of the universe with astrophysicist, science communicator, and author of The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking), Katie Mack. In a public talk, Katie takes us through the latest scientific tolls and data, from space telescopes to particle colliders, to explain the big ideas and key theories of the death of the universe.Professor Tara Murphy, Head of the School of Physics, hosts this event. This podcast is a recording of a live public event held on 10 July 2025. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: bit.ly/40WQfb3
Why are nations around the world racing to secure critical minerals? What’s at stake, and what does it mean for you? In this conversation, our expert panel will break down what you need to know about critical minerals – their role in the net zero transition, the geopolitical issues, and the environmental and community impacts.Hear insights from Professor Marjorie Valix, the Net Zero Institute’s (NZI) critical minerals pillar lead, global governance expert Professor Susan Park, the founder and managing director of Critical Minerals Association Namali Mackay and Andrew Petersen, the CEO of the Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia. Professor Deanna D’Alessandro, Director of NZI, hosts this discussion. This podcast is a recording of a live public event held on 20 May 2025. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/4mzZZRS
Is a language owned by its speakers or is it a public good? 'Who' gets to have a say, lay claim to, and wield a language? What does this all mean for navigating power differentials and public discourse? Unpack language, culture and power with linguist John McWhorter in a conversation with host Nick EnfieldThis podcast is a recording of a live public event held on 12 March 2025. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/4iuK0BQ
Hear Simon Schama, acclaimed historian, writer and Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University, in-conversation with Professor Avril Alba.This podcast is a recording of a live public event held on 5 March 2025. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/4bBKrb7
If we can define the elements of a breakthrough, can we engineer the next great discovery in business, science, policy and civic life? Join a conversation with Sophie Gee, Charlotte Wood, Stephen Simpson and Kate Harrison Brennan.This podcast is a recording of a live public event held on 26 November 2024. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: bit.ly/3CKDPdf
Economist and parliamentarian Andrew Leigh is in conversation with technology entrepreneur and philanthropist Cliff Obrecht about Andrew’s new book, 'Battlers and Billionaires: The Updated Story of Inequality in Australia'.This event was held on Wednesday 23 October 2024 at the University of Sydney. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: bit.ly/4fuiDGs
Fake research papers are on the rise. Explore what's fuelling this, why it's concerning, and how we can address this issue with science integrity consultant Elisabeth Bik, computer scientist Judy Kay, linguist Nick Enfield, Pro Vice Chancellor (Research) Benjamin Eggleton and host Jennifer Byrne.This event was held on Tuesday 22 October 2024 at the University of Sydney. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: bit.ly/48B2Mnk
Join epidemiologist and complex systems scientist Jo-An Occhipinti, labour market expert John Buchanan and economist Richard Denniss to explore mental wealth as a new measure of national wellbeing.This event was held on Thursday 24 October 2024 at the University of Sydney. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: bit.ly/3YJal84
Can liberalism be the basis of a meaningful and fun way of life? Philosopher Alexandre Lefebvre delves into this idea with Mark Scott, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sydney and host of The Solutionists podcast.This event was held on Thursday 19 September 2024 at the University of Sydney. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: bit.ly/47FhY2e
Can we fast-track cures for diseases? Hear about exciting discoveries in novel therapeutics, nanomedicines, AI and neuroimaging with leading researchers Michael Bowen, Victoria Cogger and Chenyu Tim Wang. Hosted by Tegan Taylor, ABC health and science journalist.This podcast is a recording of a live public event held on 22 August 2024. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: bit.ly/3XyTUuJ
Psychologist Lee-Fay Low, and music scholars Neal Peres Da Costa and Helen Mitchell and host Angharad Yeo unravel the fascinating links between music and the brain. Can music activity help slow down cognitive decline?This event was held live at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on 20 June 2024. For more details and resources, visit the Sydney Ideas page:https://www.sydney.edu.au/engage/events-sponsorships/sydney-ideas/2024/music-and-dementia.html
Delve into the history, science, and beauty of the natural world with Australian author James Bradley, Professor of Marine Biology Maria Byrne, ocean and climate advocate Tishiko King and host Helen Sullivan (Guardian Australia).This event was held live at the University of Sydney on 8 March 2024. For more details and resources, visit the Sydney Ideas page: https://bit.ly/49wNNtl
Explore how the arts are transforming health and education to improve care and wellbeing with acclaimed playwright Wesley Enoch, poet Selina Tusitala Marsh, nursing professor Brendan McCormack and host Claire Hooker (CREATE Centre).This podcast is a recording of a live public event held on 21 March 2024. For more links and resources, including the transcript, visit Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/4a5GeLf
How do we move the needle on mental health outcomes? Alastair Campbell and leading experts discuss what can be done to influence the appropriate social and political responses.Known for his role as communications director for former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell has emerged as a prominent advocate for mental health action around the world.In this Sydney Ideas public talk, Alastair shares brief reflections and then joined on stage by NSW Minister for Mental Health and Youth, The Hon. Minister Rose Jackson MLC; business leader Sam Mostyn AO (Chair of Beyond Blue); and youth mental health leaders Tanya Dearle and Zsofi de Haan. Our esteemed panel explore ways of moving forward and creating action to enhance mental health services and outcomes for all. Professor Ian Hickie AO, Co-director of Health and Policy at Brain and Mind Centre, hosts this event.This event was held on Monday 4 March 2024 at the University of Sydney and was presented with Brain and Mind Centre and Matilda Centre.
A public conversation about intergenerational perspectives on allyship for gender equality – its importance, how to activate allies, and what effective and accountable allyship looks like.Featuring gender equality champion Elizabeth Broderick AO; internationally recognised diversity and inclusion scholar Mustafa Ozbilgin; Tom Snow, Chair of Snow Medical and Chair of Equality Australia; and host Antoinette Lattouf, author, journalist and broadcaster. This event was held live at the University of Sydney Business School on 21 November 2023 and presented with the University's Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Program. For more info and resources, including a transcript, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3ul3S6u
Yorta Yorta woman, composer and soprano Deborah Cheetham Fraillon was joined by some of the country’s most creative minds for an expansive conversation that reflects on the role of the arts in a post-referendum Australia.Australia, at this time following the Voice to Parliament referendum and with a new national arts and cultural policy, is going to be profoundly changed. The arts has, and will have, a role in reflecting our aspirations – so what do we want? How does the arts articulate and advance this? Hear from:Professor Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, Elizabeth Todd Chair of Vocal Studies at Sydney Conservatorium of Music;Michael Dagostino, Director of Museums and Cultural Engagement at the University of Sydney; Guzheng performing artist Mindy Meng Wang; and Host Jess Scully, author and curator. The recording of this podcast was from a live event held on Wednesday 1 November 2023 at the University of Sydney. Aunty Ann Weldon gave a Welcome to Country (which was referenced by Deborah in the podcast). For more info and resources, including a transcript, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/40AegDs
In today’s show we wanted to introduce to you a new podcast we think you might enjoy. It’s called 'The Solutionists', with Mark Scott. Big challenges need big solutions. Meet the minds making it happen.Join Mark Scott, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Sydney, and get ready to view the world from a different perspective.From our own wellbeing to the preservation of the planet, The Solutionists dives into the most pressing issues of our time and introduces you to the people unearthing the seeds of remarkable solutions.You'll discover a world of progress and possibility.Take a listen to episode one of The Solutionists, with Mark Scott, which is about how to cool your body and survive in extreme heat. For more info, notes and the transcript, visit The Solutionists website: https://bit.ly/3QbJGvoNext time at Sydney Ideas, explore 'What art ought to be' and 'Activating allies for gender equality.' Join us live at the University of Sydney campus in November or stay tuned for the podcast. Get the details: https://bit.ly/491QvYP
Hear from two pioneering University of Sydney alumni changing the game in news and media: Zara Seidler, co-founder of Australia's fastest growing social-first news service, The Daily Aus; and Phoebe Saintilan, founder of new media technology company Missing Perspectives.Zara and Phoebe swap stories about their multifaceted careers from politics to journalism, to finding their footing in a profoundly disrupted landscape. The recording for this podcast was from a live event held at the University of Sydney on 21 September 2023. Visit the Sydney Ideas website for more info, links and resources: https://bit.ly/3S42oYr
In this conversation, hear academic experts discuss disinformation – what makes it so influential and problematic, roles and responsibilities of our institutions and platforms, and how to counteract it for better decision-making. Featuring: philosopher Lee McIntyre, digital platforms researcher Joanne Gray and cognitive scientist Micah Goldwater. Farz Edraki, writer, editor and broadcaster at ABC, hosts this discussion.The recording is from live event held at the University of Sydney on 12 September 2023. For more details and resources, visit the Sydney Ideas page: https://bit.ly/3EKygcI
Can we save lives and save the planet? Hear how the healthcare sector is tracking, finding solutions and making changes, to be more sustainable and green.
Healthcare is both significantly affected by, and is a contributor to, climate change. If the global health sector were a country, it would be the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world.
So, how can Australia work towards a more sustainable healthcare system, without compromising on quality and safety?
The recording of this conversation is from a live public event held on 22 August 2023 at the University of Sydney.
Visit the Sydney Ideas website for more info: bit.ly/44yp6u2
Why taking a moral and philosophical lens to understanding housing can help us get out of the crisis in Australia – and create a fairer, sustainable system for all.
Author and citymaker Jess Scully hosts this conversation with philosopher Ingrid Robeyns, Professor and Chair of Urbanism Nicole Gurran, and housing market researcher Eliza Owen.
The recording of this conversation is from a live public event held on 4 August 2023 at the University of Sydney.
Visit the Sydney Ideas website for more info: https://bit.ly/3QCGz1i
A keynote address by prominent anthropologist and geographer Professor Marcia Langton AO, on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
The Indigenous Voice to Parliament is one of the most important discussions taking place in Australia. In the lead up to the vote, we bring together a range of voices from across the University of Sydney and beyond, to offer critical insight to enrich and inform public understanding and dialogue.
Professor Langton was joined on stage for a conversation hosted by Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Indigenous Strategy and Services at the University of Sydney.
This event is the next in the 'Voices on the Voice' series. It was held live at the University of Sydney on 3 August 2023.
For more details and resources, visit the Sydney Ideas page: https://bit.ly/44Vv754
Epidemiologist and population behavioural scientist Melody Ding gives a talk on the trends and predictors of loneliness and why it’s a public health issue.
With Professor Stephen Simpson, Academic Director of Charles Perkins Centre, as host.
The recording of this talk is from a live public event held on 27 July 2023 at the University of Sydney. More information, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3YoRGws
If there’s a 10% chance that human-level artificial intelligence (AI) would lead to existential risk or an “extremely negative outcome”, what would you do?
In this public talks event we had the experts weigh in on the development of AI and untangle the deep, complex questions it raises.
Hear from Rebecca Johnson, tech ethics researcher in the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney; Dr Sandra Peter, Director of Sydney Executive Plus and expert on emerging trends and technology from University of Sydney Business School and Jose-Miguel Bello Villarino, Research Fellow at Sydney Law School and ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society (ADM+S).
This talk was hosted by technology reporter, Ariel Bogle.
For more information about the researchers, resources and further reading, visit Sydney Ideas: https://bit.ly/3pH7TjU
Hear a keynote address by University of Sydney alumnus Noel Pearson (BA '87, LL B '93), a proud leader from the Guugu Yimidhirr community of Hopevale on the Eastern Cape York Peninsula, and hailed as one of the best orators in Australia.The Indigenous Voice to Parliament is one of the most important discussions taking place in Australia. In his public address, Noel gave perspective on the journey of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament and why it's a "decisive step" for Australia towards recognition and reconciliation.This Sydney Ideas event opens the conversation as the first event in the 'Voices on the Voice' series, a collaboration led by the University's Indigenous Strategy and Services and National Centre for Cultural Competence. More events and discussions are planned to take place over the coming months so stay tuned. For details on the 'Voices on the Voice' series and resources, visit the Sydney Ideas page: https://bit.ly/43oFYDs
Carbon removal, solar power and clean hydrogen – these are just some of the renewable technologies touted as solutions to fossil fuel. How can these different areas of science and technology work together to be part of a shared solution?Three researchers at the forefront of their fields discuss the latest developments and elements – such as advances in science, technology and public awareness – that hold the key for a necessary transition to cleaner forms of energy. They talk about timelines, what's down the pipeline, and the investment needed to get us to that next step. Hear from Anita Ho-Baillie, leader in perovskite solar cell research; hydrogen technology leader Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou; and Deanna D'Alessandro, chemist and director of Net Zero Initiative at the University.Each of the researchers are strong advocates for the technologies they’ve spent their careers building and in this podcast they will share their vision for the technologies developed within their teams.Host for this event was Alice Motion, chemist, science communicator and Interim Director of the University of Sydney Nano Institute (Sydney Nano).
How do we meaningfully engage with Pacific peoples and issues across the region? We invite you to this Talanoa (shared conversation) with host Professor Jioji Ravulo and experts in geopolitics, climate and economic security.Much attention is on the Pacific region as leading world powers seek to have influence and possible control on the access and development of Pacific Islands Counties and its Territories (PICT). The way in which this is occurring is shaped competing priorities and outcomes, underpinned by economic and financial incentives. Despite good will and intention, a key question remains: what are we doing to genuinely and sustainably support Pacific people across the region? This should be the central idea that shapes the way in which regional development occurs across the Pacific region. Our host and panel will critically reflect on this overarching question, with examples drawn from the past, present and possible futures.The panel will also explore key questions including: Who benefits from having influence and control across the region and why? How are the key players held accountable for their varying impacts across the region? What is the role and influence of Pacific people in shaping this dialogue?
Hear from acclaimed writer and historian Dr Olesya Khromeychuk, a leading voice on Russia's war against Ukraine.International observers estimated that Ukraine would fall within days following Russia’s full-scale invasion. A year on, Ukrainian society continues to demonstrate extraordinary defiance and the Ukrainian Armed Forces show unprecedented resistance to the occupying troops.In this Sydney Ideas talk, Dr Olesya Khromeychuk explores the reasons why we might have underestimated Ukrainian resilience and overestimated Russia's might following the events of February 2022; and proposes the lessons that the democratic world has learned over the past 12 months.Dr Olga Boichak, prominent sociologist and frequent commentator on the Russian-Ukrainian war in the media, hosts this event. This event was held on Thursday 2 February 2023 at the University of Sydney. For more info, visit the Sydney Ideas website: http://bit.ly/3JPlsVY
What is the impact of extreme heat and hot weather on human health across the human lifespan? In this Sydney Ideas event, experts from the University's Heat and Health Research Incubator (HHRI) discuss the latest research and provide us with some pretty cool solutions.Did you know that extreme heat and hot weather have devastating consequences for human health and wellbeing? Or that heatwaves cause more deaths than all other natural disasters combined? With our planet heating up, we need to find solutions for how society can not only survive but thrive in extreme temperatures.Professor Ollie Jay (Director, Heat and Health Research Incubator)is joined in conversation with cardiovascular health expert Dr Georgia Chaseling, environmental physiology researcher Dr James Smallcombe, neonatologist Professor Adrienne Gordon and host Tony Capon (Director, Monash Sustainable Development Institute) to discuss the effects of extreme heat on our bodies and its impact on our health and wellbeing across the human lifespan.Hear how researchers at the HHRI are tackling the health impacts of extreme heat with sustainable, low-resource, evidence-based solutions and explore how together we can build a more resilient community to a warming world. This event took place on 13 December 2022 at the Susan Wakil Health Building and live online.To view the video of the event in full, please go to the Sydney Ideas website:https://www.sydney.edu.au/engage/events-sponsorships/sydney-ideas/2022/extreme-heat-and-human-health.html
What is really going on 'under the hood'? What can we do each day to improve our own - and our collective - mental health? In this Sydney Ideas event, a team of experts share cutting-edge research and explore practical ways to reach peak mind and brain health. This online event was held on 27 October to mark Mental Health Month, and co-presented with the Brain and Mind Centre.
In this talk, The Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury shares why he believes that competition policy is fundamental to economic dynamism and rising living standards.
Dr Leigh was introduced and joined in a conversation with Kirsten Andrew, Vice-President (External Relations) at the University of Sydney.
This recording is from a live event held at the University's Chau Chak Wing Museum on Monday 17 October.
2022 Michael Hintze Lecture with Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert
British-Australian academic, Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, highlights the complex nature of state hostage taking, and outlines ways in which Australia’s approach can be refined to tackle this insidious and growing global problem.
The use of individual citizens of a country as tools of diplomatic leverage in disputes between states is often referred to as Hostage Diplomacy, a form of arbitrary detention that involves the imprisonment and/or conviction of innocent foreign or dual-national visitors as a means of extracting concessions from their country of citizenship.
In 2018, Kylie Moore-Gilbert was falsely charged with espionage and imprisoned in Iran for more than two years before being released in a prisoner exchange deal negotiated by the Australian government. As a victim of hostage diplomacy, Moore-Gilbert experienced first-hand the injustice of being reduced to little more than a political bargaining chip.
Hear her unique insights into the Australian government’s approach to arbitrary detention and her current involvement in lobbying to reform both Australia’s strategic response and the provision of support services to victims and their families.
After the talk, Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert is joined in conversation by Professor Sarah Phillips.
This Sydney Ideas event was held on Thursday 29 September 2022 in the Social Sciences Building SSB Lecture Theatre 200, in partnership with the Centre for International Security Studies.
To view the video of the event in full, please go to the Sydney Ideas website: https://www.sydney.edu.au/engage/events-sponsorships/sydney-ideas/2022/kylie-gilbert-moore-hostage-diplomacy-and-government-reform.html
Join Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and Professor Peter Tuthill on a guided tour of the latest photos from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) – our Infrared Eye in the Sky. The JWST is NASA’s largest and most powerful space science telescope ever constructed and Peter Tuthill is the only Australian to have an experiment on it - a tremendous feat!
See stars romancing and dancing, being born, growing up, dying and giving birth to new stars. The JWST might even answer the big question – “does life exist outside the Earth?”
Through the lens of astronomy, we also explore fresh angles on planetary climates. The physics that control planetary atmospheres – temperatures and energy budgets for matter and radiation - is straight-forward. Our planetary siblings (Venus and Mars) started well, but ended hot and cold. On Earth, we humans have tipped the energy budget so that today, as compared to 1850, the Earth’s atmosphere takes in an extra 600,000 Hiroshima atom bombs of infrared heat from the Sun – each and every day! The good news is that with today’s technologies, we can stop, and reverse, climate change.
This Sydney Ideas event was held on Wednesday 7 September 2022 at the Charles Perkins Centre Auditorium.
To view the video of the event, to see the slides, demonstration and captions, please go to the Sydney Ideas website.
https://www.sydney.edu.au/engage/events-sponsorships/sydney-ideas/2022/peter-tuthill-karl-kruszelnicki-invisible-infared.html
Sydney Ideas welcomes back Professor Frank Pasquale (Brooklyn Law School), a leading author and academic on the law of artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms, and machine learning. He is joined by local experts to unpack the challenges and advantages of AI and how it is changing medical practice.
The potential for AI and its ability to improve how healthcare is delivered is well documented. From supporting the patient experience and how they access healthcare services, to assisting practitioners in avoiding errors, AI can enable healthcare systems to offer better care to more people. However, we’ll only take full advantage of what AI has to offer, with wise policy choices.
How can governmental and other authorities better support the development of quality AI for diagnosis and clinical decision making? Do we have the systems in place to make the meaningful changes needed for doctors and hospital administrators to take genuine advantage of the potential of AI? What are the challenges they face?
Hear from Frank Pasquale, author of New Laws of Robotics: Defending Human Expertise in the Age of AI (Harvard University Press, 2020) followed by a conversation with Associate Professor and Paediatric Anaesthetist, Justin Skowno and Professor of law and a specialist at the intersection of law and technology, Kimberlee Weatherall (moderator).
This Sydney Ideas event was held online, on Monday 25 July 2022.
To view the event page, please go to this link: https://bit.ly/3ONVKA0
How will the new government deliver on its promises? Respected journalist Nick Bryant hosts this conversation with Sally Sitou, Member for Reid; Kylea Tink, Member for North Sydney; Constitutional reform expert; Anne Twomey; and political theorist Tim Soutphommasane.
On being elected, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised to create a government that doesn’t “seek to divide” and one that will “change the way” politics operates in Australia; to lead with integrity.
With a record 10 women in his cabinet, a promise to enshrine a First Nations Voice to parliament and a commitment towards mitigating the impacts of climate change, the new government have set themselves strong targets.
Can there truly be a reset in how politics is run in this country? How can this new government “bring people together” beyond the rhetoric and slogans? What do they need to get right before their first year is up and how can the new voices in parliament set a course for change?
Hear from an expert panel including:
- Sally Sitou, Member for Reid
- Professor Tim Soutphommasane, political theorist, Culture Strategy - Director and Acting Director of Sydney Policy Lab
- Kylea Tink, Member for North Sydney
- Professor Anne Twomey, Professor of Constitutional Law and Director, Constitutional Reform Unit at Sydney Law School
- Nick Bryant, journalist and Senior Policy Fellow at Sydney Policy Lab
This event was held on Wednesday 20 July, 2022 and presented with Sydney Policy Lab. To view the event page please go to: https://bit.ly/3PMWZk8
Renowned environmental scientist, Professor Emma Johnston AO, the co-chief author of the 2021 Australian State of Environment Report and the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) is joined by her co-authors to discuss key findings of the report and what is in store for our environment and wellbeing.
The extreme weather events from the past few years have shown that our future depends on healthy rivers, forests, soils and seas, which is why it is crucial to understand exactly what is at stake. The State of the Environment (SOE) report, a five-yearly independent review, commissioned by the Australian Government, is a critical piece in the puzzle. Its independent analysis from a team of scientific experts, offers a clear framework on how to address the myriad environmental issues we face and the projected future of our environment.
Professor Johnston is one of Australia’s most distinguished environmental scientists, an elected fellow of both the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE). She also co-hosts the television series, Coast Australia, exploring the country's coastline.
Also joining the conversation will be SOE co-authors Dr Terri Janke, a Wuthathi/Meriam woman and an international authority on Indigenous cultural and intellectual property; the chair of the Western Australian Biodiversity Science Institute, leading environmental scientist, Dr Ian Cresswell; and Dr Sarah Hill, CEO of the Western Parkland City Authority. Moderated by Sydney Ideas Head of Programming, Fenella Kernebone.
The 2021 SOE report is the first to include Indigenous co-authors and is the first to have a chapter explicitly focused on Extreme Events (bushfires, floods, heatwaves, droughts, storms).
This Sydney Ideas event was held on Thursday 21 July, 2022 at the Charles Perkins Centre Auditorium, University of Sydney.
To view the event page please go to this link: https://bit.ly/3PVt3C6
Why are we a nation that has not yet recognised the First People, and what can we do to take action?
Teela Reid, proud Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman, lawyer and the University of Sydney's inaugural Indigenous Practitioner-in-Residence, examines the hard questions that cut to the legitimacy of our democracy on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Teela was joined in a conversation moderated by Billi FitzSimons, Editor of The Daily Aus.
Professor Simon Bronitt, Head and Dean of Sydney Law School, introduced the event and a Welcome to County provided by Michael West from Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council (MLALC). You can hear all of this in the full event, available on video via the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3x7mrJp
Hear from global leader Dr Kakenya Ntaiya, scholar, social activist and 2021/2022 Senior Fellow at Brown University.
Kakenya is the founder of Kakenya's Dream, an international nonprofit organisation that seeks to educate girls, end harmful traditional practices including female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage, and transform her community.
This Sydney Ideas event also features: – Peyian Kortom, final year Bachelor of Science and Liberal Arts student at the University of Sydney – Cynthia Naiyoma, first year Bachelor of Nursing student at UTS – Lisa McIntyre, Founder of Women for Change – Professor Renae Ryan (host), Academic Director of Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Program at the University of Sydney.
This event was held on 19 May 2022. For more information, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3wOLeD7
In the lead up to the federal election, as the parties vie for voter’s attention, Sydney Ideas brings together a panel of experts to examine some of the key policy issues that are shaping this election, such as the economy, climate change, and more.
FEATURING: – Professor Anika Gauja, Australian politics specialist – Antony Green, ABC's Chief Election Analyst – Associate Professor Elizabeth Hill, political economist – Professor Duncan Ivison, political philosopher – Kishor Napier-Raman, politics reporter for Crikey – Moderator: Fran Kelly, journalist and political correspondent
The recording for this podcast is from a live Sydney Ideas event, presented in collaboration with School of Social and Political Sciences, on Thursday 28 April, 2022.
This event is the first part of our 2022 federal election series. Stayed tuned for Part 2, after the election.
For more information and resources, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3LFO3v1
In the aftermath of devastating climate disasters like Australia’s recent east-coast floods, how do communities – those at the centre of the crisis and those on the periphery – support each other emotionally during times of climate distress?
Hear from climate emotions experts and residents of Lismore. – Maddy Braddon, community organiser – Professor James Bennett-Levy, mental health expert – Aidan Ricketts, academic and environmental activist – Samuel Savage, emergency services coordinator – Jeanti St Clair, journalism lecturer and storycatcher – Moderator: Dr Blanche Verlie, social scientist
The recording for this podcast is from a live Sydney Ideas online event, presented in collaboration with Sydney Environment Institute, held on Thursday 21 April, 2022.
For more information and resources, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/395MYOC
To connect with research, news or join upcoming events at the Sydney Environment Institute, visit https://sei.sydney.edu.au/
How can artificial intelligence help us solve tough mathematical problems?
Delve into the surprising ways that AI can enhance our human intuition with esteemed Australian mathematician Professor Geordie Williamson and MC Adam Spencer.
To see the beautiful images and graphs Geordie refers to in his talk, watch the video here: https://bit.ly/3qcTKrE
The recording for this podcast is from a live Sydney Ideas event that was held on Tuesday 15 March, 2022.
For more information and resources, including the transcript, visit the Sydney Ideas website: www.sydney.edu.au/sydney-ideas
Hear from young people and academic experts, including a leading US researcher, who are driving research that is changing the out-of-home care system, using creative methods for social change.
FEATURING: – Billy Black, Fostering Lifelong Connections Advisory Group – Expert by Experience – Professor Amy Conley Wright, University of Sydney – Bobby Hendry, Fostering Lifelong Connections Advisory Group – Expert by Experience – Professor Peter J. Pecora, University of Washington – Tegan Whittaker, Fostering Lifelong Connections Advisory Group – Expert by Experience – Host: Professor Judith Cashmore AO, University of Sydney
The recording for this podcast is from a live Sydney Ideas public talks event that was held virtually on Thursday 10 March, 2022.
For more information and resources, including the transcript, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3CMnCjP
What can the 24 hour economy look like and how might it help future proof the city?
FEATURING: – Michael Rodrigues, 24 Hour Economy Commissioner – Sara Saleh, writer and poet – Jess Scully, author, curator and City of Sydney Deputy Lord Mayor – Carla Theunissen, Senior Manager, Place Activation and Strategy for Sydney Olympic Park – Steph Harmon (host), Culture Editor of Guardian Australia
The recording for this podcast is from a live Sydney Ideas public talks event that was held virtually on Wednesday 2 March, 2022.
For more information and resources, including the transcript, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3tffsNG
- It's a new year yet the same-old. Off the back of the pandemic, there was talk of a Great Reset, a chance to turn a crisis into an opportunity. But looking at the state of play today – in politics, human rights, climate action and widening inequality – has this vision for a paradigm shift fizzled?
To get some perspective, we bring together leading thinkers from a range of fields to share their take on how the world might change – or could change – for the better, by the end of year.
FEATURING – Dr Arianna Brambilla, Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Co-chair of the cluster Building Efficiencies of the Smart Sustainable Building Network – Associate Professor Melody Ding, epidemiologist and population behavioural scientist working at the intersection of physical activity, epidemiology and chronic disease prevention – Dr Arunima Malik, Senior Lecturer in the Integrated Sustainability. Her expertise is in big-data modelling to quantify sustainability impacts at local, national and global scales – Jananie Janarthana, community organiser and campaigner – Dr Sandra Peter, Director of Sydney Business Insights at the University of Sydney Business School – Fenella Kernebone, Head of Programming for Sydney Ideas, hosts this conversation.
For further links and resources, including a transcript, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3p47p3G
This public talks event was recorded on 17 February, 2022.
Hear from researchers at the University of Sydney Nano Institute (Sydney Nano), who are working at the cutting-edge of nanoscience.
Professor Zdenka Kuncic shares how the research team is delivering cures for neurological diseases by rethinking interventions in the nervous system.
Dr Shelley Wickham is working on a project building autonomous, programmable robots that can detect disease early for treatment and prevention.
Professor Chiara Neto talks about developing a low-cost method to capture water in the air, to tackle the impacts of drought.
Associate Professor, chemist and science communicator Alice Motion is our host, with opening remarks from Sydney Nano Director, Professor Benjamin Eggleton.
This recording was from a live event on 25 November, 2021. For links to further resources, including the transcript, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3li5Zk7
How adaptable are our big city birds to the urban environment and what impact we humans are having on them? Discover some significant citizen science projects and how you can get involved.
Drawing on the latest research, in this Sydney Ideas event you will hear powerful short talks about our local birdlife.
Featuring: – Professor Dieter Hochuli, ecologist at the University of Sydney, on the brush turkey; – Dr Holly Parsons from BirdLife Australia on the powerful owl; – Dr John Martin, research scientist at Taronga Institute of Science and Learning, on the much-maligned ibis; – Professor David Phalen (University of Sydney), who talks about a new study that aims to identify the causes of a devastating disease affecting Rainbow Lorikeets; – Dr Lucy Aplin from the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behaviour, explains the unique bin-opening behaviour of clever sulphur-crested cockatoos, and; – Associate Professor Kurt Iveson, urban geographer from the University of Sydney, moderates this event.
Visit the Sydney Ideas website for more info, audio transcript and links to citizen science projects mentioned in the podcast: https://bit.ly/3mwkGRX
The talks were recorded from a live virtual event on 28 October, 2021.
As Australia looks to reopen, and in the week NSW emerges from lockdown, we examine the path to reopening and how we can rebuild Australian society looking forward.
Drawing upon the work of the Open Society, Common Purpose taskforce hosted at the University of Sydney, we ask: What do we need to get right?
Featuring: – Professor Catherine Bennett, epidemiologist, Deakin University – Dr Nick Coatsworth, infectious disease physician, ANU – Dr Luara Ferracioli, Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy, The University of Sydney – Professor Adam Guastella, Michael Crouch Chair in Child and Youth Mental Health, University of Sydney – Professor Fiona Russell, paediatrician and epidemiologist, The University of Melbourne – Mark Rigotti, Senior Adviser at Herbert Smith Freehills and Chair of the Open Society, Common Purpose taskforce – Professor Tim Soutphommasane, political theorist, The University of Sydney – Professor Marc Stears, Director of Sydney Policy Lab, The University of Sydney
This conversation was recorded on 13 October, 2021. For more information and resources, including the transcript, visit our website: https://bit.ly/2YKLWme
How do changes to our sleep and body rhythms affect our health, wellbeing and diseases of the brain?
In the lead up to Mental Health Month, discover some fascinating new research emerging from the University of Sydney and beyond.
Fran Kelly, Breakfast presenter on ABC Radio National, moderates an expert panel featuring: – Associate Professor Sean Cain, circadian rhythms expert from Monash University – Dr Jacob Crouse, post-doctoral research fellow with the Youth Mental Health & Technology Team at the Brain and Mind Centre – Professor Sharon Naismith, clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Sydney
This discussion was recorded on 23 September, 2021. For more information and resources, including a transcript, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3CFlfOn – this is where you can also find our music playlist of tracks to wind down to, as recommended by the panel.
After being involved in two decades of occupying the country, what responsibilities does Australia owe to the people of Afghanistan? What more needs to be done by the Australian and other allied governments?
This conversation brings together Afghan Australians Mujib Abid who recently escaped from Kabul with his family, and Shukufa Tahiri, former Policy Officer with the Refugee Council, as well as leading academic experts to share their insights. Hear from our panel including:
– Mujib Abid, University of Sydney alumnus (Master of Peace and Conflict Studies) and PhD candidate at the University of Queensland. – Professor Mary Crock, Co-Director of the Sydney Centre for International Law. – Professor William Maley AM from the Department of International Relations at ANU – Professor Tim Soutphommasane, Director of the Culture Strategy at the University of Sydney and political theorist – Shukufa Tahiri, Deputy Director of National Refugee Advocacy and Advisory Group (NRAAG)
This online discussion is presented in collaboration with the Culture Strategy and Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney.
A philosopher, an improv comedian, a psychologist and an economist walk into a Sydney Ideas webinar... to discuss happiness. Can we find ways to be happier than we were before, while in the face of ongoing uncertainty and a global pandemic?
Happiness. There are entire industries dedicated to helping us find it. Endless social media advice, self-help books and gurus promising health, wealth and happiness if only you do that one thing.
But it can be hard to feel happy in the face of a pandemic – extended lockdowns, the chaos and uncertainty of working from home, of home-schooling, or simply feeling like everything is just relentless.
What are we really chasing, and why? What is the difference between being happy with your life compared to being happy in your life
Featuring: – Rebecca De Unamuno, award-winning improviser and comedian – Dan Nahum, economist with the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work – Dr Tim Sharp, Australia's very own 'Dr Happy', at the forefront of the positive psychology movement and founder of The Happiness Institute – Dr Caroline West, philosopher at the University of Sydney – Fenella Kernebone (Moderator), Head of Programming for Sydney Ideas
This discussion was hosted on 26 August, 2021. For more information and resources, including the transcript; visit our website: https://bit.ly/3yAiFGO
Vaccines offer a way out of COVID but its success is not without challenges. How do we overcome the gaps in understanding so that we’re backing the best chance we have in keeping ourselves and the community safe?
Facilitated by ABC’s Tegan Taylor (co-host of Australia's chart-topping health podcast, Coronacast), this discussion is grounded in the science, with insights from experts from the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, including: – Professor Cheryl Jones, paediatric infectious diseases physician and Head of School and Dean of Sydney Medical School, who is also an ATAGI member; – Professor Kirsten McCaffery, Principal Research Fellow at the Sydney School of Public Health; – Professor Ramon Shaban, Professor of Infection Prevention and Disease Control; – Mustafa Dhahir, a current Doctor of Medicine student and Pharmacy graduate, with experience in community vaccinations and he uses social media to empower the public's understanding of health.
We hope this discussion will help you get informed about COVID-19 vaccines and help you have productive conversations with friends and family.
This discussion was hosted on 18 August, 2021. For more information, resources, including the transcript, visit our website: https://bit.ly/37Xhsyq
What does lockdown 2.0 mean for younger people and how does it impact on their mental health?
Hear from our panel of passionate mental health experts and leaders including: – Dr Marlee Bower, Research Fellow at the Matilda Centre, whose work explores social determinants of mental health and understanding loneliness; – Lucinda (Lucy) Brogden AM, Chair of National Mental Health Commission – Swapnik Sanagavarapu, University of Sydney Student Representative Council President and Arts/Law student; – Dr Pranita Shrestha, Research Associate in the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, expert in housing affordability; and – Professor Maree Teesson AC, Director of the Matilda Centre, and Chair of Australia's Mental Health Think Tank, moderates the conversation.
We discuss the “shadow pandemic” of deteriorating health, impacts of social connection and disconnection, government interventions and directions for reform, as well as practical advice to cope with such challenging times.
This conversation was held on 21 July, 2021. For resources, including a transcript for the podcast, head to the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3zFJSsM
Hear from Kate Crawford, Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney and one of the world's foremost scholars on the social and political implications of artificial intelligence.
Timed for the Australian launch of her new book, 'Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence', Kate speaks with Fenella Kernebone to explore how artificial intelligence is not objective or neutral but a technology of extraction.
Hailed in Nature as an essential read, Kate's book "exposes the dark side of AI success" by taking us on a journey that uncovers how planetary computation is fueling a shift toward undemocratic governance and increased inequity.
For further links and resources, including a transcript for this podcast, visit our website: https://bit.ly/3yLBV4P
This conversation was recorded on 6 July, 2021.
COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the world we live in. Moving forward, how might we navigate work, health and wellbeing, and safety with COVID as an ongoing and evolving factor in the long-term?
Hear from academic experts at the University of Sydney, as they share insights into lessons from the pandemic and what it might mean for us all into the future.
We discuss: – What we’ve learned about COVID-19 in the past 18 months – Australia’s approach to managing the health crisis – What a long-term COVID-normal looks like
The panel: – Professor Julie Leask, Faculty of Medicine and Health – Professor Ramon Shaban, Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Faculty of Medicine and Health – Professor Tania Sorrell, Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Faculty of Medicine and Health – Professor Maree Teesson, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use – Fenella Kernebone (Moderator), Head of Programming at the University of Sydney
This discussion was recorded on 15 June 2021. For more information, visit sydney.edu.au/sydney-ideas
During the pandemic last year, many of us delayed our health check-ups, from going to the dentist to cancer screenings, and much more. This has major flow on effects across all parts of society.
So this discussion is the health check we need today: What issues were left unaddressed by Australia's pandemic response? How do we reset the agenda, and rethink the health system - to provide better care, and prevent further strain? Hear from experts in oral health, ethics, lifestyle and chronic disease, and government and policy.
Featuring: –Associate Professor Melody Ding, The University of Sydney School of Public Health – Dr Kathryn MacKay, Sydney Health Ethics, The University of Sydney School of Public Health – Dr Brendan Murphy, Secretary of the Department of Health – Professor Heiko Spallek, Head of School and Dean, The University of Sydney School of Dentistry – Professor Robyn Ward (Moderator), Executive Dean and Pro Vice-Chancellor Medicine and Health, University of Sydney
For further links and resources, including a transcript for this podcast, visit our website: https://bit.ly/3vsmOv2
This discussion was recorded on 10 June, 2021. It was a virtual event hosted by the University of Sydney. We acknowledge the tradition of custodianship and law of the Country on which the University of Sydney campuses stand. We pay our respects to those who have cared and continue to care for Country.
Music: Buoancy by Chad Crouch (CC BY-NC 4.0), from https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chad_Crouch/arps-ii/buoancy
It's been a big year. We’ve put together a few of our key talks, with leading thinkers from the University of Sydney and beyond to reflect on 2020 and what might lie ahead in 2021. Take a listen, and dive into the longer talks. Sydney Ideas will be back with more talks and ideas in the new year!
FEATURING: – Mark Scott AO, The road ahead [00:00:00] – Professor Tim Soutphommasane, Combating viral panic [00:00:27] – Professor Ian Hickie, COVID-19 and mental health [00:0035] – Professor Julie Leask, The vaccination gap [00:00:57] – Professor Jaky Troy, In this together [00:01:10] – Sam Mostyn, Rebuilding Australia's future [00:01:35] – Mariam Mohammed, What will the future of women's work look like? [00:01:50] – Roxanne Moore, Raising the age of criminal responsibility [00:02:08] – Dr Gareth Bryant, The asset economy [00:02:34] – Professor Guy Standing, The basic income imperative [00:02:51] – Minister Matt Kean, Charging ahead with clean energy [00:03:00] – Professor Dianne Wiley, Running out of water [00:03:31] – Bruce Pascoe, Perennial Soil [00:03:44]
Black holes are the most mysterious objects in the universe; matter and space folded into an enigmatic knot from which not even light can escape. The 2020 Nobel Prize awarded research into black holes, thinking about the unthinkable, and seeing the unseeable. But just what did these extraordinary scientists do? Tune in as we try to unravel the puzzle.
FEATURING – Professor Geraint F. Lewis, University of Sydney. Geraint's research focuses on cosmology, gravitational lensing and galactic cannibalism, all with the goal of unravelling the dark-side of the universe. – Professor Peter Tuthill, University of Sydney. Peter is an expert in astrophysical imaging; studying stars and their immediate environments with unprecedented resolution.
This public talk was held virtually and recorded on 2 December 2020. For further resources, including the transcript, visit our website: https://bit.ly/36wwXfZ
The science and economics tells us sustainable energy alternatives make sense. So, what’s the missing link in the path to a clean and prosperous future?
FEATURING: – Matt Kean MP, NSW Minister for Energy and Environment, offers perspective into the economic impacts and benefits of investing in alternative energy sources. – Professor Anita Ho-Baillie, John Hooke Chair of Nanoscience and a world leader in perovskite solar energy cells, shares insights into solar photovoltaic research and its potential to produce cost-effective ways of energy generation. – Professor Thomas Maschmeyer presents a case study on gelated zinc bromide batteries, an Australian technology breakthrough. – Linda Scott, President of Local Government NSW (LGNSW) and City of Sydney Councillor, will talk about sustainability at a local level and community engagement. – Dr Tanya Fiedler from the University of Sydney Business School moderates the discussion. Dr Fiedler played a key role in the development of the University's Sustainability Strategy.
This discussion was held virtually and recorded on 30 October 2020. For further resources, including the transcript, visit our website: https://bit.ly/3dcCaw9
This year has seen a complete restructure of how society conducts its business. The shift from traditional "face-to-face” work environments has been both unsettling and disruptive. But for some, particularly people with blindness or low vision, it’s proof that flexible or alternative working is a marker of both efficiency and productivity.
We bring together a panel of individuals with lived experience to explore new ways of working amid disruption; and how organisations adapt to support and develop people with disability to thrive in the workforce.
FEAUTURING – Simran Goyal, EY Associate – Matt O'Kane, Director of Notion of Digital Forensics – Gareth Ward MP, NSW Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services – Chair: Professor Peter McCluskey AO, Director of the Save Sight Institute at Sydney Eye Hospital – Audience Q&A moderator: Professor John Grigg, Head of the Discipline of Ophthalmology at the University of Sydney
This discussion was held virtually and recorded on 28 October 2020. For further resources, including the transcript, visit our website: https://bit.ly/3iGibam
It has never been more important to be sharing Indigenous knowledge. So many solutions to the problems we face today can be found in that wisdom.
Bruce Pascoe delivers a lecture on Indigenous farming and land management. The 'Dark Emu' author is also joined in a conversation with plant breeder and agricultural scientist Dr Angela Pattison.
Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy and Services) at the University of Sydney, chaired this public talks event.
This event was held virtually and recorded on 19 October 2020 and marks the inaugural Arthur and Hilda Winch annual lecture in pre-colonial Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture; made possible by a donation from Mr Ron Winch and the Winch family.
For more information, including further resources and the transcript, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3kZDG7u
COVID-19 has ushered in a global economic slump, which may lead to a global depression. But is the coronavirus just the trigger for a financial crisis that was waiting to happen?
Globalisation and the economic policies of recent decades have produced a fragile system best described as rentier capitalism, characterised by a global class structure with rapidly growing precariat, and an increasingly deteriorating income distribution system.
A basic income as an economic right suggests an alternative way out of the pandemic slump – so what are the social risks of ignoring or delaying this?
FEATURING – Professor Guy Standing, SOAS University of London and Co-founder of Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) – Professor Greg Marston, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland – Moderator: Professor Lisa Adkins, Head of the School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Sydney
For more info, including a transcript to this conversation, visit our website: https://bit.ly/3mwUcgK
How is the shift to digital shaping workplaces, cultures and employment opportunities? Explore future ways of working that are truly inclusive of people with disability.
FEATURING – Dr Manisha Amin, CEO of Centre for Inclusive Design – Professor John Buchanan, University of Sydney Business School – Dr Sheelagh Daniels-Mayes, University of Sydney School of Education and Social Work – Charles Humblet, Co-Chair, Disability at Work Network, University of Sydney – Penelope Pitcairn, Staff Accessibility Manager, University of Sydney – Moderator: Associate Professor Jennifer Smith-Merry, Director of the Centre for Disability Research and Policy
This conversation was held as part of Disability Inclusion Week at the University of Sydney (21-25 September 2020).
For more info, including a transcript to this discussion, visit the website: https://bit.ly/2RgEKHq
Shaun Gladwell’s practice engages personal experience and a wider speculation of art history to examine the dynamics of contemporary culture. Shaun transposes forms of urban expression such as skateboarding, graffiti, BMX bicycle riding, break-dancing and extreme sports into the multiple mediums of his practice. These performances, videos, paintings, photographs, sculptures and virtual reality works make discursive investigations into forms of creativity and notions of freedom.
Hear Shaun speak more about his work in this conversation with Blair French, CEO of Carriageworks.
The 'Art of influence' series features pioneering Sydney College of the Arts alumni, as they reflect on their careers, creative practice and the themes that inform their work. For more details, visit our website: https://bit.ly/34NTTba
In Australia, you need to be 18 to vote, 16 to drive a car, 13 to get a Facebook account. But the current age of criminal responsibility is 10.
An estimated several thousand children under 14 appear in court on criminal matters each year. The vast majority of these are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.
Apart from the undeniable long-term social costs, keeping young people in prison is also an enormous financial burden so where is the justification?
THE SPEAKERS – Dr Michael Doyle, Senior Research Fellow, University of Sydney Central Clinical School – Roxanne Moore, Executive Officer, National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) – Dr Nicole Watson, Senior Lecturer, University of Sydney Law School – Associate Professor Megan Williams (Moderator), National Centre for Cultural Competence, University of Sydney
For more info and resources, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/2PLLw7i
This special Sydney Ideas conversation marks the 10th Annual Robert Dixon Memorial Animal Welfare Symposium and explores a series of critical questions regarding companion, performance and wild animals.
Considering we don't euthanise humans, how do we navigate through the ethics of conduct in this space and the potential conflicts of interest? Our panel discuss factors that influence end-of-life decisions.
FEAUTURING – Dr Larry Vogelnest - Senior Veterinarian, Taronga Conservation Society – Dr Martin F. Lenz, Queensland Racing Integrity Commission – Dr Emma Whiston, Veterinary Home Euthanasia Service – Dr Peter Bennett, Associate Professor in Oncology and Small Animal Medicine, University of Sydney – Dr Kat Littlewood, Lecturer in Animal Welfare, Massey University New Zealand – Chair: Dr Bidda Jones, Chief Science & Strategy Officer, RSPCA Australia
For more information, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3k5rnqB
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s the need to be agile and pivot. How do we prepare our current workforce, and the next generation of graduates, for an uncertain future? What skills will be critical? Hear insights leaders at some of Australia's top tech and management firms.
FEATURING – Alison Cairns, Technology Advisory Practice and NSW Education Industry lead at EY – Angela Murphy, Chief Executive, Distribution, Product and Marketing at Challenger – Andrew Walsh, CEO of Iress – Professor Annamarie Jagose (Moderator), Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
For more information, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3fZuFbE
Dr Bronwyn Bancroft is a proud Bundjalung Woman and Artist. Bronwyn has been exhibiting nationally and internationally for over three decades, and has illustrated and/or written 40+ children’s books.
Bronwyn is in-conversation with Nicholas Tsoutas, curator, writer and arts consultant.
The 'Art of influence' series features pioneering Sydney College of the Arts alumni, as they reflect on their careers, creative practice and the themes that inform their work.
For further links and resources, visit our website: https://bit.ly/2PlxhWC
How can you ensure that your money is not supporting industries that accelerate climate change, but instead is part of the climate solution? Data, and public pressure, is shifting the conversation on investment in fossil fuels.
This dynamic panel brings together industry, activists and researchers to explore how we might achieve actions around investing and divesting to build a clean and prosperous future.
THE SPEAKERS: - Dr Tanya Fiedler (Moderator), Lecturer at University of Sydney Business School - Alison Eslake from Fossil Free Sydney provides an opening statement. - Dr Alastair Fraser, Lecturer in the School of Economics - Rachel Deans, Market Forces - Phil Harding, Director of Finance, UCL Business - Keith Rovers, Partner at MinterEllison
For more info, visit our website: https://bit.ly/3kQ0KGN
By 2030 supply of natural resources will not meet demand. What can we do?
Hear about leading research – from smart sensors to new treatment processes –that rethink how we clean, transport, distribute water within ourselves that is equitable and sustainable.
THE SPEAKERS – Professor Sally Cripps, Director, ARC Centre in Data Analytics for Resources & Environments (DARE) – Professor Benjamin Eggleton, Co-Director of NSW Smart Sensing Network and Director of University of Sydney Nano Institute – Dr Petr Matous, Senior Lecturer in the School of Project Management – Professor Dianne Wiley, Head of School, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Visit our website for more information: https://bit.ly/3iPQ5do
Rising temperatures and heatwaves; drought and interruptions to food supply; rising infectious diseases; air pollution; and extreme weather events all have a very real impact on one’s physical and mental health.
With these extreme events occurring more frequently, what effect will they have on our population?
THE SPEAKERS - Professor Joel Negin, Head of School, Sydney School of Public Health - Associate Professor Geoffrey Morgan, School of Public Health - Jo Longman, Research Fellow, University Centre for Rural Health - Dr Veronica Matthews, University Centre for Rural Health
For more information and further resources, visit our website: https://bit.ly/3iFWTKt
Young Australians are in danger of being the first generation in memory to have lower living standards than their parents’ generation.
What is the future of asset-sharing? Are we going back to an old class line: those with property, and those without?
THE SPEAKERS – Professor Lisa Adkins (Moderator), Head of the School of Social and Political Sciences – Dr Gareth Bryant, political economist, Department of Political Economy – Professor, Martijn Konings, Professor of Political Economy and Social Theory – Dr Sophia Maalsen, School of Architecture, Design and Planning – Dr Laurence Troy, Lecturer in Urbanism, School of Design, Planning and Architecture
For more information and further resources, visit our website: https://bit.ly/3eODDYI
Hear from one of the most influential designers of his generation. Marc Newson has collaborated with the likes of Apple, Nike, Louis Vuitton, Qantas – to name a few – and his work is held in the collections of major museums including MoMA, Centre Pompidou (Paris) and more.
Marc is in-conversation with Andrew Lavery, Director of Sydney College of the Arts (SCA).
The 'Art of influence' series features pioneering SCA alumni, as they reflect on their careers, creative practice and the themes that inform their work.
For further links and resources, visit our website: https://bit.ly/3ePTc2j TRANSCRIPT available: https://bit.ly/3kA9Ff0
The global pandemic has harshly exposed pre-existing gender inequalities, particularly around paid and unpaid work. How is the landscape shifting for women and work, and where might we nudge the scales towards equality?
FEATURING: – Elizabeth Broderick AO, former Sex Discrimination Commissioner and member of the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Discrimination Against Women – Professor Rae Cooper AO from the University of Sydney Business School – Mariam Mohammed, co-founder of MoneyGirl; – Harinder Sidhu, who has recently returned from a post as Australia's High Commissioner to India – Anna Burns, Public Programs Manager at the University of Sydney, moderates this conversation.
For more information visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3fh8z4O
How are organisations and industry utilising the UN Sustainable Development Goals to envisage a better future?
To understand the challenges – and consider possible solutions – the University of Sydney has launched a new program of innovation and impact, "Connect For: A Better Future".
Hear an insightful discussion marking the launch of the program and delves deeper into the key issues at play.
FEATURING: - An introduction by Belinda Hutchinson AC, University of Sydney Chancellor - A panel discussion with Louise Herron AM, CEO of Sydney Opera House, and Innes Willox, Chief Executive of Australian Industry Group; facilitated by Professor Duncan Ivison, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)at the University of Sydney - Closing remarks by Dr Michael Spence, University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor and Principal
Connect For: A Better Future runs from July–September 2020. Learn more about the program here: https://bit.ly/3jqOVGf
TRANSCRIPT available here: https://bit.ly/39Yq9ZE
COVID-19 has revealed the precariousness of our lives and systems. How can employment & education help us temper the long term impacts of continued social distance.
As we start talking about rebuilding, many are left vulnerable, facing uncertain futures. How can we ensure the cracks don’t become chasms and instead develop a plan that supports an inclusive future and supports social cohesion?
Our panel tackle these big questions and consider how we rebuild, or at least think about the future.
THE SPEAKERS – Professor John Buchanan, University of Sydney Business School – Professor Allan Fels AO, University of Melbourne – Emeritus Professor Geoff Gallop AC, University of Sydney – Sam Mostyn, non-executive director and sustainability advisor – Professor Jaky Troy, Director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research at the University of Sydney. – Professor Ian Hickie (Moderator), Co-director of the Brain and Mind Centre
For more information, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/2MJred8
Against the backdrop of COVID-19, what's been going on with China and the US, and what does this mean for the global economic and strategic landscape? We discuss civil unrest in the US, trade wars, situation in Hong Kong, and more – with Chinese politics scholar Minglu Chen, Asia-Pacific security expert Jingdong Yuan and political scientist David Smith. Bill Birtles, ABC's China Correspondent, moderates this conversation.
For more information, including the podcast transcript, visit our website: https://bit.ly/2LsUpAl
'In this together' is the theme for National Reconciliation Week 2020 in Australia. Professors Jaky Troy and Lisa Jackson Pulver, lawyer Teela Reid and GUIR founder Ken Zulumovski, come together to discuss whether true reconciliation is achievable, without Australia first meeting the objectives of truth and justice.
For more information and further resources, including the transcript, visit our website: https://bit.ly/2XfAhHI
As we start down the long road of recovery there are many discussions being had about how we live, work and rebuild. In this, we need to have a discussion about Australia’s economic future – and the role education and research will play in our recovery, rebuilding and reimagining.
This conversation brings together leaders in government, higher education and finance to consider the complex issues – and potential solutions – for a recovery.
THE SPEAKERS – Dr Michael Spence AC, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney – Cathryn Carver, Executive General Manager (Client Coverage) at NAB – Mark Scott AO (moderator), Secretary of the NSW Department of Education
For more information and further resources, including the transcript for the podcast, visit our website: https://bit.ly/2XdLus3
Vaccines have controlled or even eradicated some of the world’s most serious diseases. But the success of immunisation is limited by motivational and practical issues.
Scientists are currently working hard to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, yet the safest and most effective vaccines won’t be of any use if the public will not, or cannot, take them.
On International Nurses Day, Professor Julie Leask gave a talk about current research into routine immunisation and the critical role of nurse and midwives in influencing vaccination uptake.
Julie is a social scientist specialising in immunisation and an advisor to the World Health Organization. She is based at the University of Sydney Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery (Sydney Nursing School).
Professor Donna Waters, Head and Dean of the Sydney Nursing School provided the introduction.
For further resources, including the transcript, visit our website: https://bit.ly/2xCcEQA
As we start to chart a COVID-19 recovery course, there are a number of complex issues to consider. Last week, the Australian government announced and released the COVIDSafe app, designed to help us all to return to some sort of normal. Since its release, there've been a lot of discussion about the functionality and security of the app.
The purpose of this conversation is to give you access to expert insights and facts. Our panel will consider questions such as, how is this going to work? Can it keep us safe? And also what are the risks to us all if we do download it, or if we don't?
THE SPEAKERS: – Professor Robert Slonim, behavioural economist from the School of Economics – Associate Professor Adam Dunn, Head of Biomedical Informatics and Digital Health in the School of Medical Sciences – Associate Professor Jeanne Huang, international law expert from the Sydney Law School – Dr Suranga Seneviratne, Lecturer in Security at the School of Computer Science – Anna Burns (moderator), Sydney Ideas
For further resources, including the transcript, useful links and ways to give back, visit our website: https://bit.ly/2SN4bBJ
COVID-19 has put health firmly at the top of the agenda. While we’re practising physical distancing to maintain our physical health, how do we maintain our wellbeing and cope constructively through this time?
THE SPEAKERS – Professor Maree Teesson, Director of the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use and NHMRC Principal Research Fellow at the University of Sydney – Dr Lexine Stapinski, Senior Research Fellow, Clinical Psychologist and Lead in Intervention and Implementation at the Matilda Centre
WHAT WE COVER – Concerns for community wellbeing: fear of the virus; impacts of isolation; and long-term impacts (1.45) – What can we do right now? Practical steps and coping mechanisms (5.00) – Work-life balance: juggling multiple roles and responsibilities (8.50) – Dealing with financial stress and job loss (10.30) – Working remotely, productivity and role of managers (14.30) – Social anxiety and impacts of social distancing (17.40) – Managing our passive digital and screen time (18.40) – Avoidance and alcohol use (21.00) – Support for health care workers (27.30) – Support for young people (28.50) - Giving ourselves time and space, and strategies for politely declining invitations to connect (35.50) – Riding the rollercoaster of emotions (37.30)
For further resources, including the transcript, useful links and ways to give back, visit our website: https://bit.ly/2Vnfimh
As the COVID-19 situation unfolds, now is the time to rethink how we do things, during this pandemic and beyond. What could a digital present and future look like for mental health?
Hosted by The University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre and facilitated by ABC broadcaster Dr Norman Swan, this conversation will ask how can the mental health system to best support communities and consider a mental healthcare transformation, beyond tele to DigiHealth.
For more information, including the transcript, speaker slides, and useful resources, visit the Sydney Ideas website: https://bit.ly/3a3ZRUo
WHAT WE COVER – Professor Ian Hickie: overview of the landscape (00:01:00) – Dr John Torous: international perspective, research at Harvard (00:09:00) - Samuel Hockey: user perspective and co-design, and lived experience (00:21:00) – Professor Frances Kay-Lambkin: access and connection (00:28:00) – Julie Sturgess: North Coast Primary Health Network case/model; how its adopted technology (00:34:00) – Dr Peggy Brown: digital standards (00:38:00) – Professor Pat Dudgeon: insights on Indigenous populations (00:42:00) – Dr Michael Millard: digital platforms and THIS WAY UP (00:45:00) – Professor John Mendoza: the scene in Adelaide (00:47:30) – Dr Angelo Virgona: unique opportunities (00:52:00) – Dr Michael Moore: what are the risks related to telehealth (00:55:00) – Dr Sebastian Rosenberg: barriers and inequities around access (00:58:00) – John Feneley: meeting needs and demand in the long-term (00:60:00) – Julius Ajayi: use of digital platforms with patients in mental health care (01:04:00) – Associate Professor Elizabeth Scott: how she is flipping her specialist clinic with technology (01:06:30) – Dr Haley LaMonica: use of technology by older persons (01:09:30) – Jason Trethowan: waitlists and digihealth (01:11:30) – Professor Frances Kay-Lambkin: examples of young people and peer support online programs (01:15:00) – Dr Danny Rock: insights into PORTS project as an example of digital transformation (01:17:00) – Professor Ian Hickie: key ideas and big questions to think about (01:22:00)
We're peeling back the layers of language and cognition and how it relates to COVID-19.
Particularly at this time, the way we talk about the disease and the current situation, can be helpful or harmful, comforting or confusing. What should we be conscious of?
We speak with Nick Enfield, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney.
WHAT WE COVER – From "mild" to "extreme" cases: the need for nuance – Unpacking the idea of "the new normal" – Exercising cognitive literacy, or what Hugo Mercier terms 'open vigilance'
Access the transcript: https://bit.ly/2V0VLa3
For more info, head to the Sydney Ideas website: sydney.edu.au/sydney-ideas.
The situation around COVID-19 is evolving at an astounding rate. Thinking beyond the physical health ramifications to the mental health, anxiety, communication and sense-making aspects, our panel looks at what's going on and do their best to make sense of the rapidly shifting series of events.
THE SPEAKERS – Professor Nick Enfield, Department of Linguistics – Professor Ian Hickie, Brain and Mind Centre – Dr Claire Hooker, Faculty of Medicine and Health – Professor Julie Leask, Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery – Professor Agnieszka Tymula, School of Economics – Professor Annamarie Jagose (Moderator), Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
WHAT WE COVER – Why our words matter: how we talk about COVID-19 (2.30) – Past epidemics and what history teaches us (6.00) – There is value in being anxious; if we channel this productively (8.00) – Features of human behaviour: how it's playing out in the COVID-19 context (10.40) – When faced with uncertainty, ambiguity; how should we communicate this? (13.00) – Trust vs panic: navigating the complicated communication environment (19.40) – Importance and maintenance of trust and transparency in our systems (21.00) – Social media and responding to cynicism (35.50) – Final thoughts from each speaker (42.40): be aware of loss/gain frame of scenarios and the cost of opportunity; Julie's 'ABCDEF' of practical actions for people (45.00); focus on behaving collectively (47.50); use this as a chance to re-connect with each other (48.40).
For more info, including a full transcript, head to the Sydney Ideas website: sydney.edu.au/sydney-ideas.
It's a natural, human response to fear disease. Yet we've seen this fear heightened with the outbreak of COVID-19. After all, the disease has reached into virtually all corners of life: public health, security, jobs, businesses, our culture and communities.
It's an uncertain time. People are anxious. So, how do we communicate and channel our anxiety to respond productively?
We're taking a look at mental health in Australia and how it's being impacted on by COVID-19.
We speak with Professor Ian Hickie, co-director of the Brain and Mind Centre and a leading health expert.
WHAT WE COVER – The drivers of good mental health: personal autonomy and social connection – How we can give people the information and agency to take productive actions – The conversations we should be having to enable and empower communities – Mental health in the face of an economic crisis – The importance of social cohesion: while we're physically isolated, the more we're connected socially and emotionally, it will have profound impacts on mental health
Access the transcript: https://bit.ly/2WzaPxR
For more info, head to the Sydney Ideas website: sydney.edu.au/sydney-ideas.
Since COVID-19 (the novel coronavirus) first emerged in December last year there’s been a lot of uncertainty, anxiety and misinformation. As of Thursday 12th March, the World Health Organisation has officially declared a pandemic.
The situation is of course rapidly developing. But it’s useful to get some perspective. What can we do to prepare and respond to this issue?
On Wednesday 11 March we hosted an information session with academic experts from the University of Sydney to answer critical questions, from health facts to broader societal implications in Australia.
THE PANEL – Associate Professor Adam Kamradt-Scott, expert in global health security and international relations – Professor Julie Leask, who has qualifications in nursing and midwifery. Her research focuses on risk communication – Professor Ramon Shaban, Professor of Infection Prevention and Disease Control, and internationally respected clinician and educator – Professor Tania Sorrell AM is Director of the Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity (MBI) and Chair of the NHMRC’s Research Translation Faculty Steering Group on New and Emerging Health Threats - Anna Burns, Public Programs Manager at Sydney Ideas, moderated the discussion.
WHAT WE COVER – Where are we right now? A brief timeline – What are the clinical symptoms (1.20) – The risk: how is it transmitted? (2.10) – Insights into the international perspective: how does it relate to our own experience here in Australia? (5.30) – Lessons from how other governments have responded? (9.00) – What's the level of contagion and the incubation period? (10.50) – Testing: where does it fit into the incubation and symptom timeline? (14.00) – Criteria for testing (14.35) – What's my risk and prevention tips with hubs and spots like public transport, pools, schools? (16.00) – Contact surfaces: how long does the pathogen stick around for? (17.20) – Level of risk for particular groups depending on age brackets, whether you have underlying symptoms? (19.20) – Anxiety and preparedness: how do you look after your mental health? (20.50) – The importance of accurate information (24.40) – Scenario planning and containment strategy, in Australia and abroad (25.20) – Are we likely to see an outbreak in NSW? And what would this mean? (28.30) – Capacity of our health system to deal with spike in cases? (30.20) – Insights on people's profiles and risk: pregnancies and chronic lung disease (34.30) – Hand hygiene, proximity: what are measures to minimise our risk? (37.25) – Consider the stigma social risks too, such as racism and be vigilant about this (38.35) – Re-infection: is it possible? Likely? (40.00) – A key message for people to take away: keep calm (41.50), trust the health experts and government (42.20), be cognisant of your impact on others (44.20) and scenario plan (44.45)
We're talking about the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak and the social and political responses to it. Has fear of the disease taken on a racial dimension? We bring together an epidemiologist, historian, politician, student leader and the University's Vice-Chancellor to help make sense of this rapidly evolving issue.
WHAT WE COVER – Brief timeline by Tim Soutphommasane – Pandemic: what does mean, and how will it impact our daily lives? (Ying Zhang, 6.50) – Insights on the government's response to the outbreak and racism in Australia (Jenny Leong, 12.35) – Getting a historical perspective on this (Sophie Loy-Wilson, 19.30) – Insights on students in China affected by the travel ban: how are they feeling? (Abbey Shi, 22.50) – The University's response and support for students (Michael Spence, 26.00) – The economic impact on University sector, tourism and more (30.00) – Preparedness and panic: how we deal with this issue (38.00) – Final thoughts and key messages from speakers (48.25)
THE SPEAKERS – Associate Professor Ying Zhang, senior epidemiologist at the University of Sydney – Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown in the NSW State Parliament – Dr Sophie Loy-Wilson, historian at the University of Sydney – Abbey Shi, General Secretary of the University of Sydney SRC - Dr Michael Spence AC, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sydney
The event was moderated by Professor Tim Soutphommasane, Director of the Culture Strategy at the University of Sydney.
This event was recorded on Monday 2 March, 2020. For the event transcript and more info, visit the website: http://bit.ly/2UMUrco
Nanotechnology is unlocking new ways to understand human biology. Scientists expect discoveries in this field will completely revolutionise medicine, from detecting arterial blockages to neural disorders in the brain. Hear from researchers at the forefront of this space discuss the latest developments and applications.
WHAT YOU'LL HEAR – Introduction by Professor Benjamin Eggleton, Director of the University of Sydney Nano Institute. https://sydney.edu.au/nano/ – Keynote address by Paul Weiss discussing nano approaches to medicine and biology, and interdisciplinary collaborations (3.50) – Anna Waterhouse and Shelley Wickham talk about their nanorobotics project, which involves building autonomous programmable nanorobots that can navigate the body to detect and prevent early heart disease (34.50) – Conversation with Paul, Anna and Shelley, moderated by Julie Cairney (44.10)
THE SPEAKERS - Professor Paul S. Weiss, nanoscientist and Professor at UCLA - Dr Anna Waterhouse, cardiovascular researcher at the University of Sydney and co-lead of Grand Challenges - Nanorobotics for Health project - Dr Shelley Wickham, chemistry and physics research at the University of Sydney, and co-lead of Nanorobotics for Health - Professor Julie Cairney (Moderator), from School of Engineering at the University of Sydney
This event was recorded on Monday 17 February, 2020 at the University of Sydney. To learn more about the Nanorobotics project, further resources and speakers, visit the website: http://bit.ly/2SQb5oM
Do the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) outweigh the potential negative effects, in the context of social responsibilities for the entire human race? Will intelligent machines soon take over, turning us into their slaves or raw materials?
In his talk, Professor Mark Coeckelbergh shifts the conversation away from science fiction fantasies about AI and into the realms of real ethical issues and urgent policy challenges for development and use of artificial intelligence and robotics in society.
Mark is a Belgian philosopher of technology. He is Professor of Philosophy of Media and Technology at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Vienna and President of the Society for Philosophy and Technology.
Associate Professor Julia Horne, University Historian and Director of Sydney Social Sciences Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC), chaired this event.
This event was held on Wednesday 27 November, 2019. For more details, visit the website: http://bit.ly/2Dp0f1M
Australia and India have much to learn from each other, because while our economies are quite different, we face similar problems, particularly around energy and the future direction of our cities. Hear from three of the University of Sydney’s leading researchers from Business, Urban Studies and Chemistry.
Professor John Shields from the Business School suggests a need to rethink the nature of leadership and asks, what can we learn from Mahatma Gandhi in this regard?
Dr Tooran Alizadeh, whose research around smart cities is based in India, asks what is that we want from our cities, in an age of rapidly evolving technology?
Dr Girish Lakhwani will draw on his research in energy to explore the parallels and complementary differences between the Indian and Australian experience.
Tania Rhodes-Taylor, Vice-Principal (External Relations)at the University, chaired this event, with closing remarks by Vice-Chancellor Dr Michael Spence AC.
This event was recorded on Friday 22 November, 2019 in New Delhi.
Award-winning filmmaker Genevieve Clay-Smith has channelled her passion for social justice and desire to equitise the film industry into the practice of inclusive filmmaking. Hear about Genevieve's passion for inclusivity and creative approaches to making innovative work with Bus Stop Films.
Joining Genevieve is emerging filmmaker Ricky Kremer, who is currently studying the accessible films studies program at Bus Stop Films.
Bushfires, hurricanes, life-threatening heatwaves and floods have ravaged our planet in recent years. There is a mounting pool of evidence that climate change, including global warming, is a major cause of these extreme weather events.
What we need to do to govern such disasters effectively? Who should govern environmental disasters and how? Hear from scholars working on environmental disasters from a range of disciplines, issue areas, and countries, including: - Professor Linda Hancock, Deakin University - Dr Francisco Molina Camacho, CIGIDEN - Professor Susan Park, University of Sydney - Chair: Professor Abbas El-Zein, University of Sydney
This conversation was recorded on Thursday 21 November, 2019 at the University of Sydney. For more details or to check out a reading list, visit our website: http://bit.ly/2OkPKTq
Indigenous children are still being removed from their families at increasing rates, despite the clear links to negative child health and education outcomes. Why and how is this still happening?
The University of Sydney’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy and Services), Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver AM, moderated a conversation with Boe Rambaldini, Director of the University’s Poche Centre for Indigenous Heath; and filmmaker and lawyer, Professor Larissa Behrendt from the University of Technology Sydney.
This event was held on Tuesday 19 November, 2019 at University of Sydney. For more details about the speakers and this event, visit the website: http://bit.ly/2oOThQ8
In her talk, Professor Helen Byrne (Oxford University) explains how mathematical models are being used to understand how tumours grow and to predict how they will respond to treatments involving, for example, novel combinations of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Helen was joined by Professor Jennifer Byrne (University of Sydney) in a conversation to explore how maths and medicine can come together to improve research and outcomes.
This event was held on Tuesday 12 November, 2019 at the University of Sydney. Learn more: http://bit.ly/2MJYMHF
What does it mean to call a climate emergency? Military and security experts have warned that as temperatures continue to rise, so too will security risks, including in extreme cases, the risk of armed conflict. Speakers: - Professor Ole Wæver, University of Copenhagen - Councillor Jess Miller, City of Sydney Council - Associate Professor Charlotte Epstein, University of Sydney - Olivia Arkell, University of Sydney This conversation was recorded on Monday 11 November, 2019 at the University of Sydney. Visit the website for more details: bit.ly/33FWVuv
Andrew Denton and Dasho Kinley Dorji studied journalism together at Bathurst in NSW in the 1980s and have since made enormous contributions to the media landscapes in Australia and Dorji's home country of Bhutan.
Hear the two old classmates discuss Bhutan, the role of journalism in democracy, social media, Gross National Happiness, Crazy Wisdom, and more.
Dr Bunty Avieson, Lecturer in Journalism at the University of Sydney, introduced this event. This conversation was recorded on Thursday 7 November, 2019 at the University of Sydney. Visit the website for more details: http://bit.ly/320xweg
The world has gotten used to hearing 'America First', but is it ready for 'Asia First'? Leading global strategy adviser and international bestselling author Dr Parag Khanna makes a case for why we need to start looking at the world, and future, from the Asian point of view.
This event also featured: - Welcome by Professor Duncan Ivison, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research at the University of Sydney - Introduction by Professor James Der Derian, Director of the Centre for International Security Studies - Siobhán Moran-McFarlane led the conversation with Dr Khanna. Siobhán is a broadcast journalist and producer, and host of 'Another World' on Eastside Radio 89.7FM.
Dr Khanna is the keynote speaker for the 2019 Michael Hintze Lecture, co-presented with the Centre for International Security Studies.
This conversation was recorded on Tuesday 5 November, 2019 at the University of Sydney. For full details, visit the website: http://bit.ly/32bpqzq
Labour expert Professor Shae McCrystal, and Walkley Award-winning journalists Pamela Williams and Quentin Dempster, reflect on the shifting and precarious nature of work in Australia, since the watershed waterfront dispute in 1998.
This conversation was recorded on Monday 28 October, 2019 at the University of Sydney and presented in partnership with The Walkley Foundation. Visit the website for more details: http://bit.ly/2ZkKGVh
Why are the arts critical to public health? How can we embed creative practice into healthcare to improve outcomes for all?
Hear internationally renowned artists and researchers share their insights and case studies of exemplary practice: - Vic McEwan, The Cad Factory - Dr Clive Parkinson, Manchester School of Art - Dr Nicole Reilly, University of Newcastle (UON) - Akeshia Dart, mental health clinician and PhD candidate at UON - Dr Claire Hooker, University of Sydney and event chair
This conversation was recorded on Monday 21 October, 2019 at the University of Sydney.
The event marked the launch of the Arts Health Network (NSW/ACT). Connect with this new platform: https://www.artshealthnetwork.com.au/
What musical traditions do copyright laws protect and threaten? Do all musical cultures hold equal status in the eyes of the law?
Over the last decade a spate of legal action related to unauthorised musical borrowing has made international headlines and thrust music copyright into the global spotlight. From 'Down Under' to 'Blurred Lines', court rooms around the world have been transformed into music lecture theatres in which the parameters of original musical thought have been charted, challenged and dissected.
To unpack this topic, hear from: - Professor Ingrid Monson, Harvard University - Robert Yezerski, barrister - Dr Christopher Coady (Moderator), University of Sydney
This conversation was recorded on Tuesday 8 October at the University of Sydney. Learn more: https://bit.ly/2mla9w9
Hear experts, including the Brain and Mind Centre's Professor Adam Guastella, explore how we might create cultures and environments that support neurodiversity, and recognise the varying levels of communication and experiences for people with autism.
Featuring: - Professor Adam Guastella, Michael Crouch Chair in Child and Youth Mental Health and University of Sydney - Max Prineas, Bachelor of Music student at University of Sydney - Susannah Gregory, Disability Services Officer at University of Sydney - MC: Chloe Maxwell, TV presenter, model and founder of 4 ASD Kids
This event was held on Wednesday 25 September, 2019 as part of Disability Inclusion Week. For more details, visit the website: http://bit.ly/2krEDMm
Professor Chris Monroe is one of the world's foremost quantum technologists and he explains the rise of what promises to be a revolutionary technology of the 21st century.
In his talk 'Quantum computing with atoms', Chris shares how he and IonQ use high-precision laser light to control networks of entangled trapped atomic ions to build machines that will have the ability to solve problems beyond the most powerful supercomputers.
Chris was joined by Associate Professor Maryanne Large to explore how quantum computing will impact our lives, from disruption to cryptography, finance and shopping to personalised medicine, redesigned industrial chemistry and a revolution in materials science.
This event was held on Wednesday 2 October, 2019 at the University of Sydney. For more details, visit the website: http://bit.ly/2Ma5veS
The promise of precision medicine is that it could offer better health outcomes by targeting patients’ genetic and biochemical make-up to pinpoint, predict, prevent and treat diseases. Can it deliver on this?
Hear world-renowned thinkers explore some of the key issues around precision medicine. They analyse the realities of disease prediction, economics, ethics, clinical applications and the balance between the personal and the public benefit.
Featuring: - Professor Sandro Galea, Boston University - Professor Sarah Wordsworth, University of Oxford - Professor Christopher Semsarian, University of Sydney - Associate Professor Ainsley Newson, University of Sydney - (Chair) Professor Robyn Ward, University of Sydney
This conversation was recorded on Wednesday 2 October, 2019 at the University of Sydney. For details about the event, speaker lineup and more, visit the website: http://bit.ly/2m7Ja6Y
How do the harmful effects of chemicals go undetected, and what can we do to better protect against this? Public health expert Professor Tim Driscoll and Walkley Award-winning journalists Kerry O'Brien and Carrie Fellner discuss.
This conversation was recorded on Thursday 19 September, 2019 at the University of Sydney and presented in partnership with The Walkley Foundation. Visit the website for more details: http://bit.ly/33SuTNa
How might understanding childhood development lead to genuinely intelligent machines?
Young children are actually better at learning unusual or unlikely principles than adults. Professor Alison Gopnik's research relates this pattern to computational ideas about search and sampling, evolutionary ideas about human life history, and neuroscience findings about plasticity.
This talk was recorded on Wednesday 11 September at the University of Sydney. For more details, visit the website: http://bit.ly/2kN7CdH
How can we close the widening gap between rich and poor?
Political economist Frank Stilwell draws from his new book on inequality to bring this problem into sharp focus. How did we get here, and what can we — as citizens and as a nation — do about it?
Although governments are often committed to ‘growth at all costs’ and ‘trickle-down’ economics, Frank argues that alternative public policies could be used to narrow the wealth gap.
This conversation was recorded on Tuesday 10 September, 2019 at the University of Sydney during Social Sciences Week.
Lisa Adkins, Head of School of Social and Political Sciences, introduced the event. Frank was in conversation with journalist Michael Janda. For more details, visit the website: http://bit.ly/2ZdEFL3
Improving our cities and housing conditions can increase our quality of life, prevent disease, and help mitigate climate change. What does this look like in practice, and how might we get to this place?
Hear from experts including: - Dr. David Jacobs, National Centre for health and housing (U.S.) - Associate Professor Luke Knibbs, University of Queensland - Dr Jennifer Kent, University of Sydney - Professor Nicole Gurran from University of Sydney (Event Chair)
This conversation was recorded on Monday 9 September, and held as part of The Festival of Urbanism. Visit the website for more details: https://bit.ly/2lUXlwb
The unprecedented challenges on our collective horizon require a shift in thinking from the factional to the civic.
Are we as a nation prepared to embrace a bold vision to craft a long-term future for our country? What might that vision look like?
The Honourable Kevin Rudd AC and Professor Marc Stears, Director of the Sydney Policy Lab, discuss alternative visions for Australia’s future.
This conversation was recorded on Thursday 29 August, 2019 at the University of Sydney. For more details, visit the website: http://bit.ly/2M5wPMm
What are the consequences of the choices we make when we feed our animal companions>? How does this affect other animals, the environment and even our own wellbeing?
Hear from experts including: - Dr Michelle Shaw, Taronga Conservation Society Australia - Professor David Raubenheimer, University of Sydney - Dr Roger Bektash, past President of Pet Food Industry of Australia - Dr Andrea Harvey, Independent Veterinary Consultant in Feline Medicine - Dr Anne Fawcett, University of Sydney - (Chair) Dr Bidda Jones, RSPCA Australia
This conversation was recorded on Wednesday 28 August at the University of Sydney. The event was presented in collaboration with the Centre for Veterinary Education, in memory of the late Dr Robert Dixon. Visit the website for more details about the event and speakers: http://bit.ly/2MWXomS
Ageing is the main cause of chronic diseases such as Alzheimer's, cancer and cardiovascular disease. Given this inexorable link, can we extend our lifespan without risking our health and quality of life?
For further reading, Professor Luigi Fontana from the Charles Perkins Centre shares his key tips on how your dietary habits can help you to live longer and reduce risk of heart attack. Visit the website to learn more: http://bit.ly/2m1alAF
What does national security, data security and the changing face of legislation mean for free speech and our right to know? Reporter Vicky Xiuzhong Xu, The Chaser's Julian Morrow and political theorist Professor Tim Soutphommasane examine the state of affairs.
As the online world increasingly spills into the real world, urgent questions are being asked about the need to regulate the world’s digital platforms. How do we govern and enforce internet controls? Where is the cyber frontier, and how is it being weaponised? What big data and privacy issues we should be thinking about?
This conversation was recorded on Thursday 15 August, 2019 at a Sydney Ideas event, as part of the ASEAN Forum. Learn more: http://bit.ly/31XAMXm
What is the limit of our brain capacity and how can we translate potential brainpower into powerful discoveries?
Fernando Calamante from Sydney Imaging talks about mapping structural networks in the brain. Neurologist Michael Barnett, from Brain and Mind Centre, follows on to explain how these networks can be affected in disease. Physicist Céline Boehm explores the recent images of black holes and dark matter. Philosopher David Braddon-Mitchell brings these ideas together, and to close, is a performance by sound artist Benjamin Carey.
This conversation was chaired by Duncan Ivison, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research at the University of Sydney.
It was recorded on Tuesday 20 August at a Sydney Ideas event, as part of Innovation Week 2019, which celebrates landmark discoveries and transformative inventions by the University's academics and students. Learn more: http://bit.ly/2Ltpgid
How does our identity determine how we use our time? Economist Daniel Hamermesh will discuss the role of income inequality and how it affects the things we buy and do. He presents a radical proposal to reassess what we value with our time.
This event was recorded on Monday 12 August at the University of Sydney. More details and to check out our reading list: https://bit.ly/2KXpFab
Polar regions are increasingly at the centre of environmental, geo-political and cultural shifts.
Our panel discuss how our relationship with the polar regions has changed in the 21st century and what the polar regions reveal about the broader environmental challenges facing the world today, as we collectively combat climate change and unpack its deeper implications.
Hear from Tim Stephens, Rohan Howitt, Elizabeth Leane, with Glenda Sluga moderating the conversation.
This event was recorded on Tuesday 6 August at the University of Sydney. More details and to check out our reading list: http://bit.ly/33yMaea
As global movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp rapidly gain momentum in exposing systemic sexual assault and abuse, the military appears to have been left behind.
To unpack this issue, and discuss how we might address it, are a panel of world leading experts including: - Ellen Haring, Service Women's Action Network - Eda Gunaydin, University of Sydney - Shannon Sampert, University of Winnipeg - Antonieta Rico, Women in International Security - Samantha Crompvets, Rapid Context - Megan Mackenzie (chair), University of Sydney
This event was recorded on Wednesday 17 July at the University of Sydney. Learn more at http://bit.ly/2GEYH5L.
Hear from one of the greatest astrophysicists and role models of our time. Best known for her discovery of pulsars, Jocelyn Bell Burnell has paved a path for furthering scientific knowledge and education.
This talk was recorded on Tuesday 16 July, 2019 at the University of Sydney. Visit this page for more: https://bit.ly/2JAlj8m
The world has traditionally relied heavily on the 'business as usual model' of industrial food production and supermarket-oriented consumption. However, this system is not sustainable if we’re to secure a healthy future for people and the planet.
Hear from Hilal Elver, UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Food; OzHarvest founder Ronni Kahn and Mario Herrero from CSIRO, as they share insights into how we might address food security.
Visit the website for for information including Hilal's slides and further resources: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/food-security.html
Climate change, resource extraction and increasing levels of extinction present unprecedented challenges. How can the humanities and social sciences help us to respond to the biodiversity crisis in a more just way, which transforms how we protect the foundations of life on our planet?
This podcast was recorded on Thursday 19 June 2019 at the University of Sydney: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/biodiversity-and-extinction.html
Humans' contribution to climate change is an important prompt for us to consider other global injustices that we may not immediately connect to this hotly-debated topic.
Hear from internationally renowned scholars Petra Tschakert, Maan Barua and Makere Stewart-Harawira, as they respond to this question of justice. The discussion was chaired by University of Sydney's David Schlosberg.
This podcast was recorded on Thursday 13 June 2019 at the University of Sydney: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/social-economic-futures-climate-change.html
How does language determine what we know or how we experience the world?
As the online realm increasingly converges with our offline experiences, it raises an important question: whose knowledge dominates these new spaces? Whose voices are missing, and what are the consequences of these inequities?
This podcast was recorded on Wednesday 12 June at the University of Sydney: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/wikipedia-and-knowledge-equity.html
Language is sometimes viewed as a window on the mind, but it is equally a tool, a weapon, or perhaps most accurately: a remote control device. Are we controlled by language?
Content warning: this podcast contains course language and discusses violence. Listener discretion is advised.
This podcast was recorded on Thursday 6 June at the University of Sydney: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/does-language-control-us.html
Insights from the past to transform our environmental future
Archaeology can help us understand how climate and environmental change in our recent and distant past shapes our future. Join us as we delve into the little-known world of environmental archaeology, during National Archaeology Week.
This event was held on Wednesday 22 May at the University of Sydney https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/national-archaeology-week-environment.html
As part of Seymour's Centre's premiere season of 'Made to Measure' by Alana Valentine, this special Sydney Ideas event explores the role the arts has to play in investigating major public health issues.
Following a performance of the play, writer Alana Valentine, University of Sydney's Professor Stephen Simpson and dressmaker Santina Porpiglia, had a discussion about art and science working together and its contributions in shifting perceptions.
This podcast was recorded on Tuesday 21 May at the Seymour Centre: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/made-to-measure.html
When a rare medical condition (limb girdle muscular dystrophy) struck Monkol Lek in his early twenties, he took matters into his own hands and retrained in human genetics at the University of Sydney at Westmead. Monkol is now at the forefront of genetic research at Yale and his findings so far have the potential to be game changing for a number of diseases. Hear him share insights into his incredible work and story.
This was recorded at a Sydney Ideas event held on Monday 20 May at the University of Sydney. For a transcript of the event and more information, visit our website: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/monkol-lek.html
Student activism in China dates back 100 years, but since their emergence as a political force in 1919, students have influenced and inspired landmark protests across the 20th century and beyond.
On 4 June 1989 the world watched on in horror as the Beijing spring protests by Chinese students were brutally repressed by military intervention. The foundation for that momentous and tragic event was laid in Beijing on 4 May 1919 when students took to the streets of the Chinese capital for the first time to protest the terms of the Versailles treaty. From that day on, student activism became an almost constant element and 'students' emerged as important advocates for political thought and practice.
This event was held on Tuesday 7 May at the University of Sydney and co-presented with China Studies Centre, the Department of History and the Sydney School of Education and Social Work: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/student-activism-china.html
This year marks the 150th birthday anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, whose vision and leadership led to the independence of India against British colonial rule more than 70 years ago.
Join us to reflect on the life, learnings and legacy of Gandhi in this event with Gandhian scholar Dr Shobhana Radhakrishna and University of Sydney's Professor Elizabeth Hill and Professor John Shields. Learn more: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/mahatma-gandhi.html
How we can better understand the conflict between scientific and Indigenous knowledge?
For more than 60 years the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC had stolen ancestral remains in its collection. It was only recently that the bones were repatriated. This story kicks off our conversation for this event, which focuses on the roles of film, history and culture in advancing the repatriation debate.
'Etched in Bone' is a film that explores the role of Aboriginal leadership in repatriating ancestral remains, and it places film documentary within the complexity of Indigenous knowledge, its preservation and its precariousness.
Hear from the filmmakers and academic experts discuss international repatriation and the ethical complexities of their interaction.
This event was held on Wednesday 10 April, 2019 at the University of Sydney. Learn more: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/etched-in-bone-indigenous-repatriation.html
University of Cambridge Professor Herbert Huppert leads this insightful conversation on how global temperatures in the earth's atmosphere has increased over time and what we can do to stop potential calamity.
With climate change being a very real and looming threat, this talk offers insights into the science behind what’s happening and how we can deal with such challenges through individual, collective and political action.
This event was held on Wednesday 17 April, 2019 at the University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/herbert-huppert-fluid-mechanics-atmospheric-temperatures.html
What is nano 3D printing, and how will it transform our lives?
In this talk, world-renowned nanotechnology expert Professor Martin Wegener from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology will give an introduction into one of science's most exciting and rapidly evolving technologies.
Professor Wegener was joined by University of Sydney Professor Hala Zreiqat, whose work is focused on using this technology to improve health outcomes, create economic benefits and advance a skilled workforce in nano technology.
The podcast was recorded from an event held on Tuesday 9 April, 2019 at the University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/nano-3d-printing.html
Diabetes is arguably one of Australia's greatest health challenges and fastest-growing chronic conditions. But landmark research shows that type 2 diabetes could be preventable at any life stage - whether you are still young, starting a family, or middle-old age.
PREVIEW is a landmark study in diabetes prevention and weight loss management. In this talk, leading researchers from the study will draw on the findings and learnings to share new solutions on how to determine risk, avoid developing type 2 diabetes and safely lose a large amount of weight.
This event was held on Tuesday 9 April 2019 at the University of Sydney and was co-presented with Charles Perkins Centre. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/diabetes-prevention.html
From ending poverty to climate action, reducing inequality and ensuring quality education — the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The aim is to set the agenda for 2030 with a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity, now and into the future.
Where does Australia sit with this plan now, almost five years since its inception?
Hear from leading advocates including John McArthur, Dr Alana Mann, Patricia Garcia AO and Sam Mostyn. Anthony Capon, Professor of Planetary Health at the University of Sydney moderated the conversation.
This event was held on Thursday 28 March at the University of Sydney, and was co-presented with the University's Planetary Health Platform and Sydney Environment Institute. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/sustainable-development-goals-john-mcarthur.html
What are the pathways to cultural change? How do we initiate, nurture, but most importantly, entrench cultural change?
The University's Vice-Chancellor, Dr Michael Spence, gender equality advocate Elizabeth Broderick AO and journalist Sarah Ferguson explored the most important factors in cultural change movements, and the positive impact for individuals, organisations and society.
This event was held on Wednesday 27 March at the University of Sydney. Visit the website to access a transcript of the event: http://bit.ly/2K4KCmi
How is hate shaping society? And what must we do about it?
Political philosopher Tim Soutphommasane, reflects on race relations and multiculturalism in Australia and beyond, and what it means for democracy worldwide.
In his new book, On Hate, Tim Soutphommasane analyses the troubling rise of nationalist populism and the return of race politics.
This event was co-presented with Sydney Policy Lab and School of Social and Political Sciences. It was held on Thursday 21 March, 2019 at the University of Sydney: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/on-hate-and-race-politics-tim-soutphommasane.html
Hear from women’s rights champion, Tina Tchen, who delivered a keynote address as part of the University of Sydney’s celebrations for International Women’s Day on Friday 8 March, 2019.
Sydney Ideas has partnered with the University’s Diversity and Inclusion team to welcome Tina to our Camperdown campus. She is a leading global voice on issues of gender inequity, sexual harassment, and diversity at work, and co-founder of the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund, which connects survivors of workplace sexual harassment with legal and public relations assistance.
Tina was joined in conversation with two of the University’s most influential and respected female leaders – Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Indigenous Strategy and Services) and Professor Annamarie Jagose (Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences). The Vice-Chancellor, Dr Michael Spence, provided closing remarks.
Tina Tchen also appeared at the Sydney Opera House’s annual festival ‘All About Women’ on Sunday 10 March, 2019. https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/all-about-women
What is the cost of cashing in on global surveillance?
Surveillance has become an unavoidable presence in our everyday lives - it's embedded in our culture. As corporations profit from its rapid growth, inevitable questions about the impact on our society and ethics must be addressed.
This Sydney Ideas discussion includes a talk from David Lyon the Director of the Surveillance Studies Centre and Professor of Sociology and Professor of Law at Queen’s University and Dr Benedetta Brevini the Senior Lecturer in Communication and Media at the University of Sydney and Visiting Fellow of the Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism at City University.
Held on 7 March 2019: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/surveillance-capitalism-david-lyon.html
Are brain and mind conditions such as dementia a case of luck of the draw, or are our body clocks and sleep cycle integral for keeping our brains healthy? Hear from Professor Sharon Naismith, whose research explores sleep and dementia prevention.
This talk includes a welcome from Dr Michael Spence AC, Vice-Chancellor and Principal at the University of Sydney, and a keynote address from Professor Naismith.
This event was held on Tuesday 26 February at the University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/how-sleep-improves-brain-health-and-dementia.html
As many as one million Uyghur people and other Muslim minorities in China have reportedly been detained indefinitely in "re-education camps" since 2017. Why is it happening and what are the political ramifications for us all?
This Sydney Ideas discussion explores these issues from a range of perspectives. Erkin Sidick, a Uyghur scientist, offers his analysis of the crackdown in Xinjiang. David Atwill, a historian of Islam in China, discuss the wider questions of the Chinese state’s approach to Islam, and Ruth Gamble offers a comparative perspective on these issues drawing on her knowledge of Tibet.
Held on 20 February 2019: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/xinjiang-china-reeducation-camps.html
How post-truth politics is wrecking public discourse Hear from Don Watson, award-winning author and former speechwriter for Paul Keating, as he decodes political language and reveals its influence on democracy and civil debate.
This Sydney Ideas conversation between Don Watson and Benedetta Brevini considers how post-truth, bullshit and management speak have taken over and fundamentally undermine the quality of public discourse and policy-making.
This event was held on Wednesday 13 February at the University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/weasel-words-don-watson.html
How much do governments and private corporations really know about our online history?
Hear from Ron Deibert, digital detective and founder of Citizen Lab, as he reveals the hidden surveillance systems used to spy on civil society.
Ron is joined by Sydney Cybersecurity Network co-founder Aim Sinpeng and James Der Derian, Director of Centre for International Security Studies.
This event was held on Tuesday 12 February at the University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2019/digital-espionage.html
To mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2019, the University’s Westmead Initiative hosted a discussion about the achievements of women in the field and their ongoing challenges. This was held in collaboration with Westmead Research Hub.
Hear from Dr Christina Adler, Professor Nadia Badawi AM, Professor Jenny Gunton, Associate Professor Ruby Lin, Professor Phil Robinson and Elizabeth Wojciechowski with Jenny Brockie (SBS Insight) as moderator.
This event was held on Monday 11 February 2019 at the Westmead Education and Conference Centre in Westmead Hospital.
We commemorate United Nations World Soil Day with a discussion about how we can ensure that our soils provide food, biodiversity and healthy ecosystems well into the future.
This event was held on December 5 at the University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/soil-security.html
On the eve of 70-year anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Gillian Triggs reflects on Australia's human rights record in a public lecture, with an introduction by Elizabeth Evatt and a vote of thanks by Tanya Plibersek.
This event was held on Sunday 9 December 2018 at the University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/from-good-international-citizen-to-pariah-.html
TIME STAMPS: Start - 01:25 | Clara Edwards welcome 01:30 - 12:00 | Elizabeth Evatt introduction 12:05 - 01:01:35 | Gillian Triggs keynote address 01:01:40 - 01:12:00 | Tanya Plibersek vote of thanks 01:12:00 - end | Danielle Celermajer close
On the 70-year anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we bring together a panel of human rights heroes to reflect on the positivity the declaration provided and how it could go forward.
TIME STAMPS: 10’07'' - 19’33’’ Larissa Baldwin, Senior Campaigner, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Rights at Getup.
19’37’’ - 25’00’’ Dulce Muñoz, the National Convener of Mums4Refugees Sydney, a grassroots network of mothers that provides social, legal and material aid to people seeking asylum and people from refugee backgrounds.
25’15’’ - 31’49’’ Nas Campanella, a journalist and newsreader with the ABC and triple J. In 2013 she earned a newsreading position at triple J, becoming the first blind newsreader in the world to read and operate the studio for herself live to air.
31’53’’ - 40’16’’ Danny Xanadu has been involved in advocacy and education for the Queer community for 25 years.
40’23’’ - 50’25’’ Dinesh Wadiwel is a Senior Lecturer in human rights and socio-legal studies at the University of Sydney. Here he addresses the need for the alliance between human, animal and environmental rights.
50’30'' - Audience Q&A
More info: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/human-rights-the-next-70-years.html
Why does race seem to be the hardest word for white people? Dr Robin DiAngelo – a renowned anti-racism educator – argues that the underlying cause is environmental. White people in settler colonial contexts live in a racially insular social bubble. This environment builds an atmosphere of racial comfort but reduces their capacity to tolerate racial stress. Dr DiAngelo – author of What Does it Mean To Be White? Developing White Racial Literacy – describes this lack of racial stamina as 'White Fragility'.
In a fun and interactive manner, Australian Local Hero of the Year and one of the world's most inspirational mathematics teachers demonstrates why everyone should love mathematics.
His talk is followed by the conversation between Eddie and Secretary of the NSW Department of Education, Mark Scott AO, and the questions from the audience.
TIME STAMPS 5:59 - 45:50 – Eddie Woo demonstrates why everyone should love mathematics 48:30 – 60:07 - Eddie Woo in conversation with Secretary of the NSW Department of Education, Mark Scott AO 60:07 – 60:25 - Audience Q&A
A Sydney Ideas event held at the Seymour Centre on Monday 3 December 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/eddie-woo-wonderful-world-of-maths.html
Sir Eric Thomas, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol and former Chair of the Worldwide Universities Network joins an esteemed panel of university professors, private sector representatives and former politicians for an important debate - what should universities be?
They look at the question from five specific perspectives, those of: a) students, b) tax payers, c) the academy, d) employees, and e) private donors.
TIME STAMPS 5:30 - 19:30 – What should universities be from the perspective of students? 20:00 – 28:00 - What should universities be from the perspective of the Government, representing citizens and tax payers? 28:50 – 37:00 - What should universities be from the perspective of the academy? 37:45 – 49:30 - What should universities be from the perspective of business, as employers, and investors in research and development? 49:30 - 58:40 - What should universities be from the perspective of private donors and philanthropists? 58:45 – Audience Q&A
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Thursday 22 November 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/what-should-universities-be.html
Do we need cultural change in our relation to truth? Celebrate the launch of the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC). Our expert panel will discuss the role of humanities in addressing the 'post truth' crisis.
In 2015 more Australian military personnel and veterans took their lives than were killed in Afghanistan during 13 years of war. Our expert panel brings together medical experts and social scientists to discuss the growing problem of military suicide - why is it happening and how should it be addressed politically?
This Sydney Ideas event was held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 20 November 2018.
Deaths in controversial and contested circumstances include deaths in custody, immigration detention, health care, at borders and following disasters.
In Australia and internationally it is evident that institutional responses to contested deaths are inadequate and fail to address families’ and communities’ demands for transparency, public scrutiny and accountability. The Guardian’s Deaths Inside database and the website Deathscapes are excellent digital initiatives dedicated to raising awareness.
Our panel reflect on these important initiatives and discuss how activism and advocacy can increase transparency and obtain justice.
TIMESTAMPS: 00:17 - 04:30 | Introduction by Rebecca Scott-Bray 04:31 - 18:20 | Lorena Allam (Indigenous Affairs Editor, Guardian Australia)explores the Deaths Inside database 18:21 - 36:58 | Suvendrini Perera & Joseph Pugliese discuss the Deathscapes project 36:60 - 01:07:00 | Phil Scraton takes us through case study of 1989 Hillsborough disaster
Join our discussion with Australian film icon David Stratton as we explore the role of international film events in 21st century Australia.
TIME STAMPS 0:00 - 6:00 - Introduction by Michelle Royer 6:11 - 20:14 - Keynote speech by David Stratton 20:19 - 28:13 - Margarett Cortez on the Japanese Film Festival 28:21 - 39:00 - Philippe Platel on the French Film Festival 39:06 - 47:09 - Gina Rubiano on film festivals in Australia 47:18 - 54:07 - Naser Shakhtour on the Palestinian Film Festival 54:10 - end - Concluding remarks
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 6 November 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/screening-the-world.html
For this year's annual Chaser Lecture, the star speaker is Nigerian satirist and journalist Adeola Fayehun. In conversation with The Chaser's Julian Morrow, Professor Umberto Ansaldo, and the audience, she unpacks the place, power and potential of political satire.
TIME STAMPS 00:20 - 6:00: Introduction by Professor Umberto Ansaldo 6:10 - 32:10: Keynote address by Adeola Fayehun 32:15 - 42:25: Facilitated conversation between Adeola Fayehun, Julian Morrow and Professor Umberto Ansaldo 42:30 - 60:08: Audience Q&A 60:08 - end: Concluding remarks by Julian Morrow
This Sydney Ideas event was held on 5 November 2018 at the University of Sydney: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/chaser-lecture-political-satire.html
Hear from award-winning director and University of Sydney alumnus Bruce Beresford as he discusses his 50-year, Oscar-nominated journey in cinema with Dr Bruce Isaacs, Head of Film Studies at the University of Sydney.
TIME STAMPS
0:00 - 2:29: Introduction and acknowledgement of country 2:32 - 3:07: Introduction by Bruce Isaacs 3:19 - end: Bruce Beresford in conversation
This Sydney Ideas event was held at the University of Sydney on Wednesday 31 October 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/bruce-beresford.html
Hear from Professor Liz Fisher (University of Oxford), as she makes the case for why 'hot' situations such as climate change needs 'hot' law, if Australia is to catch up with the rest of the world on governing and tackling climate change effectively.
TIME STAMPS 0:00 - 9:08: Introduction by Professor Rosemary Lyster 9:13 - 46:10: Keynote lecture by Professor Liz Fisher 47:00 - 56:55: Reflection by Dr Kate Owens 57:03 - end: Concluding remarks by Rosemary Lyster
This Sydney Ideas event was the University of Sydney on Tuesday 30 October 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/governing-climate-change-hot-situations-need-hot-law.html
An expert panel addresses the challenges faced by patients, researchers, doctors and regulators in Australia and around the world.
This Sydney Ideas panel discussion was held on29 October: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/is-there-anything-wrong-with-medicinal-cannabis.html
Join Professor Marcella Frangipane to uncover important new insights into the birth of early state societies in the greater Mesopotamian world. Timestamps below.
0:00 - 2:00 - Welcome by Professor Barbara Caine AM 2:10 - 3:55 - Introduction by Professor Barbara Helwing 4:05 - 1:16:48 - Keynote by Professor Marcella Frangipane
This event was held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 23 October 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/birth-of-state-greater-mesopotamia.html
Research on Australia's rates of youth mental health and suicide paint a grim picture. Australian Bureau of Statistics data show that Indigenous youth are more than twice as likely to commit suicide as non-Indigenous youth. In an ever-changing 21st century world, what challenges do our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth face, and how can we support them to combat and hopefully overcome them?
This Sydney Ideas event was held on 23 October 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/hope-on-the-horizon-for-indigenous-youth-mental-health.html
If literature, as romantic poet John Keats said, is for soul making, how will our souls be made and remade in a digital age when most reading, if it happens at all, occurs on screens and at light speed? What are the threats to knowledge acquisition, modes of teaching, learning and wisdom?
This Sydney Ideas panel discussion took place on 15 October 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/reading-and-writing-slowly-in-a-digital-age.html
Join us to unravel the role of corporate interests in influencing public perception of science, particularly health research.
This event was held at the University of Sydney on Wednesday 10 October 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/fighting-truth-decay-health-in-post-truth-world.html
What is the role of Australia in sustaining our region's seas, skies and soil?
A multidisciplinary panel of experts examines the role and responsibilities in balancing environmental sustainability and economic growth in Southeast Asia. What part can – and should - Australia play in negotiating the tensions between economic growth and environmental sustainability?
This event was held on Thursday 4 October, 2018 at the University of Sydney: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/planet-versus-profit.html
In this Sydney Policy Lab's inaugural lecture, leading academic, political strategist and its new Director, Marc Stears argues that it is possible for democracy to thrive, even in our very turbulent times, but only if people act to save it.
This Sydney Ideas event was held on 4 October 2018 at the University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/how-australia-can-save-democracy-for-the-world.html
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the largest and most complex experiment ever built. It is located at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. What is it, and what does it do? Theoretical physicist Peter Skands will take us on a tour of the experiments performed there, and the laws of nature that they are built to push to the limit. This Sydney Ideas event was held on Tuesday 25 September, 2018 at the University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/why-the-large-hadron-collider-is-a-game-changer.html
Stem cell research is a hot field of medical science but one that’s also prone to scandal and scientific fraud. How should health consumers respond in the face of such promise and uncertainty?
Discussing this is an expert panel of speakers including Prof John Rasko AO, Dr Wendy Lipworth and Prof Ian Kerridge, and with Dan Gaffney moderating the discussion.
This Sydney Ideas event was held on Thursday 20 September, 2018 at the University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/stem-cell-therapy-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly.html
What does it mean to “disagree well” within academia?
Respect and integrity are accepted and practiced as vital to the life of the University. They are valued for their contribution to research and teaching excellence, to our engagement with the public realm and with each other.
This panel session considers different forms of deliberation, communication, and debate within the academy, often along disciplinary lines. How do, can and should academics and professional staff “disagree well”? Why does this matter and what impact, if any, might this have on public debate in the wider community?
TIME STAMPS 00:17 - 04:20 - A/Prof Jennifer Barrett (introduction) 04:30 - 09:10 - Prof Joellen Riley 11:10 - 22:00 - Prof Celine Boehm 23:50 - 34:40 - Prof David Schlosberg 36:50 - 49:35 - Kirsten Andrews 49:45 - 59:15 - Facilitated conversation 59:22 - 01:03:40 - Audience Q&A
This Sydney Ideas was event held on Tuesday 18 September, 2018 at the University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/differing-views-valuing-disagreement.html
For the 2018 J.M. Ward Memorial Lecture, Professor Bill Schwarz (Queen Mary University of London) discusses the fallout from Brexit and the evolution of a new English nation.
A Sydney Ideas event held on Monday 10 September, 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/brexit-ethnic-populism-and-the-end-of-the-british-empire.html
In a world disrupted by technology and global shifts, truth and quality journalism have never been more important. While legacy media brands work to adjust, new models for journalism are emerging. From projects built on collaborations that span borders and media organisations, to newsrooms funded by philanthropy. A common thread of this brave new world is public interest journalism, where the bottom line is less about dollars and more about impact. A Sydney Ideas event held on Thursday 6 September 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/journalisms-new-bottom-line.html
An esteemed panel will discuss how the testimony of Holocaust survivors is used today and the problems, questions and opportunities it presents to people grappling with the legacy of the Holocaust. Hear from Avril Alba, Jonathan Ari Lander, Michael Robertson and Jacqui Wasilewsky (moderator).
A Sydney Ideas event held on Thursday 6 September 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/voices-from-the-ashes.html
How can we develop a view of people and place that is inclusive, universally designed and that gives people with disability access, and importantly, how this can be done seamlessly with equity and dignity? Our panel discuss these questions and more. A Sydney Ideas event held on Wednesday 5 September 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/inclusion-by-design-creating-an-inclusive-accessible-environment.html
11th Annual E.L. Wheelwright Memorial Lecture, presented by the Department of Political Economy at University of Sydney
Global neoliberalism is in crisis: the deepest economic collapse since the Great Depression has been followed by a ‘Great Stagnation’ with no end in sight. At the same time, democracies around the world are succumbing to a wave of authoritarianism without precedent in the postwar era. This lecture reviews the causes, severity and implications of the twin crises of neoliberalism, examines the prospects for the end of neoliberalism, and suggests strategies to support democracy and progressive economic policies.
This lecture was delivered by Alfredo Saad-Filho (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) on Thursday 30 August, 2018.
This expert panel, featuring Emeritus Professor Harriet Ward, will explore the contribution of longitudinal research in understanding the impact on vulnerable children and families.
A Sydney Ideas event held on Wednesday 29 August at University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/taking-the-long-view.html
An expert panel summarises the research into the Popup Globe enterprise so far, and offers first-hand insights into acting in this unique space.
A Sydney Ideas event held on Tuesday 28 August at University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/sydney-research-shakespeare-the-popup-globe.html
Behind the scenes of the good news stories of repatriation are a network of community elders and project workers who facilitate the logistics of returning cultural property on a case-by-case basis. This event brings together a panel of Aboriginal people working in community, museum and Government sectors to reflect on their experiences.
A Sydney Ideas event held on Monday 27 August at University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/being-collected-insights-into-repatriation.html
Professor Geraint Lewis takes us on a cosmic journey through space and time, through galactic collisions and hyperactive black holes, and onto the death of the last star.
A Sydney Ideas event held on Thursday 16 August, as part of 2018 Sydney Science Festival. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/the-end-of-time-the-future-history-of-the-universe.html
Leading national and international experts discuss and propose the necessary shift in the way we think about building to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
This event was held on Thursday 16 August at University of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/the-future-of-building.html
Professor Frank Pasquale, an expert on the law of artificial intelligence, algorithms and machine learning, proposes solution to questions over some aspects of algorithmic ordering of information.
A Sydney Ideas event held on Wednesday 15 August 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/the-promise-and-threat-of-algorithms.html
Hear from a panel of experts responding to the question: How will cellular therapy, immunotherapy, personalised medicine, and the use of big data impact cancer treatments?
A Sydney Ideas event held at Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR) on Monday 13 August, as part of Sydney Science Festival. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/the-future-of-cancer-can-we-find-a-cure.html
TIME STAMPS Professor Roger Reddel (introduction): 1:00 - 5:05 Professor Anna DeFazio: 5:25 - 16:20 Dr Matteo Carlino: 17:00 - 28:30 Dr Kenneth Micklethwaite: 42:50 - 52:20 Professor Roger Reddel (on big data and closing remarks): 42:50 - 52:20
Professor Taner Akcam reflects on the history of Armenian genocide and the refusal of other nations to accept responsibility for the atrocity, more than a century later.
A Sydney Ideas event held at University of Sydney on Thursday 9 August 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/the-shameful-history-of-armenian-genocide.html
Hear readings from the special issue of the magazine Transition on "Bla(c)kness in Australia". The collection brings together the voices and artwork of diverse Bla(c)k writers, artists, poets, and scholars in Australia.
A Sydney Ideas event held on Tuesday 7 August 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/blackness-in-australia.html
TIME STAMPS Sujatha Fernandes (introduction): 00:19 - 05:24 Jeanine Leane: 05:25 - 10:50 Kaiya Aboagye: 11:20 - 24:30 Yadira Perez Hazel: 25:00 - 38:40 Omid Tofighian: 39:30 - 49:26 Q&A: 49:30 - 01:03:00
World-renowned Canadian historian Professor Margaret MacMillan examines some of the paradoxes of war, drawing on examples from history since the end of the Great War.
A Sydney Ideas event held at University of Sydney on Monday 6 August 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/war-and-the-modern-world.html
Are archaeologists missing out on a valuable discovery channel? In the 2018 Tom Austen Brown lecture, Dr Mark Collard, an evolutionary anthropologist, argues that comparative ethnology – comparing and contrasting the features of large samples of human societies – should be a key archaeological tool.
An event held at the University of Sydney on Friday 3 August 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/the-find-of-the-century-for-archaeology.html
Time stamps: Peter Hiscock (introduction): 00:18 - 09:45 Mark Collard: 09:53 - 01:19:55
A Sydney Ideas event for Innovation Week 2018, bringing together medical researchers focusing around both ends of the demographic spectrum - youth mental health and dementia and art practitioners to consider these question and more.
Featuring Associate Professor Elizabeth Scott, Professor Sharon Naismith, Gill Nicol, Samantha Meers AO, Bernadette Harvey and Fenella Kernebone (moderator).
A Sydney Ideas event for Innovation Week held at the University of Sydney on Wednesday August 1 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/art-and-neuroplasticity-are-they-linked.html
TIMESTAMPS Introductions: 0:00 – 3:35 Liz Scott: 3:40 – 14:10 Sharon Naismith: 14:23 – 28:55 Gill Nicol: 29:15 – 39:30 Bernadette Harvey: 39:55 – 48:40 Samantha Meers: 49:05 – 56:04 Panel discussion: 56:20 – 1:12:30 Audience Q&A: 1:12:55 to end
A Sydney Ideas event for Innovation Week 2018, exploring the possibility that storytelling is exactly what science needs, with a view to answering the question: Is storytelling bad for science?
Featuring Professor Nick Enfield, screen-writer John Collee, dramatist Alana Valentine, Professor Geraint Lewis and Professor Jennifer Byrne.
A Sydney Ideas event for Innovation Week held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 31 July 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/is-storytelling-bad-for-science.html
TIME STAMPS Introductions: 0:00 - 2:00 Professor Nick Enfield: 2:00 - 10:15 John Collee: 10:25 - 18:07 Professor Geraint Lewis: 18:14 - 26:18 Alana Valentine: 26:34 - 31:29 Professor Jennifer Byrne: 31:45 - 38:23 Discussion: 38:34 - 56:18 Audience Q&A: 56:51 - 1:22:50
This event brought together journalists, reporters and editors to discuss the power of investigative journalism, and how good journalism can change the world. This podcast is a collection of highlights and key takeaways from the talk.
An event held at the University of Sydney on Monday 30 July 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/how-can-investigative-journalism-projects-change-the-world.html
Time stamps: Alison Sandy 3:20 - 6:55 Michael West 7:10 - 10:10 Gerard Ryle 11:10 - 13:20 Carrie Fellner 14:20 - 16:10 Mark Schoofs 16:30-21:30
This podcast features a discussion on international thinking, through the lens of politics, law and history, and an examination of how the rise in nationalist sentiment affects international collaboration and institutions.
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Monday 23 July 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/the-past-and-future-of-international-thinking.html
Could the worldwide rise in authoritarian-populism reflect a backlash to progressive cultural change? What does this mean for multicultural societies that value diversity, equity and social justice? An expert panel discusses the rise of this cultural backlash in public life and the challenges that ensue.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 19 August 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/cultural-conversations-a-cultural-backlash.html
Professor Amie Thomasson leads a discussion of the state of philosophy today, and asks the question: what can philosophy still do that is useful and relevant?
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 17 July 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/what-can-philosophy-do.html
Two distinguished speakers, Professor Tom Shakespeare and Sue Salthouse, address issues surrounding the National Disability Insurance Scheme and what it takes to achieve control and choice for people living with disabilities.
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Wednesday 11 July 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/choice-and-control-for-people-with-disabilities.html
Some studies show dog owners are happier. Could having a dog indeed help combat depression? Could bringing dogs to work help employees and businesses? Could therapy dogs speed up patient’s recovery? Could having a dog help college students during stressful times? In this talk, hear Dr Sandra Barker discuss how therapy dogs help people in a variety of settings.
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Monday 2 July 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/dogs-helping-people.html
Case studies with a university student, a computer hacker, and a former drug dealer demonstrate different radicalisation experiences and suggest that radicalisation is not something done to people, but something produced by active participants.
In this presentation Professor Kevin McDonald explores case studies of different radicalization experiences, based on interviews with members of banned organizations and the social media use of British and French young people who travelled to Syria.
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 26 June 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/radicalisation.html
This roundtable discussion brings together experts from the University of Sydney and the Lowy Institute to explore the origins and implications of Kim Jong-un’s recent diplomatic activism from North Korean, US, and Chinese perspectives.
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 19 June 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/peace-on-the-peninsula.html
The capacity to make precise genome edits is slowly changing our approach to medicine, agriculture and our planet. This panel discussion is the first in a series of Sydney Ideas events discussing the new possibilities of genome manipulation. This event discussed fundamental science and applications of genome editing.
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Thursday 14 June 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/genome-editing.html
What does conflict in Syria mean for GDP, capital stock, fiscal and monitory dynamics, employment, poverty, education, health, human development index, and social capital?
Zaki Mehchy, a co-founder and researcher of the Syrian Center for Policy Research, will present the latest findings on the socioeconomic impact of the conflict in Syria.
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 12 June 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/the-syrian-conflict.html
In the 2018 Professor Walter Stibbs Lecture, Nobel Laureate Professor Brian Schmidt looks at the Universe's vital statistics and what we do (and don't) know about the past, present and future.
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 5 June 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/the-state-of-the-universe.html
Are we eating ourselves sick? Join our panel of speakers to ask: could food really help us ward off diseases like diabetes, dementia, cancer and dental or cardiovascular disease?
Hear from our panel of experts from across the University of Sydney’s health faculties.
This event was held at the University of Sydney on Wednesday 23 May 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/food-as-medicine.html
This event, co-presented with the Department of Archaeology, brings together two archaeologists to discuss the status of Aboriginal archaeology, as well as where we should go from here into the future.
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 22 May 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/an-ancient-and-dynamic-history-aboriginal-archaeology.html
Professor Jean Lau Chin from Adelphi University in New York examines what successful 21st century leadership should look like in our increasingly diverse and global society.
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Thursday 17 May 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/global-and-diverse-leadership.html
Australia poet Mark Tredinnick discusses the landscape in and of contemporary poetry, the role of the lyric in a time of spiritual and ecological crisis, and the importance of writing across the disciplines and embedding creativity in education at all points of life and learning.
A Sydney Ideas event held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 15 May 2018. https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/landscape-of-poetry-mark-tredinnick-in-conversation-robyn-ewing.html
This event brings together a panel of experts to discuss how the Australian healthcare system is a major contributor to the nation's carbon footprint.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 1 May 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/is-the-health-sector-key-to-a-low-carbon-world.html
Professor Mary Kaldor will introduce the concept of global security cultures in order to explain why we get stuck in certain ways of doing security. She argues that, in contrast to the Cold War period when there was one dominant security culture based on military forces and states, nowadays there are several competing cultures including Geopolitics, New Wars, the Liberal Peace and the War on Terror. She will discuss the contradictions, dilemmas and experiments that might open up alternative pathways.
Nadia Urbinati, one of Italy's most distinguished scholars, analyses the main forces that are nowadays tearing apart more than a few democracies around the world, Italy included. In an unusual twist, she concentrates less on the overt enemies of democracy than on those who pose as its friends: for instance, technocrats wedded to expert procedures; demagogues who make glib appeals to 'the people', and media platforms bent on turning politics into a sensational spectator sport and citizens into fans of opposing teams.
Presented as part of Sydney Ideas with Sydney Democracy Network (SDN) and Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC)on 17 April 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/the-false-friends-of-democracy-power-opinion-truth-people.html
A panel of distinguished international visitors and Australia-based experts discuss and debate the ‘hot button’ issues being raised by Asian digital transformations.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 12 April 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/digital-rights-and-governance-in-asia-the-state-of-the-arts.html
Australia is widely celebrated as a multicultural triumph, but any such success remains incomplete. The findings of a new report, produced by the Australian Human Rights Commission in partnership with the University of Sydney Business School, the Committee for Sydney and Asia Society Australia, suggest we have a long way to go before realising the full potential of our multicultural population.
In this Sydney Ideas event, held on 11 April 2018, Race Discrimination Commissioner Dr Tim Soutphommasane and University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor Dr Michael Spence AC launch the new research on cultural diversity and Australian leadership, and discuss opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
Can we make objects invisible? Professor Gunther Uhlmann explores inverse problems, and the progress scientists are making to achieve invisibility.
Authoritarian populists have disrupted politics in many societies, as seen in the U.S. and the UK. This event brings two leading scholars to discuss their new books and the power of populist authoritarianism.
Prof Pippa Norris discusses her new book Cultural Backlash: The Rise of Populist Authoritarianism. Prof John Keane discusses his new book When Trees Fall, Monkeys Scatter: rethinking democracy in China.
Ngarigu woman Professor Jakelin Troy discusses intimate details of the lives, language and knowledge of the Aboriginal women she has discovered among the anthropological archives.
Co-presented with Sydney University Museums, this talk coincides with the UNESCO memory of the world exhibition in Fisher Library which features the Anthropology archive through the work of Phyllis Kaberry, the first professionally trained Australian anthropologist, and the first to publish on Aboriginal women’s knowledge.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 15 March 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/interlocutors-in-the-archive.html
From the atom bomb to the microprocessor, physics produced many of the great transformations of the 20th century. In the 21st, a convergence of artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and quantum computing will yield even more profound changes.
Professor Michael Biercuk, Professor Allison Macfarlane, Professor Hugh Gusterson, Professor Toby Walsh and Professor James Der Derian investigate the implications of quantum innovation for peace and security in the 21st century.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 15 February 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/strange-physics--drones--artificial-intelligence-and-quantum-com.html
Outrage. Is it an affect? An agency? A meme? This talk by Professor Robyn Wiegman attempts to decide whether outrage offers political instruction or if it's an instrument of democratic destruction.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 13 March 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/outrage-the-psychic-life-of-trumps-america.html
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have historically been subject to much more misdiagnosis, mistreatment, incarceration and coercion than other Australians in the hands of psychiatric institutions, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. The ramifications of psychiatry’s sometimes unwitting, indifferent or knowing complicity in past harmful practices and beliefs have been far-reaching. They extend from the health and well-being of the individual patient, to human rights and social justice concerns that prevail in contemporary Australian society.
How do we come to grips with the past, and how do we do so in just ways? What are the responsibilities of psychiatry to ensure a contribution to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional health and well-being? What can apology and other forms of recognition achieve? What can we learn from other projects of apology and recognition?
A panel discussion held as part of Sydney Ideas on 7 March 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/working-the-past-aboriginal-australia-and-psychiatry.html
We’ve just legalised same-sex marriage, but where does the rest of the world stand?
Bronwyn Winter and Maxime Forest explore the ways in which same-sex marriage becomes institutionalised (or resisted) through legal and societal norms and practices.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 5 March 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/same-sex-marriage-and-the-state-global-perspectives.html
Professor Roger Saljo, University of Gothenburg, argues that learning as we know it is currently changing in nature from its traditional focus on reproduction to a focus on learning as design.
The purpose of education is to contribute to reproducing the knowledge and skills that are relevant for a society.
In traditional societies with a low division of labour this implies focussing on reproducing knowledge that is stable and well known. In societies undergoing rapid change, due to factors such as digitalisation, globalisation and an increasing knowledge production, the situation will be different.
Education and instruction – from preschool to university – can no longer be modelled solely on what is known but has to be forward looking and based on visions of a largely unknown future.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas 'Education and Social Work Dean’s Lecture Series' on 14 February 2018 https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/education-and-social-work-deans-lecture-series.html
Professor Sylvie Poirier reflects on her trajectory of engagement and collaborative research with the Atikamekw First Nation (north-central Quebec, Canada).
In 1990, when the Council of the Atikamekw Nation first approached Professor Poirier to conduct research work on land rights issues, they agreed that her anthropological expertise would serve their life projects.
Since then, Professor Poirier’s engagement with them has been manifold. Early on, as an “expert” anthropologist within the arduous process of land claims negotiations, she documented the “anthropological proof” of their ancestral relationships to the land claimed.
In the early 2000s, her anthropological expertise and research funds were further utilised for exploring contemporary ways to document, valorise and transmit their knowledge systems to younger generations.
In this Sydney Ideas lecture she discusses collaborative research as an ongoing process of learning, exchange, and decolonization for the anthropologist and the Indigenous people.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 14 February 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/engaged-anthropology--collaborative-research-and-the-atikamekw-f.html
What if getting old didn’t mean getting ill? Although we're living longer in most parts of the world, advancing age has been revealed as the major risk factor for serious diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease and dementia.
Professor Dame Linda Partridge FRS is Director of the Institute of Healthy Ageing at University College London, and a founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne, Germany looks into the potential for intervening in the ageing process.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 13 Feb 2018: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/is-there-a-cure-for-ageing-.html
What is the position of the translator as cultural mediator? A panel of distinguished scholars explore the significance of translation, its impact on encounters between people, and its contribution to social cohesion, especially in multicultural and multi-faith societies like Australia.
A forum with Tim Wright, Asia-Pacific director of ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons), winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its part in spearheading the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; the first Treaty to outlaw the development, stockpiling, possession, transfer, hosting, testing, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons.
He is joined by Tim Ayres, the National Research Coordinator of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union; and Tara Gutman, the Acting National Manager, International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Advocacy at Australian Red Cross. Together they discuss the work that still needs to be done and the vital role of the peace and humanitarian movements in Australia.
Held on 30 November 2017 as part of the Sydney Ideas program co-presented with the School of Social and Political Sciences, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the Evatt Foundation and the Council for Peace and Justice: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/nuclear_weapons_forum.shtml
Gideon Levy is an Israeli journalist, writing opinion pieces and a weekly column for the newspaper Haaretz often focusing on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
In 2004, Levy published a compilation of articles entitled Twilight Zone – Life and Death under the Israeli Occupation(2004). His weekly talk show, A Personal meeting with Gideon Levy, was broadcast on Israeli cable TV.
Levy defines himself as a "patriotic Israeli". He criticises what he sees as Israeli society's moral blindness to the effects of its acts of war and occupation.
He has referred to the construction of settlements on private Palestinian land as "the most criminal enterprise in [Israel's] history".
Response by Antony Loewenstein, an independent journalist and author of My Israel Question, The Blogging Revolution and Disaster Capitalism: Making A Killing Out Of Catastrophe.
Chaired by Professor Dirk Moses, Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 29 November 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/gideon_levy.shtml
The makers of Venezuela's leading satirical news site El Chigüire Bipolar discuss the politics of satire with the makers of Australia’s in no way leading satirical news site The Chaser.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 28 November 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/chaser_el_chiguir_bipolar.shtml
The way Pompeii was covered by the eruption material ejected by Mt Vesuvius in 79 CE has made it possible to reveal the forms of organic remains preserved in the hardened ash. Pouring plaster of Paris into the voids created by decomposed soft tissue has created casts that were believed to be faithful renditions of those who died. In theory, the skeletons were embedded within the plaster casts of human victims and those of other mammals.
In 2015, Estelle Lazer and her team of experts commenced a project to CT scan and X-ray the casts of the Pompeian victims. The initial results of the CT scans and X-rays were surprising as they revealed that the actual production methods for the casts were quite different to the procedures that had been minimally documented in the 19th and 20th centuries.
This year, the University of Sydney and the Superintendency of the Pompeii Archaeological Park signed a Memorandum of Agreement, which makes the two institutions partners in this important project. In June 2017, permission was granted for the first time to transport plaster casts of victims from the site to the nearby local hospital for scanning in a state-of-the-art CT scanner that provided much higher resolution than the machine employed in the 2015 study.
The results of this season are providing us with new insights into the lives and deaths of these victims, as well as a better understanding of how the casts were achieved.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Dr Estelle Lazer, author of Resurrecting Pompeii (2009), is an archaeologist best known for her work on the human remains from Pompeii. In 2015, she was appointed as a consultant for the Pompeii Cast Restoration Project. Estelle works for Academy Travel and is an Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Sydney.
This lecture was held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 28 November: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/dr_estelle_lazer.shtml
Panel discussion & Launch – The University of Sydney’s 2017 Digital Rights report
A panel of leading experts looks under the hood of digital rights, exploring: - What are digital rights? Why do we need them? - What would they look like in Australia? - How should we frame, and do, digital rights policy, law and practice?
SPEAKERS: Ellen Broad, Osmond Chiu, Rob Hanson, Associate Professor Nicolas Suzor, Professor Ariadne Vromen. Chaired by Professor Gerard Goggin .
This event was held on 27 November 2017 as part of the Sydney Ideas program co-presented with the Digital Rights & Governance project at the University of Sydney: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/digital_rights_forum
Soon individual genome sequences will be a standard part of health records, which will revolutionise biomedical discovery, personal healthcare, and health system management. Millions of genome sequences integrated with millions of clinical records and other information from personal devices and the internet of things will create a multi-dimensional data ecology that will require advanced systems not only to secure the privacy and provenance of the data, but also to enable its analysis by machine learning and artificial intelligence. The last of the great cottage industries will become the most important of the data-intensive industries of the 21st century.
Hear more on what the future holds from Professor John Mattick, Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 21 November http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/21st_century_medicine_2017.shtml
The international panellists who are at the forefront of current debate on rational discourse and the post-truth crisis, dissect the current state of public discourse around truth, evidence, and reason, and associated questions including trust, faith, and identity.
They discuss their answers to the question “who can we believe?” and show how truth is intertwined with complex questions ranging from knowledge to authority to reality.
SPEAKERS: - Sarah Haider is an American writer, speaker, and activist. In 2013, she co-founded Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA) - Tom Nichols is Professor of national security affairs at the United States Naval War College, and author of the recent book The Death of Expertise: The campaign against established knowledge and why it matters (2017) - James A Lindsay is an American thinker, not a philosopher, with a doctorate in math and background in physics. He is the author of four books, most recently Life in Light of Death (2016) - Dr Caroline West is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sydney
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas Post Truth Initiative series on 20 November 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/post_truth_initiative_series_2017.shtml
Conventional treatment for obesity assumes that all calories are alike, and that to lose weight one must simply “eat less and move more.” However, this prescription rarely succeeds over the long term.
According to an alternative approach, the metabolic state of the fat cells plays a key role in determining body weight. From this perspective, conventional calorie-restricted, low fat diets amount to symptomatic treatment, destined to fail for most people. Instead, a dietary strategy aiming to lower insulin secretion promises to increase the effectiveness of long-term weight management and chronic disease prevention.
Hear from endocrinologist and researcher, Professor David S Ludwig, who was described as an “obesity warrior” by Time Magazine. Dr Ludwig is author of the recent #1 New York Times bestseller 'Always Hungry? Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells, and Lose Weight Permanently'.
This lecture was held as part of the Sydney Ideas program, co-presented with the Charles Perkins Centre on 14 November 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_david_ludwig.shtml
Elizabeth Harrower’s writing has engaged and challenged her readers since she began publishing in the late 1950s. Her work is concerned with the moral and existential challenges that arise from experiences of romance, family life, and personal aspiration. Her narratives blend together the private and public, bringing together the shared public spaces of the contemporary postwar world with the intense interior lives of her characters.
New Sydney University Press publication celebrates Elizabeth Harrower’s work. Listen to the readings of Harrower’s fiction by writers and contributors.
A recent report by Deloitte Access Economics found that some 40% of Australians experience some form of inadequate sleep. Sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnoea, insomnia, restless legs syndrome, and shift work disorder, are also highly prevalent but are amenable to treatment. The flow on effects of inadequate or disordered sleep for the individual, society, and the economy are enormous. It is time for everyone to wake up to the importance of sleep.
SPEAKER Professor Allan Pack, Professor of Medicine, Chief, Division of Sleep Medicine and Director, Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology, at the University of Pennsylvania. His clinical expertise is in sleep disorders with a particular focus on diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnea.
Water, energy and food security are fundamental strategic challenges for India and its neighbours. In this Sydney Ideas conversation Professor Brahma Chellaney from the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi and Professor Bill Pritchard from the University of Sydney discuss the contentious politics and economics of water, energy and food in the Indian subcontinent. International and national regulatory regimes play an important role in the way water and energy resources are distributed across South Asia.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 8 November 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_brahma_chellaney.shtml
The just-held 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has conferred President Xi Jinping with unprecedented authority. He is now the Party’s second more powerful leader after Mao Zedong. Xi has solid control over the Party, the State and the People’s Liberation Army. It looks probable that Xi will remain China’s paramount leader at least until 2027, if not 2032.
Questions remain, however, as to whether Xi, who is an arch-conservative and unabashed Maoist, will use his powers for political, social and economic reforms. Given his top priority of maintaining the CCP as China’s “perennial ruling party” – and in light of his insistence on the Party’s control over key economic sectors as well as the civil society – what are the prospects for thorough-going reforms?
Dr Willy Lam (Chinese University of Hong Kong and The Jamestown Foundation) looks into these questions and addresses Xi’s ambitious foreign-policy agenda, including likely changes in Beijing’s policy toward the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong.
This lecture was held as part of Sydney Ideas program on 8 November 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/dr_willy_lam.shtml
Protesting police brutality, mass incarceration and racial disparities in all areas of American life, Black Lives Matter has spanned two very different presidencies, transforming political debate and making visionary demands for justice.
The founders of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, in Australia to accept the 2017 Sydney Peace Prize, join the ABC's Stan Grant for an intimate conversation about the birth of the protest movement, the future of black lives under President Trump, and what lessons Australians can learn from the American experience.
Speakers - Patrisse Cullors (Founder, Black Lives Matter Global Network) - Rodney Diverlus (Founder, Black Lives Matter Toronto) - Stan Grant (journalist, ABC)
A Sydney Ideas event co-presented with the US Studies Centre on 3 Nov 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/black_lives_matter_forum.shtml
The United States, like Australia and other countries with modern economies, gets played by multinational corporations who earn profits in their country, but siphon profits out as tax-deductible expenses – expenses companies pay to themselves. It is as if individuals could get a tax break by moving money from their right pocket to their left.
These tax breaks are not based on real expenses, or economic reality, but on shams and faux calculations. They rest on nothing more substantial than moving symbols around on pieces of paper. And these tax breaks certainly are not honest, legal though they may be.
Even in Trump’s America, there are powerful new solutions to unreal and unfair tax systems.
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author of 'The Making of Donald Trump', David Cay Johnston outlines ways to ensure that taxation of corporations is accurate, honest and fair for citizens.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas program on 1 November 2017. Co-presented with Sydney Democracy Network and supported by the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/david_cay_johnston.shtml
One of the best kept secrets about mathematicians is that we are often at the tip of the spear in the struggle for social/political causes. We are inspired by the mathematical hell raisers of previous generations, but we are also shaped by their personal tragedies.
In 1800 France, Sophie Germain had to publish her works using a male pseudonym. Only recently, Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian born mathematician, became the first female recipient of The Fields Medal, the highest honour in mathematics. In between lies a rich and poignant history of mathematical scientists confronting prejudices, injustices, and social stigmas, sometimes with tragic outcomes.
Mathematics comes with its own stories of defeats and victories, not always brought about by its widely publicised intellectual challenges.
SPEAKER: Nassif A Ghoussoub, Professor of Mathematics and a Distinguished University Scholar at the University of British Columbia.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 31 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_nassif_ghoussoub.shtml
The 2017 Michael Hintze lecture presented by the Centre for International Security Studies
At sixteen years and counting, Afghanistan is the longest war for western states of the post-Cold War period, and NATO’s first overseas war. At its height, the US and its NATO allies deployed 130,000 troops in its efforts to stabilise the country. NATO combat forces withdrew by December 2014 having failed to defeat the Taliban insurgency.
Professor Theo Farrell explores what went wrong in Afghanistan and teases out the lessons for the utility of western military power. He argues that whilst Afghanistan demonstrates that western militaries are able to develop the capabilities to achieve tactical success in counterinsurgency wars, they are unable to translate battlefield gains into strategic success due to the intrinsic political challenges of such conflicts.
He then goes on to explore how military culture limits the effectiveness of the NATO mission in Afghanistan. And concludes on the prospects for peace in Afghanistan and on the future of western military intervention.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 26 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/michael_hintze_lecture_theo_farrell.shtml
The forum brings together expert First Nations Community and University speakers to discuss the importance of increasing awareness about mental illness within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Joe Williams, a First Nations mental health campaigner and former elite athlete, shares his story and discusses his current work in the keynote address. He is joined in a panel discussion by University of Sydney and community members Dr Vanessa Lee , Percival Knight and Will Muwadda. Facilitated by actor Luke Carroll. A Sydney Ideas event on 26 October 2017. More information http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/aboriginal_torres_strait_islander_mental_health_forum.shtml
Professor of European Integration at the University of Athens, Loukas Tsoukalis looks into the reasons behind the successive crises in the EU in recent years.
Does the European Union suffer from overstretch? Was the creation of the euro a terrible mistake that is now almost impossible to undo, or is the European project just the victim of collateral damage caused by globalisation and the technological revolution?
We first need to understand what went wrong in recent years. But we also need to understand what keeps the Union together in times of big crisis and against the predictions of all kinds of doomsayers. Will the more favourable economic and political environment lead to a new relaunching of European integration?
This public lecture was held as part of the Sydney Ideas program, copresented with the Sydney Democracy Network on 26 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_loukas_tsoukalis.shtml
December 2017 marks 45 years since Australia and the People's Republic of China established formal diplomatic relations. In celebrating such anniversaries, it is common for politicians and diplomats to note how the Australia–China relationship has developed over the intervening years – citing trade and investment figures, and tourism dollars, and the growing numbers of Chinese students at Australian universities.
But what of Australia–China relations before 1972? Before 1922? Before 1872?
In this lecture Dr Kate Bagnall considers a different history of Australia–China relations. With the first known Chinese settler in New South Wales arriving almost 200 years ago, what do we know about the men and women whose lives crossed between China and Australia, and Australia and China, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
What do we know of the connections of people and place forged before and below the nation-to-nation ties of the late twentieth century? And how might a focus on the personal and intimate in the past contribute to better understanding in the future?
This lecture was held as part of Sydney Ideas program on 24 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/australia_china_kate_bagnall.shtml
There is no word with more purchase in present political discourse than Globalisation. But what does it mean, and why is it so important?
This panel surveys the extent of today’s globalisation, and asks: How globalised is the world really? What is the significance of this idea for politics? Is globalisation good for us? Does the European Union represent the past or a future, a world increasingly interconnected and interdependent, or torn apart? Have we arrived at an impasse and begun to fragment around nationalist economics and ideologies?
Join our panel of economists, political scientists and historians who study the global to consider these questions–and find some alternative views–at the last of our Thinker's Guide to the 21st Century Series event for 2017.
Speakers: - Dr Thomas Adams, Lecturer in American Studies and History, the University of Sydney - Professor John Romalis, Sir Hermann Black Professor in Economics, School of Economics, the University of Sydney - Professor Glenda Sluga, ARC Laureate Fellow, Professor of International History, FAHA, the University of Sydney
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas' The Thinker’s Guide to the 21st Century series on 25 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/thinkers_guide_21st_century_2017.shtml?cid=em_si-news
Democracy depends on sound public opinion about the major issues of the day. Today these issues are of unprecedented complexity and difficulty, requiring serious deliberation and decision making, and the need to move beyond the factional struggles and attempts to win over key parcels of votes we see dominating politics today.
What we need is well considered public opinion to set the agenda for the politicians, and demarchy is a new proposal on how this can be done.
Author of The Demarchy Manifesto former University of Sydney Professor of Philosophy, John Burnheim joins us for a special conversation about the ideas behind demarchy, with Associate Professor Carolyn Hendriks from the Australian National University Crawford School, and Dr Nicholas Gruen from Lateral Economics. Hosted by Professor Geoff Gallop.
A Sydney Ideas forum co-presented with the Graduate School of Government, Sydney University Press and The newDemocracy Foundation http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/demarchy_forum.shtml
How do we understand, imagine, visualise and create narratives for 50,000 years of Australian history?
As commonly presented, Australia’s past seems to consist of 230 years of European colonisation and over 50,000 years of Aboriginal culture, the former the purview of historians and the latter of archaeologists. Yet it presents striking opportunities for a truly integrated and seamless deep continental history, combining disciplines and methodologies.
Such a history would consider the full range of human experience from arrival, through changes in climate, technologies and belief systems to interactions with Maccassan, Portuguese, Dutch, French and finally the British. It would stretch across 2500 unbroken generations of people birthed, nurtured and sustained: people who modified landscapes, hunted, sang songs, practised religion and buried their dead.
In this lecture, Professor Lynette Russell (Monash Indigenous Studies Centre, Monash University) argues for mixing epistemologies to create historical narratives of the deep past that may be taught in schools and universities, presented in museums and popular culture, and proudly shared by all Australians.
The 2nd Bicentennial Australian History Lecture, hosted by the Department of History, the University of Sydney on 19 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_lynette_russell.shtml
The study of food choice is at the forefront of research in economics today due to its repercussion on nutritional issues for the population and consequently on public health. Consumers display varied preferences towards food, and react sometimes controversially to nutrition information conveyed to them via food labels or other formats. Choices vary according to taste preferences, but are also influenced by factors such as certification of origin, geographical indication, sustainable production methods and, importantly, health concerns and psychological traits of consumers. Understanding the sources of various forms of preferences is crucial, as it allows to set up successful public health programs and strategic market policies.
SPEAKER: Assoc Professor Mara Thiene, an economist at the University of Padua in the Department of Land, Environment and Forestry
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 19 October: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/associate_professor_mara_thiene.shtml
The 2017 ASAL Patron's Lecture (with special thanks to the Cultural Fund of the Copyright Agency)
Malaysian-Australian author, rapper and poet from Queanbeyan, Australia, Omar Musa combines readings from his own work with his thoughts about his writing process, such key themes as migration, belonging and dreams, and reflections on Australian literature and culture at large.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas on 17 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/asal_patrons_lecture_omar_musa.shtml
Professor of Middle Eastern History at University of California, Irvine, Mark LeVine asks us to engage in the process of thinking outside the box, and move towards enabling Palestinians and Israelis to imagine a shared future that is no longer a zero-sum game or based inevitably on the domination of one group over the other.
Chair: Dr Lucia Sorbera, Department of Arabic Language and Cultures, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
Discussants: Lana Tatour, School of Social Science at UNSW, and Antony Loewenstein, an independent journalist and author of My Israel Question.
A Sydney Ideas event on 22 September, 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lecture/2017/professor_mark_levine.shtml
Professor Colin Mackerras surveys how the West has viewed China over time. He notes distinct worsening over the last half decade or so, both in the United States and in Australia, and argues that there is a good deal of politics in the images and that we should see these images not only as a reflection of China, but also of the West itself.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program co-presented with the China Studies Centre on 16 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_colin_makerras.shtml
Are you addicted to social media? Is this such a big deal?
Or can you improve your mental health with technology?
Our panel of experts from the Brain and Mind Centre join special international guests to discuss the pros and cons of technology when it comes to mental health.
Held as part of Sydney Ideas and the 2017 Mental Health Month on 16 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/technology_youth_mental_health_forum.shtml
Historians these days probably get less sleep than anyone else – kept up by the echoes of the past in the radically shifting world political landscape. The historical allusions of contemporary governments in the US, and in Europe, are driving all manner of comparisons with the 1930s in particular, and the rise of Nazism, Fascism, and Authoritarianism.
This panel brings together four University of Sydney academics who specialise in the political cultures of the last century, to discuss the relevance of the past, and these categories to the present. We consider Greece, Egypt, Europe and the US. If we can work out how different the present is from the past, hopefully we can all get some sleep!
Speakers: - Professor Vrasidas Karalis, Sir Nicholas Laurantus Professor of Modern Greek, the University of Sydney - Professor Dirk Moses, Professor of Modern History, the University of Sydney - Dr Lucia Sorbera, Senior Lecturer, Department of Arabic Language and Cultures, the University of Sydney
Held as part of Sydney Ideas' The Thinker’s Guide to the 21st Century series on 11 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/thinkers_guide_21st_century_2017.shtml
Indonesia’s anti-corruption commission has investigated and prosecuted many big-fish corruption cases, and has secured many dozens of convictions, including very senior judges and politicians. This represents real progress; even a decade ago, many of the commission’s current targets would have been largely untouchable. However, the commission has faced serious resistance from those it has pursued and their associates. This resistance threatens to weaken the commission or even disband it, and to discredit its commissioners.
This forum examines the future of corruption eradication efforts in Indonesia, bringing together three speakers Professor Todung Mulya Lubis, one of Indonesia’s leading lawyers and anti-corruption advocates; Dr Laode Syarif, Commissioner for Indonesia Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK); and Professor Simon Butt, who specialises in Indonesian law and its corruption courts.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 10 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/fighting_corruption_indonesia_forum.shtml
A Sydney Ideas talk by Dr Mark Stafford Smith, Chief Coordinating Scientist – Adaptation, CSIRO. Co-presented with the Planetary Health Initiative at the University of Sydney.
Mark Stafford Smith from CSIRO Australia is chair of the Future Earth’s Science Committee, which aims to ensure that Future Earth science is of the highest quality and makes recommendations on new and existing projects, as well as emerging priorities for research.
For his Sydney Ideas talk Mark addresses the theme of integration: of research disciplines, policy responses, knowledge systems, and means of implementation.
This lecture was held on 10 October 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/mark_stafford_smith.shtml
In 2001, Stanford mathematician Dr Keith Devlin, also known as ‘The Math Guy’ on NPR’s Weekend Edition, set out to research the life and legacy of the thirteenth century mathematician Leonardo of Pisa, popularly known as Fibonacci.
Leonardo introduced the Hindu-Arabic numeral system and arithmetic to the Western world, and thereby helped start a global, social and economic revolution. Devlin recounted Leonardo's story in a 2011 book titled The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci’s Arithmetic Revolution. In a simultaneously published companion e-book, Leonardo and Steve: The Young Genius Who Beat Apple to Market by 800 Years, he drew remarkable parallels between the careers of Leonardo and Apple’s Steve Jobs.
His new book, Finding Fibonacci: The Quest to Rediscover the Forgotten Mathematical Genius Who Changed the World is a first-hand account of his experiences in uncovering the story, reconstructed from his project diary and notes, together with stories of three other contemporary scholars who were also motivated to find out about the long-forgotten medieval mathematician who did so much create the world we live in.
This talk was held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 3 October: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/keith_devlin.shtml
There are many accounts of consumer directed care (CDC )in England. Some focus on its ambitions, some on its achievements, some on its problems and some on its experiences. A series of 'myths' is being constructed around all four of these dimensions.
Professor Jill Manthorpe from the Social Care Workforce Research Unit at King's College London, who has undertaken several studies of this subject over the past decade in both England and Scotland, tackles some of these myths and sets out a few mysteries for participants to solve.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 28 September 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/ESW_deans_lecture_series.shtml
Is home a closed-off and self-sufficient place, or can it be reimagined to be where we find our connections to others and the world?
By exploring home in relation to the figure of the stranger and public space, as well as with a focus on practices of dwelling and materialities, the authors of 'Reimagining Home in the 21st Century' demonstrate that thinking differently about home advances our understanding of belonging as a social process in which we are all implicated.
SPEAKERS: - Associate Professor Ellie Vasta, Department of Sociology, Macquarie University - Dr Justine Lloyd, Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Macquarie University - Professor Greg Noble, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University - Dr Justine Humphry, Lecturer in Digital Cultures, Digital Cultures Program, Department of Media and Communications, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences - Professor Heather Horst, Department of Media and Communications, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the University of Sydney
As part of World Alzheimer’s Day, four dementia experts from the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre share the latest research breakthroughs on Alzheimer’s disease.
Speakers: Dr Rebekah Ahmed, Staff Specialist Neurologist Memory and Cognition Clinic Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and NHMRC Early Career Fellow, Frontier Frontotemporal Dementia Research Group and Motor Neurone Disease Research Group at the Brain and Mind Centre
Associate Professor John Kwok, Principal Research Fellow and Team Leader, Forefront Neurogenetics and Epigenetics Research Group at the Brain and Mind Centre
Professor Sharon Naismith, Leonard P Ullman Chair in Psychology, University of Sydney, and Team Leader of the ForeFront Healthy Brain Ageing Program at Brain and Mind Centre.
Hosted by Professor Jillian Kril Professor of Neuropathology, Disciplines of Medicine and Pathology, and Associate Dean (Research), Sydney Medical School.
A Sydney Ideas event, co-presented with the Brain and Mind Centre, on 21 September 2017, http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/alzheimers_awareness_forum.shtml
‘Health hacks’ telling us how to stay young in mind and body are everywhere these days, but are they true? Can we trust their advice?
In this health forum, our expert panel will highlight helpful insights that are changing people’s lives for the better, and teach us all how to best look after our minds and bodies as we age.
Paul Farrell (Buzzfeed Australia), Benedetta Brevini (Senior Lecturer in Communication and Media), Julie Posetti (journalist and academic) and Gabor Szathmari (CryptoAustralia co-founder) discuss the extent of data collection revealed by Edward Snowden’s 2013 intelligence leaks and the sharp acceleration of new national security and data retention legislation in Australia. A Sydney Ideas event on 22 August 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/journalism_resistance_metadata_forum.shtml
'Gatekeeping' continues to be a rousing and provocative word with regard to Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations. Gatekeeping pertains to the various forms of apartheid in Australia, some of which still apply, if in a veiled and insidious way. But the term is also relevant to Aboriginal communities themselves, in which differing degrees of 'whiteness' and 'blackness' are consigned different values of entitlement and belonging. It is a taxonomy that tends to elide the deeper and more urgent issues that Indigenous cultures, in Australia and elsewhere, currently face.
In the spirit of launching the journal co-founded by Professor Jakelin Troy and Dr Adam Geczy (who are the editors, with Lorena Sekwan Fontaine), of ab-Original (Penn State University Press), 'gatekeeping' is used as a relevant and ironic term for a journal whose key mission is to examine global indigenous cultures and their diverse transnational and pan-racial contexts.
Joining Prof Jakelin Troy and Dr Adam Geczy in this discussion are Blak Douglas (aka Adam Hill), an artist, musician and social activist and Dr Mick Adams, Senior Research Fellow Australian Indigenous Health, at Edith Cowan University, WA.
This forum was held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 14 September, 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/gatekeeping_ab-0riginal_launch_forum.shtml
Professor Ayhan Aktar from Istanbul Bilgi University discusses the turning points in the Turkish process of rewriting the history of the Gallipoli Campaign since the 1930s.
For many years now, anthropologists and urban scholars alike have identified ‘gentrification’ as a process of class conflict in which poorer people get pushed to the margins of urban life in the name of ‘urban renewal'. Using examples from Thailand, China, Greece, and Italy, Professor Michael Herzfeld argues that these short-sighted policies are creating an increasingly disenfranchised and resentful under-class.
Join visiting philosophers Jonathan Tallant (University of Nottingham, UK) and Elay Shech (Auburn University, USA) in a conversation with Associate Professor Kristie Miller from the University of Sydney, as they discuss what implications contemporary physics has for our understanding of time, and how philosophers are engaging with cutting-edge physical theories in their attempts to understand time.
A Sydney Ideas and the Centre for Time event held on 10 August 2017 as part of Sydney Science Festival for National Science Week: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/sydney_science_festival_2017_the_physics_and_philosophy_of_time.shtml
Science used to be 'natural philosophy'; but Francis Bacon and the scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries saw a parting of ways. Many scientists now consider philosophy to be largely irrelevant; while many philosophers consider science – particularly theoretical physics – to have lost its grip on reality. Exactly where, they ask, are all those ‘parallel universes’?
It’s time for scientists and philosophers to get together and have a long chat…Tibor Molnar explores some of the issues they need to chat about.
A Sydney Ideas and Department of Philosophy event held on 17 August 2017 as part of Sydney Science Festival for National Science Week: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/sydney_science_festival_2017_tibor_molnar.shtml
Women’s political activism has one century of history in North Africa, a history that intersects other social movements, and that has been documented and narrated by two generations of feminist scholars. Yet, the representation of North African women in mainstream Western public discourse tends to neglect this history, and continues to be grounded on Orientalist stereotypes.
This panel challenges hegemonic narratives, framing North African women’s political activism in the context of the 2010 and 2011 uprisings ad their aftermaths. The historical and contemporary political experience of women in Tunisia, Algeria Egypt and Morocco shows, on one side, the necessity to go beyond generalisation such as ‘Arab women’, ‘Muslim women’ and ‘North African women’, and to shed light on the differences alongside continuities emerging in different contexts.
Speakers: - Dr Fadma Ait Mous, Ain Chock Faculty of Letters and the Humanities University Hassan II of Casablanca - Professor Stephi Hemelryk Donald, Comparative Film, University of NSW - Dr Lucia Sorbera, Department of Arabic Language and Cultures , the University of Sydney
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 1 September 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/feminism_north_africa_forum.shtml
Sydney Ideas co-presented with the Institute of Open Adoption Studies, School of Education and Social Work
Join us for a panel discussion to explore the complex issue of contact in the context of open adoption. Adoption is one of the pathways for those children and requires individuals with capacity, sensitivity, and commitment to raise children through open adoption. Part of this openness is realised through adoption related conversation and exchange of information between adoptees, their adoptive parents and their birth families, to enable a child to understand their biological/familial history and the circumstances of their adoption.
International research demonstrates that access to knowledge about their history and the circumstances of their adoption is important for children's ability to form a healthy and positive identity – including their identity as an adopted person. Supporting contact that is in the best interest of children is a pressing consideration for contemporary adoption practices in NSW.
Chaired by Associate Professor Amy Conley Wright, Director of the Institute of Open Adoption Studies at the University of Sydney
SPEAKERS: - Professor Elsbeth Neil, Professor of Social Work, University of East Anglia - Helmut Uhlmann - Lynne Moggach, Executive Specialist Adoption, Barnardos Australia - Philippa Welman, Director Child Safety & Permanency, Department of Family & Community Services
Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 31 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/ESW_deans_lecture_series.shtml
When does evidence obscure the truth? Join us for a forum on the avoidable causes of wrongful conviction.
Wrongful convictions can and do happen – it's a sad fact of the Australian legal system. This panel looks at how evidence in legal proceedings can inadvertently support false conclusions if handled by non-experts (as is usually the case). Panel members are associate lecturer in psychology Celine van Golde, barrister and senior lecturer in law Miiko Kumar, both of the ‘Not Guilty’ project at the University of Sydney, and professional linguist Helen Fraser, of Forensic Phonetics Australia. They present real-life cases in which errors, by eyewitnesses, police, prosecutors, and other experts led to people spent years in jail following unfair trials. With reference to their ongoing research on human perception and memory they then ask: what can we do to prevent future miscarriages of justice?
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas' Post Truth Initiative Series on 29 August, 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/post_truth_initiative_series_2017.shtml
Forget what you think you know about fake news. Our neighbours in Asia have been dealing with fake news, lies and propaganda for years. More recently, the same technology and social media platforms that have enabled political participation and social change have become a battleground for 'weaponised' internet warriors to spread misinformation. And sometimes the perpetrators are governments themselves.
In this Sydney Ideas podcast, our global panel discusses how citizens, journalists and publishers are fighting back with fact-checking, verification, data-driven reporting and collaborations across borders.
SPEAKERS: - Maria Ressa, CEO, Rappler (Philippines) - Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor, The Wire (India) - Matt Davis, videojournalist, ABC TV Foreign Correspondent - Dr Aim Sinpeng (panel chair), Department of Government and International Relations, the University of Sydney
This panel was held as part of the Sydney Ideas on 28 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/storyology_2017_forum.shtml
It’s the 21st century, 100 years since Australian women were lucky enough to get the vote, and we’ve arrived at the age of Pussyriot and Pussyhats. How did women get here? What does this augur for the future of feminism as a world-wide phenomenon, now drawing a new generation of activists, in some cases connecting them with earlier feminist waves?
What is the impact of events in the US in particular for a standard of feminist politics everywhere? In an age when all social movements have a global scope, a panel of feminist academics with specific areas of geopolitical expertise on the US, UK, Russia, and Australia, come together to discuss these questions.
Speakers: - Professor Glenda Sluga, P, ARC Laureate Fellow, Professor of International History, FAHA, the University of Sydney - Dr Philippa Hetherington, University College London (UCL) - Associate Professor Laura J Shepherd, , UNSW Sydney - Anna Hush, University of Sydney student
Held as part of Sydney Ideas, The Thinker's Guide to the 21st century series on 23 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/thinkers_guide_21st_century_2017.shtml
This forum examines developments in Hong Kong in the 20 years since it became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and prospects for Hong Kong's future under Chinese rule.
Presentation #1: Twenty Years of Interpretation of the Basic Law by Beijing: a troubled story Presented by: Professor Bing Ling,Professor of Chinese Law and Associate Dean (International), Sydney Law School and Associate Director (China) of the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law.
Presentation #2: A Destabilising Stability: Hong Kong 20 years after 1997 Presented by: Dr Kevin Carrico, Lecturer in Chinese Studies at Macquarie University and the author of The Great Han: Race, Nationalism and Tradition in China Today (2017).
Presentation #3: Dissenting Media: post-1997 Hong Kong Presented by: Joyce Nip, Senior Lecturer in Chinese media studies at the University of Sydney.
This forum was originally held as part of the Sydney Ideas on 22 August, 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/hong_kong_twenty_years.shtml
Journalist Glenn Greenwald discusses his favourite subjects: power and accountability, surveillance and privacy, Trump and fake news, threats to democracy, courage, and the role of journalism in giving a voice to perspectives and events that are ignored and silenced by large media outlets.
He is in discussion with former WA Greens Senator Scott Ludlam, and University of Sydney academics Benedetta Brevini and John Keane.
A Sydney Ideas, Sydney Democracy Network, and Post Truth Initiative event held on 20 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/glenn_greenwald.shtml
Karl Widerquist discusses an idea which is increasingly viewed as the only viable way of reconciling poverty relief and full employment.
A Sydney Ideas event on 16 August 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/associate_professor_karl_widerquist.shtml
The World Economic Forum estimates that young people can expect to change careers at least seven times over the course of their lives, and 35 percent of the skills required today will be different in five years.
The complexity and uncertainty of the future of work means today’s graduates will have to adapt to new jobs and work environments.
In this panel discussion the University of Sydney academics and the CEO of StartupAUS discuss the future challenges and opportunities and how the education is already reshaping to prepare our students for the future.
Speakers: - Sandra Peter, Director, Sydney Business Insights, University of Sydney Business School - Martin Tomitsch, Chair of Design at the University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning and Director of the Design Lab - Nicky Ringland, a Computing Education Specialist at the Australian Computing Academy, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology - Alex McCauley, CEO of StartupAUS
They are in conversation with Richard Miles, leader of the University’s educational engagement with the community and industry sector.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas on 15 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/future_of_work_forum.shtml
Alice P Albright, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Partnership for Education speaks about global education crises and how the Global Partnership for Education partnership is innovating to address the funding challenges and offer quality education at some of the poorest countries of the world.
She outlines why should businesses pay attention at education circumstances and support education, and speaks about new models of donation that will empower local governments to manage the funds and take charge of their education system.
A Sydney Ideas and University of Sydney Business School event on 10 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/alice_albright.shtml
An exclusive Sydney Science Festival presentation by acclaimed science writer Dava Sobel. In conversation with Jessica Bloom, a young University of Sydney astrophysics PhD student, Dava speaks of her love for science and what it took for a women to break through.
Presented as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 9 August, 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/sydney_science_festival_2017_dava_sobel.shtml?cid=em_si-news
From community gardens to pop-up cinemas, from outdoor art installations to mobile libraries, temporary urban interventions are increasingly visible in contemporary cities.
A burgeoning literature has highlighted ways in which these transient practices propose alternative lifestyles, reoccupy urban space with new uses, and reinvent daily life from the bottom up, in the pursuit of more just and sustainable cities.
Find out how these guerrilla intervention are really transforming our cities and whether or not they are contributing to social justice and sustainability.
Speakers: Associate Professor Lee Stickells, University of Sydney, Amelia Thorpe, UNSW and Timothy Moore, Sibling Architecture. In conversation with Professor Ann Forsyth, the Director of the Urban Planning Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
A Festival of Urbanism event for Sydney Ideas held on 8 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/festival_of_urbanism_pop_up_justice.shtml
Christina Lamb, a multi award-winning foreign correspondent for the UK Sunday Times in conversation with Aparna Balakumar, a final year Media and Communications student at the University of Sydney.
Christina Lamb has acted as Washington Bureau Chief for the paper and in 2009 was awarded the prestigious Prix Bayeux Calvados for her reporting from Afghanistan. She won the Foreign Press Association Award for Story of the Year in 2007, and has been named Foreign Correspondent of the Year in the British Press Awards five times.
She is the author of many books including the best-selling memoir she co-authored with Afghan schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 7 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/christina_lamb.shtml
The winners of the Australian Book Review prestigious Calibre Essay Prize this year, Michael Adams and Darius Sepehri, read extracts from their Prize-winning essays, and discuss the themes of grief and mortality found in both pieces.
Michael Adams, an associate professor of Human Geography at the University of Wollongong, won first prize for ‘Salt Blood’, a remarkable and highly original meditation on freediving and mortality, which was published in the June-July 2017 issue of Australian Book Review.
Darius Sepehri, a PhD student at the University of Sydney, won the second prize for his essay ‘To Speak of Sorrow’, an essay about the many kinds of grief and their different expressions in writing and culture, as lament, testimony, or ritual. His essay will be published in the August issue of Australian Book Review.
Hosted by Peter Rose, Editor of Australian Book Review. A Sydney Ideas event at the University of Sydney on Monday 7 August, 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/australian_book_review_calibre_essay.shtml
Causes of compulsive behaviour are complex and unexpected. What are they? Our researchers reveal the mental, physical and social origins of addiction and highlight discoveries that are improving people’s lives.
Panelists: - Professor Nick Lintzeris, Clinical Professor, Discipline of Addiction Medicine, Central Clinical School, University of Sydney, and Director and Senior Staff Specialist, Drug and Alcohol Services, South East Sydney Local Health District, NSW Health - Professor Kate Conigrave, Conjoint Professor Addiction Medicine, Head, Indigenous Substance Misuse Programs Addiction Medicine, Central Clinical School, University of Sydney - Dr Andrew J. Campbell, Senior Lecturer in Psychology , Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, e-mental health, cyber-psychology, and child, adolescent and family mental health
Held as part of Sydney Ideas Health Forums series on 2 August, 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/health_forums_2017.shtml
Experts in law, security, and international relations consider why have cultural, religious, and national issues reappeared in the new international order.
Speakers: - Professor James Der Derian, Centre for International Security Studies, the University of Sydney - Professor Christian Reus-Smit, Professor of International Relations at the University of Queensland - Professor Anne Orford, Laureate Program in International Law at the University of Melbourne - Professor Glenda Sluga, ARC Laureate Fellow and Professor of International History, the University of Sydney
This panel was held as part of The Thinker’s Guide to the 21st Century series on 2 August, 2017. http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/thinkers_guide_21st_century_2017.shtml
A multi-award Iraqi film director, producer and civil activist in in conversation with Dr Lucia Sorbera from the Department of Arabic Language and Cultures on social power of cinema.
How did Jane Austen, a no-name author in her own day, become an international literary icon? It started long before Colin Firth’s wet-white-shirt Darcy. Devoney Looser will introduce you to some of the unsung innovators who first turned ‘Miss Austen’ into a household name, from artists and activists to actors and audiences, looking at how they made and remade her image before popular audiences.
July 2017 marks the 200th anniversary of Austen’s death. This talk celebrates Austen’s life and writings and makes sense of how her characters and stories have come to be imprinted on each new generation of readers.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER Professor Devoney Looser is Professor of English at Arizona State University, writes on literature by women. Her most recent book, The Making of Jane Austen (2017) was named a Publishers Weekly Best Summer Book. Fun fact: Devoney has also played roller derby under the nom de guerre Stone Cold Jane Austen.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 20 July 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_devoney_looser.shtml
This forum explores the shifts in assumptions, mindsets and ways of thinking that are required to achieve gender equality and how symbols, such as portraits may assist.
The topics are discussed by Professor Emerita Margaret Harris, Dr Ann Stephen, Dr Scott Hill and the artist Celeste Chandler.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 19 July, 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/portraits_and_place_forum.shtml
Millennials, those born in the final decades of the twentieth century, have come of age in an unsettled world – one that offers few clear or established pathways to a secure future. But what exactly are they up against, and how are they responding to the societies they've grown into?
Griffith Review 56 writers Natalie O'Brien, Frances Flanagan, Michael Newton, and Adam Peaston join assistant editor Jerath Head to explore work, labour and economics in the twenty-first century.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 12 July 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/GR56_millennials_strike_back_forum.shtml
Our culture is our identity. It is multiple expressions of plural identities. Nobody owns it. We share it with each other. More…or less. The stories that resonate, the luminous moments, are our inheritance from the past and our bequest to future generations.
The endeavour for the storyteller is to illuminate experience. For the executive like me, the endeavour is to enable the storyteller.
Dr Ruth Harley explores my experience as a CEO in the screen sector on both sides of the Tasman in terms identity, shared experience, diverse perspectives, the role and practice of government as an enabler and the essential humanity of our endeavour.
She concludes with some personal perspectives of the opportunities and challenges for the screen industry and how they might play out in New Zealand and Australia in the global screen industry.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 7 July 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/dr_ruth_harley.shtml
Fusion power is one of a very few sustainable options to replace fossil fuels as the world's primary energy source. Although the conditions for fusion have been reached, much remains to be done to turn scientific success into commercial electrical power. Fusion has progressed from the insight of Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington in 1920 and Fermi's speculations in 1946 to the threshold of fusion burn at JET at Culham and soon in the international experiment ITER.
The challenge of providing carbon free energy for the whole world is greater than ever. We need fusion.
In this Sydney Ideas lecture, Professor Steven Cowley, theoretical physicist and international authority on nuclear fusion and astrophysical plasmas, and President of Corpus Christi College Oxford examines two key questions: What scientific questions must be resolved and how can we hasten the first fusion electricity?
A phenomenal mathematician, Hanna Neumann achieved her success in the face of the Nazis, an imprisoned husband, and entrenched misogyny. She arrived in Australia in 1963 to take academic positions at the Australian National University, and was made chair of pure mathematics in 1964, making her the first female Professor of Mathematics in Australia. Her most widely known work 'Varieties of Groups' was published in 1967.
Dr Peter Neumann OBE describes the life of his mother, Hanna Neumann, and her long and distinguished career as a female mathematician in the early part of the 20th century.
The civil war in Syria has entered its seventh year. With death toll estimates ranging from 220,000 to 400,000 casualties and more than 11 million civilians internally displaced or seeking refuge abroad, it has been described as the world’s deadliest conflict of recent times. In this forum, a panel of experts will explore political, cultural and humanitarian dimensions of the Syrian tragedy.
The panel focuses on questions relating to allegations of genocide, the use of archaeological and historical monuments as ‘weapons of war’, and the causes and consequences of failures to prevent atrocity crimes in Syria and elsewhere. The discussion also considers the limitations of our capacity for empathy towards ‘distant others’ and the implications for effective action towards peace and human rights.
SPEAKERS - Dr Ross Burns has published two books on the history and monuments of Syria Monuments of Syria (2009); and Damascus; A History (2005). - German born Syrian-American composer and pianist Malek Jandali has spoken at Harvard, Duke and the UN headquarters in New York City. He is the founder of Pianos for Peace, a non-profit which aims to build peace through music and education. - Dr Eyal Mayroz is a Lecturer in the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney. His research interests include Genocide Studies, Counter-terrorism, Human Rights and Middle East Politics. Forum moderated by Wendy Lambourne, Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 27 June: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/war_syria_destruction_culture_human_rights_forum.shtml
What is the impact of Hillary Clinton's loss and will it discourage or motivate women to become more politically engaged?
In conversation with Geraldine Doogue, current host of ABC Radio National’s Saturday Extra, Anna Greenberg who has over 15 years of experience polling in the political, non-profit and academic sectors, charts a way forward for women in politics in both the United States and Australia.
A Sydney Ideas and US Studies Centre event at the University of Sydney on 21 June 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/women_politics_anna_greenberg.shtml
What does it mean to urbanise? Are industrialisation and urbanisation two aspects of the same process? How do villages have a chance to thrive if a state is determined to urbanise the country?
Drawing on cases in the peri-urban area of the Pearl River Delta, this talk by Professor Luigi Tomba, Director of the China Studies Centre, The University of Sydney, discusses aspects of China’s rapid urbanisation. It will explore strategies that village collectives have put in place to defend their economic, social and cultural autonomy in the face of the desire of the state to both claim control of ever greater portions of the country’s collective land, and to urbanise as much as possible of the population.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 20 June, 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_luigi_tomba.shtml
Belkis Wille is senior Iraq researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division, Human Rights Watch.
She discusses the worsening situation for civilians in Mosul, the prospects of justice for victims of ISIS abuses, the prospects for reconciliation in Iraq, and why the international community including Australia should do more to ensure respect for human rights in Iraq.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 15 June 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/belkis_wille.shtml
Professor Yolanda Moses, Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Cultural Competence, National Centre for Cultural Competence.
Based on an article ‘Confronting the Trump Effect on Our Campuses’, recently published in Inside Higher Education, Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Cultural Competence, Professor Yolanda Moses will discuss institutional commitments to diversity, social justice and inclusion in today’s current political climate. She will make the case that an “America first “policy clashes with the core values of contemporary higher education in the U.S., and suggest some strategies and practices to resist the proposed “closing of the American mind.”
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 9 June 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_yolanda_moses.shtml
The challenges that face schools are not simple but there are local, national and international models that may provide some pathways to changing school learning and teaching practices, leadership and governance.
This panel considers how schools and schooling can benefit from new models and approaches to learning. They draw on international experience, emergent models (such as the 4Cs) and discuss the role of technology in enabling and potentially impeding learning.
Speakers: Professor Michael Anderson, School of Education and Social Work; Mrs Robyn Evans principal, Casula Public School; Dr Miranda Jefferson , Teaching Educator, Catholic Education Office Parramatta; Mr Greg Whitby, Executive Director of Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta; Dr Phil Lambert PSM (panel chair.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 8 June 2017. http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/ESW_deans_lecture_series.shtml
Carlos Ghosn, one of the world’s most influential business leaders and was the first executive to run two Fortune Global 500 companies simultaneously, discusses the future of the automotive industry, the importance of innovation in business, and what it takes to be a truly global leader.
Mr Ghosn has been the industry's leading advocate for sustainable transportation; Renault and Nissan were the first automakers to launch a range of affordable zero-emission vehicles. He is also leading the Alliance’s pioneering effort to develop autonomous-drive and connected-car technologies and services.
Presented by the Australian Lebanese Foundation in partnership with the University of Sydney Business School and Sydney Ideas
This event was held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 8 June 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/carlos_ghosn.shtml
We think we know civil war when we see it. Yet ideas of what it is, and what it isn’t, have a long and contested history, from its fraught origins in republican Rome to debates in early modern Europe to our present day. Defining the term is acutely political, for ideas about what makes a war “civil” often depend on whether one is a ruler or a rebel, victor or vanquished, sufferer or outsider. Calling a conflict a civil war can shape its outcome by determining whether outside powers choose to get involved or stand aside: from the American Revolution to the war in Iraq, pivotal decisions have depended on such shifts of perspective.
A panel of historians, lawyers and philosophers respond to David Armitage’s book 'Civil Wars: A History in Ideas', in which he offers a unique perspective on the roots and dynamics of civil war, and on its shaping force in our conflict-ridden world.
Speakers: Professor David Armitage, Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History, Harvard University; Associate Professor Maartje Abbenhuis, History, University of Auckland; Dr Eleanor Cowan, Lecturer in Roman History, University of Sydney; Professor Andrew Fitzmaurice, Professor of History, University of Sydney; Professor Duncan Ivison, Professor of Political Philosophy and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) University of Sydney; Professor Ben Saul, Challis Chair of International Law, Sydney Law School
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 5 June 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_david_armitage.shtml
What’s wrong with our kidneys? And what we are doing about it at the University of Sydney.
Professor Steve Chadban reviews the state of the nation in terms of kidney health and discusses the spectrum of kidney disease in the Australian population. He then turns to the lab to explore potential solutions for key problems in kidney health.
From the lab he next moves to the clinic to examine the impact of specific interventions for people with kidney disease. Finally he returns to the population level to observe the impact of treatments for kidney disease on outcomes.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 31 May 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/21st_century_medicine_2017.shtml
In the last 50 years museums have slowly changed from exhibitions ‘about’ Indigenous peoples to exhibitions by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander curators.
As the University of Sydney embarks on the building of the new Chau Chak Wing Museum, we consider what are the next steps and continue to question how exhibitions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections can engage all visitors meaningfully.
Speakers:
Sharni Jones, Manager of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections at the Australian Museum
Stephen Gilchrist, Associate Lecturer Department of Art History, University of Sydney
Rodney Kelly, Gweagal activist for the repatriation of ancestral collections to Aboriginal ownership
Amanda Reynolds, Stella Stories artist, curator, cultural consultant and editor
Matt Poll, (panel chair) Assistant Curator, Indigenous Heritage, Macleay Museum, Sydney University Museums
A 2017 Reconciliation Week at the University of Sydney event, co-presented with the Macleay Museum. Held on 31 May 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/reconciliation_week_arts_aboriginal_australia_forum.shtml
A Sydney Writers’ Festival event presented with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
Susan Faludi is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of the bestselling Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man, and The Terror Dream: Myth and Misogyny in an Insecure America, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism. Her most recent book, In the Darkroom, won the 2016 Kirkus Prize for Non-Fiction and was named one of the top ten best books of the year by The New York Times. Faludi's work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Harper’s, and many other publications.
For this special Sydney Ideas event, Susan Faludi is in conversation with the University of Sydney student Anna Hush.
Anna Hush is an Honours student in Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. She has been a vocal advocate for institutional change for student safety and has campaigned against sexual assault and harassment with the Sydney University Women's Collective. Anna is the co-founder and co-director of fEMPOWER, a program of workshops on feminism for high school students.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 25 May, 2017. http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/susan_faludi.shtml
Associate Professor Muireann Irish, School of Psychology and Brain and Mind Centre at the University of Sydney, gives a fascinating overview of her work exploring autobiographical memory and future thinking across various dementia syndromes. She highlights the cognitive mechanisms and neural networks that need to be functional to support these sophisticated cognitive processes and the devastating effects of losing these uniquely human functions.
Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia 2017 Paul Bourke Lecture
A Sydney Ideas event co-presented with the School of Psychology in the Faculty of Science, and the Brain and Mind Centre.
Presented as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 16 May, 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/2017_paul_bourke_lecture_muirann_irish.shtml
The extraordinary growth of the past thirty years is due to unprecedented globalisation and accelerating technological change. Connectivity has been associated with rising creativity and accelerating change. The speed, scale and complexity of this integration has far-reaching implications for business and for individuals and societies.
Professor Ian Goldin (Oxford University Professor of Globalisation and Development) identifies the drivers of global growth, showing why emerging markets are likely to continue to grow at high levels for the coming decades. Rising life expectancy and collapsing fertility around the world has dramatic consequences for pensions, retirement, dependency and employment patterns. Meanwhile, advances in artificial intelligence and robotics is transforming the nature of work and has the potential to replace significant numbers of jobs and widen inequality.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 15 May 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_ian_goldin.shtml
Pain is both personal and global and despite all that we know about its origins and treatments, countless people live with chronic pain.
In this health forum, University of Sydney experts will highlight new treatments and share insights that are changing people’s lives for the better, especially for those experiencing pain linked to chronic diseases such as arthritis, cancer, injuries, and brain disorders.
Held as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 10 May, 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/health_forums_2017.shtml
With an audience of over 180 million viewers each year, the Eurovision Song contest is one of the longest running and most watched television events in the world. Since its inception in 1956 it has been used as a vehicle to unite Europe, but throughout its history Eurovision has also highlighted deep divisions in the European project. With this year’s theme ‘celebrate diversity’, politics threatens to loom larger than ever. Will Brexit mean ‘nul points’ for the United Kingdom? Will tensions between Russia and this year’s host country, the Ukraine, derail the contest? Has Eurovision contributed to the rise of populism? Why exactly is Australia competing?
Anika Gauja and Julia Zemiro take us behind the glitter and glamour to reveal what Eurovision can teach us about identity, power and conflict in Europe today.
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 9 May 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/eurovision_european_project_forum.shtml
From 1799 to 1804 Alexander von Humboldt made an extraordinary trip through Spanish America, a trip that resulted in a scientific and an aesthetic vision of the terrestrial globe. Fascinated by the exuberant vegetation and wildlife he encountered in the tropics, he investigated how they varied with the specific physical conditions of different regions.
Humboldt carried with him an impressive array of the latest scientific instruments that he used to measure the physical parameters of the environments through which he travelled. He also regarded his own body as an instrument through which to register these varying conditions, recording his own sensations alongside the readings of his physical apparatus. These corporeal perceptions were further tied to his aesthetic perceptions as a part of a cultivated sensibility.
Physical instruments, bodily sensations and aesthetic perceptions together afforded total views of regions of the Earth, of the interplay of physical powers and landscapes, and of their characteristic vegetation and even peoples. Upon his return to Europe, Humboldt set out his views of nature in graphs, maps and illustrations as well as in written works. These visual representations can be regarded as figural instruments through which Humboldt depicted his views of nature.
SPEAKER: Joan Steigerwald is Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities, and the Graduate Programs in Humanities, Science and Technology Studies, and Social and Political Thought, at York University. She has published numerous articles on Goethe, Humboldt, Kant, Schelling and the German life sciences. She has just completed a book entitled Experimenting at the Boundaries of Life: Organic Vitality in Germany around 1800. Her new project is Object Lessons of a Romantic Natural History.
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 3 May 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/assoc_professor_joan_steigerwald.shtml
Part of the 21st Century Medicine Lecture Series.
Professor Guy Thwaites, an academic infectious diseases physician and clinical microbiologist, whose research interests focus on severe bacterial infections, including meningitis and Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection, and tuberculosis, gives lecture on antimicrobial resistance and the misuse of antimicrobials.
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 3 May 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/21st_century_medicine_2017.shtml
Early in her life Chido Govera realised the importance of food to community. Mushroom farming enabled her not only to feed her family in Zimbabwe and attain independence, but to create a healthier environment through managing food waste. For many years Chido has shared her unique skills and experiences with women throughout Africa and globally as an educator and mentor.
Chido joins Sydney Ideas for a conversation with University of Sydney researcher Alana Mann to discuss how engagement in small scale agro-ecological methods of farming can empower women, benefit the environment, and contribute to food sovereignty and food security.
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 2 May 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/food@sydney_series_2017.shtml
A special presentation by leading human right scholars, Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs, President of the Australian Human Rights Commission and Professor Samina Yasmeen, University of Western Australia, with Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh, Deakin University
They discuss the topic of human rights today in the face of rising Islamophobia for the launch of the Australian Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies (AAIMS),an inter-disciplinary network of scholars at Australian universities.
Hosted by Assoc Professor Lily Rahim, University of Sydney
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 28 April 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/human_rights_rise_of_islamophobia_AIMMS_launch.shtml
Uncertainty, like insecurity, is as much a subjective state of mind as it is an objective condition of reality, raising new and troubling questions for those trying to assess its global impact. Are uncertainty, volatility and precarity actually on the rise? Do repeated efforts to measure, record and represent uncertainty only amplify the condition? Is uncertainty the result of a single person or state, or more of a global trend in politics and the media? Who benefits from and who is harmed by the spread of uncertainty?
A diverse group of leading international security scholars address the topic from their own unique perspectives and research areas.
- Professor Rita Abrahamsen, University of Ottawa
- Professor Thomas Biersteker, Graduate Institute of Geneva
- Professor Lene Hansen, University of Copenhagem
- Professor Michael Williams, University of Ottawa
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 27 April 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/CISS_global_forum_2017.shtml
From building walls, to stopping boats, to attempts to ‘trade’ refugees between countries, we are witnessing unprecedented efforts by national governments to externalise their borders, absolving rich countries of their international obligations, and often shifting the burden to poorer countries.
Our panel will examine the current policies of the United States and Australia and offer observations about the implications of such policies – for those who cannot move, for those who remain unprotected, and for those who try to respond.
The panel will be preceded by a photography exhibition featuring the work of Syrians living the ‘Trapped In/Pushed Out’ experience, curated by Maher Jamous, a Syrian producer and filmmaker who fled Syria in 2012.
SPEAKERS: - Professor David FitzGerald, Professor of Sociology, University of California San Diego - Graham Thom, Refugee Coordinator, Amnesty International - Michelle Peterie, PhD candidate (Sociology), University of Sydney - Behrouz Boochani, journalist, currently in detention on Manus Island - Dr Omid Tofighian, Senior Project Officer, National Centre for Cultural Competence, University of Sydney
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 12 April 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/border_politics_US_Australia_forum.shtml
On September 14, 2015, scientists from the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration observed the collision and fusion of the two black holes by directly measuring their gravitational waves. This detection came 100 years after Einstein developed the general theory of relativity that predicted gravitational waves, and 50 years after scientists began searching for them.
This discovery has truly profound implications, and opens a new window on the cosmos. Gravitational waves provide unique information on the most energetic astrophysical events, revealing insights into the nature of gravity, matter, space, and time. David Reitze talks about how they made the detection and discusses how gravitational astronomy promises to change our understanding of the universe.
SPEAKER: David Reitze, Executive Director of the LIGO Laboratory at the Caltech and a Professor of Physics at the University of Florida
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 11 April 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/david_reitze.shtml
North Korea has survived the end of the Cold War, massive famine, numerous regional crises, punishing sanctions, and international stigma. Why is it still here? In this talk, Associate Professor Justin Hastings, of the University of Sydney, explores the puzzle of how the most politically isolated state in the world nonetheless sustains itself in large part by international trade and integration into the global economy.
SPEAKER: Justin Hastings, Associate Professor in International Relations and Comparative Politics at the University of Sydney
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 10 April 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/assoc_professor_justin_hastings.shtml
Sydneysiders have just sweltered through the hottest summer on record. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the mean summer temperature in the city was about three degrees above average.
As Sydney’s population expands in the next few decades, how can we protect and promote health in this changing climate? What are the options for managing the heat, and how will this influence the choices we make in the future?
PANELLISTS: - Dr Tony Capon, Professor of Planetary Health, Sydney School of Public Health, Researcher of Climate Adaptation & Health Project Node, Charles Perkins Centre - Dr Adrienne Keane, Director, Master of Urbanism, Urban Planning and Policy, Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning - Dr Ollie Jay, Thermoregulatory Physiologist and Director of Thermal Ergonomics Laboratory, Faculty of Health Sciences; Lead Researcher of Climate Adaptation & Health Project Node, Charles Perkins Centre - Dr Jennifer Mae Hamilton, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Gender and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 6 April 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/hot_in_the_city.shtml
Professor George Sugai is a world leader in positive behaviour support (PBS), a behaviour management system used to understand what maintains an individual's challenging behaviour, and establishing goals for change. For this presentation he outlines how PBS is just one part of prevention-based multi-tiered systems approach that can be used to support the academic and social behavioural goals of schools.
SPEAKER: Professor George Sugai, Center for Behavioral Education and Research Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut.
Presented by Sydney Ideas for the University of Sydney School of Education and Social Work Dean's lecture series on 4 April 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/ESW_deans_lecture_series.shtml
What has happened to the bipartisan consensus on the importance of protecting public health and the environment with environmental law in the United States? P Robert L Glicksman from the George Washington University Law School, updates us on what is happening in the US.
SPEAKER: Professor Robert L Glicksman is the J B & Maurice C Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law at the George Washington University Law School, is an authority on environmental, natural resources, and administrative law.
Presented by Sydney Ideas and the Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law, Sydney Law School at the University of Sydney, on 4 April 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_robert_glicksman.shtml
Dr Duncan Green of Oxfam joins Sydney Ideas to share the ideas in his latest book How Change Happens, exploring the topic of social and political change from the perspective of international development.
SPEAKER: Dr Duncan Green is Oxfam Great Britain’s Senior Strategic Adviser. He teaches on international development at the London School of Economics, where he is a Professor in Practice. His blog is one of the most widely read on international development, From Poverty to Power blog (http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/).
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 3 April 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/duncan_green.shtml
Corruption in the post-Tiananmen era exhibits distinct characteristics not found in the 1980s, such as astronomical sums of money looted by officials, their family members, and their cronies in the private sector, large networks of co-conspirators, and the sale of public office.
By examining the evolution of Chinese economic and political institutions since the early 1990s, we can trace the emergence of crony capitalism to two critical changes in the control of property rights of the assets owned by the state and the personnel management of the officials the ruling Communist Party.
The insights from a sample of 260 prosecuted cases of corruption involving multiple officials and businessmen suggest that crony capitalism in China has evolved into a decentralised kleptocracy with its own market rules and dynamics.
SPEAKER: Professor Minxin Pei, Claremont McKenna College, US
Presented by Sydney Ideas and the China Studies Centre on 29 Mar 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_minxin_pei.shtml
The Dawkins reforms to higher education in the late 1980s roused passions at many universities across the nation, over fears for the academic enterprise and Australia’s system of free, public university education. What was the impact of the Dawkins reforms, particularly at the University of Sydney?
SPEAKERS:
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Emeritus Professor Deryck Schreuder, 4th Challis Professor of History at The University of Sydney during the era of the Dawkins White Paper, and then Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Macquarie University, Vice-Chancellor of UWS and a Member of the new Australian Research Council, during its implementation. He was later Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia, President of the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee and Chair of the ‘Australian Universities Quality Agency’. He is now an Emeritus Professor and writes about history and higher education.
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Julia Horne was a PhD student during the implementation of the Dawkins reforms. She is now Associate Professor of History and University Historian at the University of Sydney, and writes on Australian cultural and social history, and the history of higher education.
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Stephen Garton was a newly-appointed lecturer in History at the University of Sydney when Dawkins announced his reforms. He is now Professor of History and Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sydney.
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 29 Mar 2017 : http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/preserving_past_dawkins_forum.shtml
Professor Pavel Pevzner from the University of California, San Diego, shares the concerns about the quality of early, primitive MOOCs, which have been hyped by many as a cure-all for education. At the same time, he believes that much of the criticism of MOOCs stems from the fact that truly disruptive educational resources have not been developed yet. He proposes to transform MOOCs into a more efficient educational product called a Massive Adaptive Interactive Text (MAIT) that can prevent individual learning breakdowns and even outperform a professor in a classroom.
For this special Sydney Ideas event, Pevzner argues that computer science is a unique discipline where this transition is about to happen and describes the first steps towards transforming a MOOC into a MAIT that has already outperformed teachers.
Introduction by Associate Professor Uri Keich, School of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney.
A Sydney Ideas event on 23 March 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_pavel_pevzner.shtml
A Sydney Ideas conversation co-presented with the Sydney School of Entrepreneurship
A serial entrepreneur, Ryan Holmes started his first business in high school, ultimately opening a string of ventures - from a pizza restaurant to a digital media agency – before starting Hootsuite in 2008. As founder and CEO, he has helped grow Hootsuite into the world’s most widely used social relationship platform, with 15-million-plus users, including more than 800 of the Fortune 1000 companies.
Ryan Holmes is in discussion with Nick Kaye, Chief Executive Officer, Sydney School of Entrepreneurship.
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 23 March 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/ryan_holmes.shtml
As Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network from 2008 to 2011, Wadah Khanfar was in a unique position to observe war, uprisings and revolution in one of the most turbulent regions in the world, the Middle East.
He is now President of Al Sharq Forum, an independent think-tank dedicated to developing long-term strategies for political development, social justice and economic prosperity of the people of the Middle East.
Wadah Khanfar joins Sydney Ideas for a conversation about the rapidly evolving nature of our news consumption, its relationship to the complex world of political strategy and diplomacy in the Middle East and North Africa, and the complexities of identity and representation in this situation.
Response by Zainab Jasim, PhD student at the University of Sydney, researching aspects of Al-Jazeera's coverage of the Arab Spring. Co-presented by the Department of Arabic Language and Cultures and the National Centre for Cultural Competence at the University of Sydney
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 16 March 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/wadah_khanfar.shtml
Professor Stuart Kauffman is one of the most distinguished scholars of complexity and the author of several acclaimed books, including The Origins of Order: Self Organization and Selection in Evolution (1993), At Home in the Universe: The Search for Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity (1995), and Humanity in a Creative Universe (2016).
In this Sydney Ideas talk, he proposes that the ever-changing phase space of evolution means we can write no laws of motion for evolution, and it is thus not reducible to physics. The evolving biosphere is the most complex system we know in the universe.
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 1 March 2017. See the webpage for more about this lecture and to access the lecture slides: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_stuart_kauffman.shtml
A panel presents fresh perspectives on museums approaches to human rights and the Holocaust, exploring and explicating contemporary international debates.
Experts from various disciplinary backgrounds alongside museum practitioners analyse, challenge, and critically assess existing approaches, while considering possible future directions for these increasingly influential institutions.
For while human rights museums with a Holocaust core or theme proliferate internationally, this burgeoning area of museology has not yet been subject to systematic scholarly study. By comparing and contrasting the unique combination of advocacy (human rights) with memory (the Holocaust), the ARC Linkage project Reverberations: The Holocaust, Human Rights and the Museum is setting the agenda for theory, practice, and policy with regard to human rights and Holocaust museums in the 21st century.
Chaired by Dr Avril Alba, a Senior Lecturer in Holocaust Studies and Jewish Civilisation, and Director (Acting) of the Museums and Heritage Program, University of Sydney.
SPEAKERS: - Associate Professor Jennifer Barrett publishes on museums, culture, art, and the public sphere. - Ms Tali Nates, Founder and Director of the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre, South Africa. - Associate Professor Adam Muller, Department of English, Film, and Theatre at the University of Manitoba, studies the representation of genocide, atrocity and mass violence. - Professor Jennifer Carter, Director of the graduate museology programs at the Université du Québec à Montréal, where she is also professor of new museologies, intangible heritage and cultural objects in the Department of Art History.
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 28 Feb 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/reverberations_holocaust_humanrights_museums_forum.shtml
How do theatre plays, such as The Trouble with Harry contribute to advancing contemporary transgender issues?
A post-performance Q&A co-presented with the Seymour Centre as part of the 2017 Mardi Gras.
The playwright Lachlan Philpott is joined by the University of Sydney PhD candidate Rillark Bolton whose research explores the experiences of identity formation and community creation for trans masculine individuals, and Dr Anna Hickey-Moody, Associate Professor in Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney. Together they discuss the history of transgender (the term that did not yet exist in the time of Harry Crawford), the politics of the play and the role of the performing arts in shaping contemporary thought and opinion on trans issues.
The discussion is chaired by Charles O'Grady.
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 23 February 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/transgender_forum.shtml
International insights on achieving affordability with quality density.
Real estate development expert Professor Richard Peiser at Harvard University and guests of the Cities Leadership Institute at the University of Sydney, spoke on how to achieve quality, affordable housing drawing on case studies and strategies from the United States. They discussed ways that we can better finance loans for key workers in affordable housing, new tenure strategies, and trends in commercial and residential real estate. Professor Peiser also suggests how we can better integrate jobs and transport into the delivery process of and international best practices of density and accessibility.
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 23 Feb 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_richard_peiser.shtml
Efforts to reconcile theories and practices of democracy with environmental sustainability have long been central to environmental political thought.
Since this first wave of scholarship on ecological democracy, there have been numerous crucial developments that pose a range of challenges. On the environmental side, we have seen the acceleration of climate change, arguments for setting planetary boundaries around humanity’s environmental impacts, and widespread acknowledgement that the Earth has entered a new epoch: the Anthropocene. On the political side, we have had the growth of environmental and climate justice movements, the proliferation of institutions for global environmental governance, and the anti-environmental and post-truth era.
This panel of distinguished contributors to the ecological democracy debate will examine what theories of ecological democracy have offered, and, looking forward, how (or if) they might respond to the current set of ecological, and democratic, challenges.
SPEAKERS: - Professor Robyn Eckersley, Professor in Political Science in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. - John Dryzek, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and Centenary Professor in the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 20 Feb 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/ecological_democracy.shtml
(Please note that we had to take the section with Professor Karin Bäckstrand out due to technical difficulties)
Contemporary governments frame surveillance and secrecy as evils necessary to ensure our security. Individual privacy has been trumped by the need for covert behaviour on the part of states and corporations who collect and store our personal metadata and monitor our activities via new technologies without our knowledge or consent.
We ask: how does the gathering and suppression of information subvert our right to know and preclude the media from exposing wrongdoing and holding officials accountable? What are the existing accountability mechanisms, and what are the challenges current surveillance measures pose to these?
Panellists: - Ian Shaw, political geographer at the University of Glasgow, UK - Felicity Ruby, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney - Peter Fray, professor of journalism practice at the University of Technology Sydney, the founder of the fact-checking website PolitiFact Australia and the former editor-in-chief or editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, the Canberra Times, the Sun-Herald and the Sunday Age.
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 16 Feb 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/drones_lies_privacy_forum.shtml
In 2010 environmentalist David de Rothschild sailed from San Francisco to Sydney in 'The Plastiki' , a unique 18.3-metre catamaran made from approximately 12,500 reclaimed plastic soft drink bottles, sails of recycled PET, and masts made from aluminium irrigation piping and consist of 98 per cent post-consumer billet.
In his talk for Sydney Ideas, with inventor, educator and adjudicator Sally Dominguez, David de Rothschild explained the technology used on board and revealed what he and crew learnt on their four-month journey about plastic in our oceans.
A Sydney Ideas event on 29 July, 2010 For more information http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2010/david_de_rothschild.shtml
With the election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States, it now seems climate change denial has reached into the most powerful political office in the world. In this special Sydney Ideas public lecture, world-renowned climate scientist Professor Michael Mann provides a somewhat light-hearted take on a very serious issue - the threat of human-caused climate change and what to do about it. Based on his recent collaboration with Washington Post editorial cartoonist Tom Toles, Professor Mann reviews the scientific evidence of climate change, the reasons we should care, and the often absurd efforts by special interests and partisan political figures to confuse the public and attack the science. Despite the monumental nature of the challenge this poses to human civilization, and the seeming inability of political leadership to respond to the climate crisis, Professor Mann highlights ways forward in mitigating future harm and reasons for cautious optimism.
SPEAKER: Professor Michael E Mann, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Pennsylvania State University
Presented by Sydney Ideas and the Sydney Environment Institute at the University of Sydney on 8 February 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/michael_mann.shtml
Since the smashing of labour’s collective bargaining power under neoliberalism, how is the transition to a postcapitalist society to be enacted?
Are we currently witnessing the zombie state of neoliberalism in its death throes? What is the role of technology and automation, as well as human agency, in shaping the future? These issues and more animate Paul Mason’s talk.
SPEAKER: Paul Mason, journalist and broadcaster
A Sydney Ideas talk presented by the Department of Political Economy in the School of Social and Political Sciences (SSPS), and the Greens Political Education Trust
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 6 Feb 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/paul_mason.shtml
Cancer and neurologial diseases are among the top 5 causes of death in Australia. However, there is some good news in this battle against these as new big data technologies now allow scientists to measure nearly every aspect of a cancerous tumor and take real-time scans of the active human brain. This big data may hold the key to understanding causes and possible cures for cancer as well as understanding the complexities of the human brain. Genevera Allen highlights how exactly is data science transforming medical research. Specifically, she demonstrates how networks can be used to visualize and mine big biomedical data, from genetic networks that have led to the discovery of new drug targets for cancer to brain networks that show how the brain communicates and how these communications are disrupted in neurological diseases.
SPEAKER: Assistant Professor Genevera Allen, Statistics and Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, USA
For the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) Summer School. Presented by Sydney Ideas on 31 Jan 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/assistant_professor_genevera_allen.shtml
False memories, like true ones, have consequences for people, affecting later thoughts, intentions, and behaviours. Once planted, the false memories look very much like true memories – in terms of behavioural characteristics, emotionality and neural signatures. If false memories can be so readily planted in the mind, do we need to think about ‘regulating’ this mind technology? And what do these pseudomemories say about the nature of memory itself?
SPEAKER: Professor Elizabeth Loftus, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Social Behavior, Professor of Law, School of Law, University of California
Presented by Sydney Ideas on 3 Jan 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_elizabeth_loftus.shtml
The recent review of the national Australian Curriculum has recommended reducing arts learning in our schools. Many in the sector see the recommendations as a direct challenge to decades of research and teaching that demonstrates that students who engage in an active, demanding, high-quality arts education are more likely to excel in their academic and non-academic lives.
Sydney Ideas presents a robust forum that discusses the place of arts in our schools in response to this review. It draws on recent University of Sydney research and international research that demands that all young people everywhere must have access to a strong and sustained arts education.
PANEL Michael Anderson (panel chair), Faculty of Education and Social Work Tom Alegounarias, President of the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW (BOSTES) Rob Carlton, a Silver Logie winning actor Andrea Connell, the Principal of Sydney Girls High School Robyn Ewing, Professor of Teacher Education Faculty of Education and Social Work Professor Julianne Schultz, founding editor of Griffith REVIEW Tamara Winikoff, Executive Director, at the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)
A Sydney Ideas event on 11 November 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/arts_as_learning_forum.shtml
How might philosophical research into apparently non-practical matters be of general relevance to the community? What benefits might tax-payers expect to flow from public support of philosophical research? In the light of comments made in last year’s federal election campaign about research funding for philosophy projects, a panel of philosophers address different aspects of these pressing questions.
Panel Professor Richard Eldrige, Swarthmore College USA Professor Paul Redding, University of Sydney Dr Dalia Nassar, University of Sydney
A Sydney Ideas event on 25 March 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/philosophy_in_the_age_of_democracy.shtml
Sugar Sweetened Schools: a supply chain to childhood obesity?
With rates of childhood and adult obesity at all time highs, it’s time to reconsider the delivery of nutrition to children, but where should we start?
Establishing a healthy lifestyle from a young age is essential for our children’s optimal physical and mental development. A school environment can provide a platform for learning the skills for healthy living, yet our schools are possibly doing more harm than good when it comes to combating childhood obesity.
During this talk Dr Kieron Rooney explored the current guidelines for the delivery of healthy foods in NSW schools and identified weaknesses in the implementation of those guidelines, and finally proposed some potential steps forward.
Kieron was joined on the night by Ms Jo Gardner, CEO of the Healthy Kids Association.
A Sydney Ideas event on 26 March 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/dr_kieron_rooney.shtml
What lessons should we draw from the First World War?
Professor Glenda Sluga discusses the war's legacies from the perspective of its end, and the twinned principles on which a new postwar international order was to be established – namely nationality and the League of Nations. Her aim is to understand the relative significance of nationalism and of what contemporaries articulated as a 'new era of internationalism' in the last years of the war and in its wake.
A Sydney Ideas event on 28 March 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_glenda_sluga.shtml
UNESCO’s 1972 Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage is the only international instrument for safeguarding the world’s heritage. Professor Lynn Meskell, Director of the Stanford Archaeology Center, examines how emergent rights to the past are now being presented, promoted and prevented by select groups.
A Sydney Ideas event on 7 May 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_lynn_meskell.shtml
Find out how leading researchers are making a contribution to our understanding of creativity, while at the same time inspiring the next generation through their teaching.
If the transformative potential of creativity in the education process is now acknowledged, how are our trainee teachers taught to teach creativity themselves? What are the realities of implementing creative practices in the classroom, and what is the latest research telling us about what teaching methods work and why?
A panel of researchers and practitioners from a range of art disciplines explore how they teach creativity to their students and give practical examples of what works when they get into the classroom.
Panel Dr Julie Dunn, Associate Professor and member of Griffith University's Applied Theatre team Kelly Freebody, Robyn Ewing and Michael Anderson , Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney Dr Miranda Jefferson, Teaching Educator in challenging pedagogy with the Catholic Education Office Parramatta Diocese.
A Sydney Ideas with Vivid Sydney on 3 June 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/creativity_teaching_the_teachers_2014.shtml
Why was the invention of the idea of 'global justice' in the 1970s, a sharp break from the theory of the social contract?
Leading human rights scholar, Professor Samuel Moyn from Columbia University, traces the origins of the philosophy of global justice and examines where it stands now. Are the very principles the new philosophy global justice proclaims, further from reality than ever?
A Sydney Ideas event on 22 July 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_samuel_moyn.shtml
Young people aged 12–25 are the highest at-risk group for experiencing mental health problems. They are also the group most likely to look for help and support online. Using the internet for social networking is their haven – but is it safe, reliable and helpful? Andrew Campbell from the Faculty of Health Sciences and Tracy Adams from Boystown discuss the issue.
A Sydney Ideas event on 10 September 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/andrew_campbell.shtml
Have you ever bought a pain reliever that ‘targets’ specific pain? Can pain relievers really target a part of the body? Are ‘natural’ medicines or supplements always better or safer than prescription drugs?
Turns out, a lot of what we “know” about over-the-counter or prescription medicines isn’t true – and in a world where drugs have the capacity to heal or harm us, separating fact from fiction can be life-saving.
Professor Andrew McLachlan, a pharmacist and noted researcher with a special interest in the appropriate use of medicines, addresses several important and widely-believed myths about medications.
A Sydney Ideas event on 14 October 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_andrew_mclachlan.shtml
Professor Sharon Kilbreath and Ms Sally Crossing have a lot of things in common, but perhaps the most striking is their refusal to accept the status quo. When both women were diagnosed with breast cancer over 15 years ago, they discovered a significant gap in the knowledge and understanding of life after surgery and a lack of a united voice for cancer patients. This spurred them on to become leaders in their respective fields of research and consumer advocacy.
In this talk Professor Kilbreath will present her latest research findings which challenge current treatment practices and beliefs around breast cancer rehabilitation. She will particularly focus on lymphoedema, the painful chronic swelling of the arm or chest which can occur post-surgery. Ms Crossing will discuss her own personal journey, and her passion for influencing the influencers to make a difference for people affected by cancer. She will also reflect on the anniversary of 20 years of the cancer consumer advocacy movement in Australia.
Professor Sharon Kilbreath is a Professor of Physiotherapy in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney and a National Breast Cancer Foundation Research Fellow.
Sally Crossing AM is living well with advanced breast cancer, having been first diagnosed in 1995. She founded and chaired the Breast Cancer Action Group from 1997, and Cancer Voices, the generic voice of people affected by cancer, from 2000.
A Sydney Ideas and Faculty of Health Sciences event on 19 November 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_sharon_kilbreath.shtml
How will a changing climate affect global food production and global hunger? What do we know and what needs to be done?
In March 2014, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change released the 5th Assessment Report of Working Group II, responsible for considering human adaptation to climate change. The Report presented a sobering, state-of-the-art assessment of how forecasts of climate change might affect global food systems. This is a complex area for future-gazing. Key assumptions about the interactions between climate change, agricultural production and the broader food system remain subject to considerable doubt. The panel will address this important set of issues.
PANEL Professor Elspeth Probyn, Professor of Gender & Cultural Studies Associate Professor Bill Pritchard, Associate Professor in Human Geography Dr John Ingram, University of Oxford Debbie Hunt, NSW & ACT State Campaign and Engagement Coordinator for Oxfam Australia
A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute Food@Sydney event http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/food@sydney_series_2014.shtml
At a global level, the people who produce most of the world’s food – smallholder farmers – are also the people who suffer the most food and nutrition insecurity. Why is this so? And what needs to happen to make smallholder agriculture more nutrition-sensitive? In this seminar, three University of Sydney experts from different areas – public health, veterinary science and human geography – review the problem of food and nutrition insecurity among smallholder communities of the developing world.
PANEL Dr Alana Mann (panel chair), a senior lecturer in the Department of Media and Communications; Associate Professor Robyn Alders, Faculty of Veterinary Science and the Charles Perkins Centre and a Director of the KYEEMA Foundation; Fyfe Strachan, Food Justice Program Coordinator at Oxfam Australia.
A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute Food@Sydney event http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/food@sydney_series_2014.shtml
Why Don’t we Eat Enough Fruit and Vegetables?
This seminar will address the question of why Australians are eating too few fruits and vegetables. National and State governments and NGOs have invested in health promotion programs to increase fruit and vegetable intake over the past couple of decades. However, the most recent national survey shows about half of the Australian population eats their 2 serves of fruit daily but vegetable consumption of 5 serves per day is met by less than 10%.
PANEL Dr Brian Jones, Faculty of Agriculture and the Environment Associate Professor Margaret Allman-Farinelli, School of Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science Associate Professor Robyn McConchie, Head of Department, Plant and Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment
A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute Food@Sydney event http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/food@sydney_series_2014.shtml
Too much of the world’s food goes to waste. Wasted food represents a burden on our scarce environmental resources that we can scarcely afford, and loss of product that could (indeed, should) be made available for those in need. The three panellists presented different and distinctive perspectives on why we should treat this issue with the seriousness it deserves.
PANEL Associate Professor Bill Pritchard (Chair), Human Geographer, School of Geosciences Dr Brian Jones, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment Alexandra Iljadica, Founding director of Youth Food Movement Ronni Kahn, CEO and founder OzHarvest
A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute Food@Sydney event http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/food@sydney_series_2014.shtml
Lives versus Livelihoods? fumigants, farmworkers, and biopolitics in California’s strawberry industry
23 November, 2015
There’s been great debate over the years about pesticide use in the production of our fruit and veggies. California’s lucrative strawberry industry has been a clear example of where there have been regulatory battles over the use of chemical fumigants - two, in particular, methyl iodide and chloropicrin. One side of the argument, from the activists, is that they would harm the body while industry focused on how no pesticide use would affect its trade.
Professor Julie Guthman will discuss these debates and note how farmworkers were notably marginalised. Drawing on her recent research, she will discuss the distinction between lives and livelihood.
Professor Julie Guthman is a geographer and professor of social sciences at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Her publications include two multi-award winning books: Agrarian Dreams: the Paradox of Organic Farming in California, and Weighing In: Obesity, Food Justice, and the Limits of Capitalism.
A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute Food@Sydney event http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/food@sydney_series_2015.shtml
In recent years, we have seen an explosion in the number of community organisations that orient themselves around the production and distribution of food. These food justice groups often focus on improving the availability and quality of food in urban environments, on reducing food waste, and on building local economies. How, though, does the “justice” of food justice manifest itself in practice? How do groups articulate, value and embody social and environmental justice concerns? And how is it that we can best achieve these goals? This event draws together academic and community perspectives on these questions.
Panel David Schlosberg is Professor of Environmental Politics in the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney,
Luke Craven is a PhD student at the University of Sydney and the Sydney Environment Institute.
Sharelle Polack, Community Gardens Team Leader at Cultivating Community
A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute event in the Food@Sydney series http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/food@sydney_series_2015.shtml
Stranded Down Under: Are fossil fuels bankrupting our nation both financially and ecologically?
Numerous industrialised nations are taking to reduce their emissions and shift the world's energy system from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Yet Australia is set to invest over AUD 100 billion in new coal mining developments over the next 15 years. Who is footing the bill for these projects in Australia? All Australians are, through compulsory superannuation schemes that invest in the expansion of the fossil fuel industry.
Ben Caldecott, founder of Oxford University’s Stranded Assets Programme and author of the recent report Stranded Down Under? Environment related factors changing China’s demand for coal and what this means for Australian coal assets, sheds light on the ramifications of Australia’s fossil fuel addiction and how individuals can divest in funding this industry.
Introduction by Dr John Hewson, chair of The Asset Owners Disclosure Project, an independent not-for-profit global organisation whose objective is to protect members' retirement savings from the risks posed by climate change by improving the level of disclosure and industry best practice.
A Sydney Ideas event on 27 March 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/ben_caldecott.shtml
Tom Szaky dropped out of Princeton University to found TerraCycle, a company that started by selling an organic fertiliser for plants made from worm poo in reused soft drink bottles. Today his company collects and recycles over 100 different kinds of products that were considered 'non-recyclable' garbage, in over 24 different countries. TerraCycle has been called the “Google of Garbage” by the New York Times and the “the coolest little start-up in America” by Inc. Magazine. Tom's first book was 'Revolution in a Bottle: How TerraCycle Is Redefining Green Business'. His latest book is 'Outsmart Waste: The Modern Idea of Garbage and How to Think Our Way Out'. For his Sydney Ideas presentation he detailed the research in the book that reveals how by mimicking nature and focusing on the value inherent in our by-products, we can transform the waste we can’t avoid creating from useless trash to a useful resource.
A Sydney Ideas event on 3 March, 2014 http://sydney.edu.au//sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/tom_szaky.shtml
Gabriela Ramos, OECD Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20
In the lead up to the OECD G20 Leaders Summit to be held in Brisbane in November in 2014 we we were delighted to welcome Gabriela Ramos, OECD Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20, to the University of Sydney. In her exclusive presentation for Sydney Ideas she underlined the economic dimension and imperative (beyond the moral and fairness issue) of reducing the gender gap and enhancing the role of women in economies and societies at large.
Introduction by Marian Baird Professor of Employment Relations and Director of the Women and Work Research Group in the University of Sydney Business School. A Sydney Ideas event on 2 October, 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/gabriela_ramos.shtml
An Arts Matters Forum - Why Feminism Matters
Compared with 30 years ago women are now better represented in politics but there is still more to be done. Hillary Clinton and Julia Gillard are examples of women gaining important leadership positions, but not the top job. So how far have women come in terms of political leadership and shaping the public policy agenda? Do men and women do politics differently? Do women have different interests to men and how should these be incorporated into political decision-making? How might contemporary feminism contribute to improving women's position in politics.
This forum included leading international political scientists along with Australian academics and researchers in a robust discussion on the state of contemporary feminism.
Forum Participants:
Rebecca Huntley, writer and social researcher Karen Beckwith, Flora Stone Mather Professor in the Department of Political Science at Case Western Reserve University Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, Stephen and Evalyn Milman Professor of American Studies and Professor of Government at Cornell University Fiona Macka, Director of the Graduate School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland Sue Goodwin, Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney MC: Lisa Forrest A Sydney Ideas forum on 22 March, 2010 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2010/why_feminism_matters_forum.shtml
BAFTA and MOBO award-winning UK hip hop artist and writer Akala joins a panel of local hip hop artists, students and activists to talk about the evolution of socially conscious hip hop music, and its inspiration for a new generation of artists and activists.
After an acknowldegment of Country by DOBBY, and an introduction by Uncle Ken Canning and Dr Omid Tofighian the first panel discuss 'Race Consciousness and Hip Hop'.
Chair: Frank Trotman-Golden (Indij Hip Hop Show)
Panel: Kaiya Aboagye, PhD Candidate, the University of Sydney Akala, BAFTA and MOBO award winning UK hip hop artist and writer Tasman Keith, Emcee and performer Kween G Kibone, Emcee and performer, radio producer and presenter and youth activist
More information: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/akala_and_artists_in_conversation.shtml
BAFTA and MOBO award-winning UK hip hop artist and writer Akala joins a panel of local hip hop artists, students and activists to talk about the evolution of socially conscious hip hop music, and its inspiration for a new generation of artists and activists.
'Community Empowerment'
Chair: Frank Trotman-Golden (Indij Hip Hop Show)
Panellists: Professor Juanita Sherwood, Academic Director of the National Centre for Cultural Competence at the University of Sydney Akala, BAFTA and MOBO award winning UK hip hop artist and writer Evelyn Araluen Corr, PhD Candidate, the University of Sydney Emelda Davis, Australian South Sea Islanders NSW State Alliance
More info: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/akala_and_artists_in_conversation.shtml
If a Climate Emergency is Possible, is Everything Permitted?
Professor Stephen Gardiner, Professor of Philosophy and Ben Rabinowitz Endowed Professor of Human Dimensions of the Environment, University of Washington
In the face of escalating climate change, some scientists are pushing for a serious research program on a dramatic global ‘techno-fix’: the injection of sulphate particles into the stratosphere to block incoming sunlight. This approach to geoengineering - roughly, the ‘intentional manipulation of the planetary environment’ - is often justified by appeal to the threat of a climate emergency.
Professor Stephen Gardine argues that this argument threatens to be ethically short-sighted and to encourage creative myopia. It also underestimates what some opponents mean when they refer to sulfate injection as ‘a necessary evil’. As a result, even if the emergency argument is in some sense valid, it misses much of what is at stake in thinking about geoengineering, especially from an ethical point of view.
Responses by Professor Jim Falk, Professorial Fellow at the Melbourne School of Land and Environment and Lauren Rickards, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, at the University of Melbourne
A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute on 29 July 2014 sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_stephen_gardiner.shtml
One of America’s leading political scientists, Peter Katzenstein, is particularly interested in the relevance of cultural categories for the analysis of world politics. In his lecture for Sydney Ideas he offered a critique of the Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilization theory that conflict between distinct groups based on religion and cultural identities (eg Western, Islamic, Sinic) is inevitable, and will dominate in the post cold–war period. The emphasis on the unity and uniformity of different civilizations and hence on sharp differences among civilizations is misguided. Civilizations are better thought of in pluralist rather than unitary terms. Civilizations are unique in important respects, but equally they are embedded in a global context of interactions with other civilizations that influence them without robbing each of its distinctiveness. Instead of focusing on the clash of civilizations, we should concentrate on studying encounters and engagements among civilizations that shape their futures as much as their unique foundations do. This is the right lesson to draw from approaches as distinct as American liberalism and Chinese Confucianism.
A Sydney Ideas event on 25 March, 2010 sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2010/professor_peter_katzenstein.shtml
Loretta Napoleoni is an expert on financing of terrorism and advises governments and international organization on counter-terrorism. In her lecture for Sydney Ideas she outlines how the response of George Bush to 9/11 triggered a chain of events which led to the credit crunch and to the current crisis of the Euro.
A Sydney Ideas event on 30 August, 2010 sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2010/loretta_napoleoni.shtml
Professor Esther M Sternberg MD and Professor Ian Hickie AM
How do the emotions affect our physical and mental health? What is the science that shows how brain and body interact to make us sick or well? Two of the world’s leading researchers exposed and explored the pathways within the brain through which our emotions connect with our bodies. Professor Sternberg presented the results of her decades of research showing how nerves, molecules, and hormones connect the brain and immune system, how the immune system signals the brain and affects our emotions, and how our brain can signal the immune system, making us more vulnerable to illnesses. She illustrated how these links work and discussed what the implications can be for treatable and chronic diseases. Professor Hickie discussed studies conducted by the Brain and Mind Research Institute that indicate the role the emotions play in the developing adolescent brain and identify, which factors are likely to lead to serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, and the ways in which early interventions might be used to prevent and treat these diseases. A Sydney Ideas event on 14 October, 2010 sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2010/professor_esther_sternberg.shtml
Michael Oppenheimer was the Lead Author on the Third and Fourth Assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). His scientific understanding of global warming provides a framework for developing response policies at the local, national and international levels.
Oppenheimer reviews this evidence in order to present a framework for policies to mitigate emissions and adapt to some level of inevitable warming. He also discuss changes in the relations among nations in the climate arena which were evident at Copenhagen and recent developments related to the public communication of the science of climate change.
A Sydney Ideas event on 23 Feb, 2010 : http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2010/professor_michael_oppenheimer.shtml
Paul Gilding argues that we have entered a period of global ecological crisis and economic stagnation that will last for decades. This will lead to an economic and social transformation of significance in the history of humanity. Paul Gilding has been an activist and social entrepreneur for 35 years, his personal mission is to lead, inspire and motivate action globally on the transition of society and the economy to sustainability.
A Sydney Ideas talk on 29 April, 2009 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2009/great_disruption.shtml
Maude Barlow is a Canadian activist and author who travels the world telling a simple and compelling truth: we are running out of water. And with that, comes devastating consequences. The author of Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right of Water explains the phenomena of “hot stains”, where large areas of the earth’s surface are running out of clean, drinkable water and describes this as “the most important ecological and human threat of our time.”
Barlow is informed and passionate and gives a frank assessment of the state of water in Australia. “You have a right to be really angry with your governments,” she says. “What we’re looking at here are years and years of mismanagement, collusion with corporate and special interest organisations and industries, ignoring scientific, environmental warnings that were crystal clear at the time when some of these crises could have averted much more easily.”
A Sydney Ideas talk on 3 September, 2008 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2008/blue_covenant.shtml
Environmental laws as presently conceived are incapable of addressing the fundamental challenges of the 21st Century such as climate change and the degradation of ecosystems. Cormac Cullinan makes the the case for an eco-centric approach to law and governance and explore the potential of Earth Jurisprudence and wild law to radically reshape law and society as we know it. He explores the implications of the rapidly emerging global movement for the rights of nature and the potential to use Earth rights as a platform for building the global solidarity necessary to bring about the rapid and far reaching cultural change necessary to ensure a viable future for all. Cormac Cullinan is an author, practising environmental attorney and governance expert based in South Africa. His groundbreaking book Wild Law: A Manifesto for Earth Justice, has played a significant role in informing and inspiring a growing international movement to recognise rights for nature
A Sydney Ideas event on 23 September, 2011 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2011/professor_cormac_cullinan.shtml
The Mexican Revolution (1910–20) gave birth to a radical regime which, during the 1920s and 1930s, innovated in terms of state-building, social reform, and cultural policy, thus becoming a magnet for foreign journalists and intellectual tourists.
But while American cultural commentators (John Reed, Frank Tannenbaum, Carleton Beals and others) were often sympathetic, the British – D H Lawrence, Graham Greene, Aldous Huxley, Evelyn Waugh, and Malcolm Lowry – were highly critical.
This talk by Professor Emeritus Alan Knight (University of Oxford) focuses on the British, asking why they were so negative, what they objected to, and what they tell us about the Mexican revolutionary project – or about themselves, and the interwar British society to which they belonged.
More info: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_alan_knight.shtml
Ordinary atoms that make up the visible universe, from the smallest molecules to planets and stars, constitute only 5% of all matter and energy in the cosmos. The remaining 95% is invisible, and comprises two mysterious components commonly dubbed dark matter and dark energy.
In this talk Professor Manfred Lindner (Director at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics and a professor at the faculty for physics and astronomy of Heidelberg University, Germany) reviews what we currently know about the 'dark side' of the universe, and discuss the state-of-the-art of the ongoing hunt for the dark matter being pursued in underground laboratories, using satellites in space, and at CERN's Large Hadron Collider.
More info:http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_manfred_lindner.shtml
Professor Rajesh Thakker FRS FMedSci from the University of Oxford delivers a lecture in the 21st Century Medicine series of public lectures.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people comprise 27% of the prison population but represent only 3 % of the Australian population. Justice health professionals often grapple with providing culturally competent care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody. However these clinical challenges cannot be viewed in isolation without interrogating broader organisational, societal and political structures and attitudes.
Efforts to reduce Indigenous prison numbers and provide meaningful correctional health care require a multi-levelled approach across a variety of sectors with an accompanying honest socio-political discourse. This presentation by Dr Stephane Shepherd, Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar in Cultural Competence will canvas some of the broader societal influences underpinning Indigenous imprisonment and consider potential medico-legal and community responses to address these issues.
More info: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/NCCC_stephane_shepherd.shtml
The educational landscape today is marked by numerous texts for teachers that identify ‘what works’ in the classroom and ‘best practices’ for bolstering student achievement in different subjects. Although these guides may provide valuable information for educators, they frequently ignore a central imperative of critical studies in education to situate educational knowledge within the contexts in which it is produced.
This lecture by Professor Frances Vavrus (Program in Comparative and International Development Education at the University of Minnesota) draws upon research at the intersection of postcolonial studies, anthropology of education, and global and comparative education to address a vital question: How do different epistemologies and material conditions of teaching affect educators’ conceptions of ‘good teaching’ and its potential enactment in their schools?
A Sydney Ideas event for the Education and Social Work Dean's Lecture Series http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/ESW_deans_lecture_series_2016.shtml
For our 2016 Chaser lecture we bring you Indonesia’s first female Muslim stand-up comedian and freedom of expression advocate, Sakdiyah Ma’ruf (winner of the 2015 Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent).
In conversation with Julian Morrow from The Chaser, Sakdiyah talks comedy, religion and where to draw the line.
MORE ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Sakdiyah Ma‘ruf is a standup comedian based in Jakarta who has become known in her country and around the world as one of the most distinctive voices of Indonesian Muslim women. She was named one of the Laureates of Vaclav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent for her work in comedy, joining various unknowns such as Ai Weiwei, Pussy Riot and Aung San Su Kyi. She holds a Masters Degree in American Studies and does research and academic writing with specific interests in women, identity, minority, comedy, humor, and pop culture. Her work as an interpreter has gained her trust from international organisations such as UNFPA, ICRC (International Committee for Red Cross), Save the Children, VECO, and many others.
More event information http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/chaser_sakdiyah_maruf.shtml
Australian of the Year David Morrison AO leads a panel of researchers, students and academics in this topical debate. Some of the questions they explore include:
- Is this model of change the key to accelerating gender equality? Or are we just perpetuating a traditional male power-based, approach to the issue of gender equality?
- Why are we failing to have the important public debate about the role of men in caregiving which many believe is critical to achieving true gender equality? For decades now we have seen surveys of younger men wanting to spend more time with their children with little change.
- Is the business driven male CEO advocacy model really working to increase inclusion?
- Does it work in all sectors including for example culture, arts and education?
- Is a gender alliance model a more effective approach to deliver real change? Globally we have also seen the very successful UN He for She campaign emerge from the NGO sector that engaged men of all ages across the world.
PANELLISTS:
- David Morrison AO (2016 Australian of the Year)
- Associate Professor Michael Flood, University of Wollongong
- Dr Elizabeth Hill, Department of Political Economy, University of Sydney
- Associate Professor Parisa Aslani, Faculty of Pharmacy, the University of Sydney
- Professor Deborah Schofield, Faculty of Pharmacy, the University of Sydney
- Anna Hush, University of Sydney Students' Representative Council (SRC) Women's Collective
- Greg O’Mahoney, debate host
Professor Corinna Hawkes, Director of the Centre for Food Policy, City University London
The keynote lecture in the Food Governance Conference hosted by Sydney Law School and the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney
ABSTRACT Everybody eats. Food is a lived experience. It inspires us, fills us with dread, brings us joy, and stress. It sustains us, and kills us. At the same time, food is distant, hails from the food system, out there, somewhere, causing “abstract” problems. Drought. Climate change. Obesity. Undernutrition. Foodborne disease. Exploited workers.
To open the first Food Governance conference at the University of Sydney, Professor Hawkes will contend that making connections between these ‘big’ food systems outcomes and the ‘small’ intimate ways that we all experience food is key to the solutions. She will present a new vision of a people-centred approach in which problems are addressed by starting with the reality of people’s everyday lives and then working back into the food system.
Professor Hawkes suggests that the three fundamental challenges for the food system are Language, Leadership and Alignment and show that changes to the way we talk, lead and govern will be needed to fix the global food system.
A forum held as part of the University of Sydney Innovation Week 2016.
How can today’s research inform tomorrow’s public policy, drive technological innovation and inspire our creative sectors? For this special forum we brought together diverse voices from the fields of biology, politics, food security and energy production, and ask them to project into the future. What does their research tell us about the possibilities for our world in 25 years?
Will the obesity epidemic reach a tipping point where government intervention in individual freedom is inevitable?
Are there any signs the next generation of voters in representative democracies will soon challenge intergenerational inequality?
When will research in health and agriculture come together to empower local communities to take control of food production and ensure their own food security?
How soon will shifting global economics force the transition of the world’s economy from fossil fuels to a renewable energy era?
Carolyne Larrington, Professor of Medieval European Literature at the University of Oxford, talks about watching and writing about HBO’s Game of Thrones as a medieval scholar. She explains some of the medieval history and literature from which George R. R. Martin chiselled the building blocks for the construction of his imaginary world.
Game of Thrones has now become the most frequently streamed or downloaded show in TV history. Carolyne suggests some reasons for its enormous international success as the medieval fantasy epic for the twenty-first century, and undertakes a little speculation on how the show might end.
We've created a world where information technology permeates our economies, social interactions, and intimate selves. The combination of mobile, cloud computing, the Internet Things, persistent computing, and autonomy are resulting in something different. This World-Sized Web promises great benefits, but is also vulnerable to a host of new threats. Threats from users, criminals, corporations, and governments. Threats that can now result in physical damage and even death.
Security technologist Bruce Schneier looks back at what we've learned from past attempts to secure these systems, and forward at what technologies, laws, regulations, economic incentives, and social norms we need to secure them in the future.
Sydney Ideas event information: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/bruce_schneier.shtml
A public forum with Anson Chan and Martin Lee
In 1997 the People’s Republic of China assumed sovereignty over Hong Kong, subject to The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which guarantees Hong Kong’s civic freedoms and autonomies and the rule of law, for fifty years. The Declaration and Hong Kong’s constitution were written in expectation of universal suffrage and of accountable corruption-free Government. Nearly twenty years on, Hong Kong faces formidable challenges, including growing disaffection among citizens who feel disappointed by present-day trends that are seen to contradict the substance and spirit of the Declaration.
The University of Sydney was fortunate to host a public forum with two of Hong Kong’s best-known and internationally respected civic figures Anson Chan and Martin Lee, uniquely placed to talk about present-day realities and the future prospects for Hong Kong.
What has changed in recent years in Hong Kong, and what has not? Are the two co-signatories of the Declaration honouring their promises? Why are there signs of rising frustration among Hong Kong citizens? Do the recent Hong Kong elections have long-term significance? Should Hong Kong matter to the world, and why does it matter to Beijing?
How can you obtain the best decision from a group of so-called ‘experts’ about future events such as a natural disaster or a stock market crash?
Would you trust a family member’s opinion over a highly cited scientist, an economist, a successful entrepreneur, a military or political leader, or a High Court judge? Or would you trust them all equally? Or none at all?
The University of Cambridge’s Professor Herbert Huppert’s research has shown that whether an expert or not, some people are better at assessing the future than others.
Using considerable experience and historical data, Professor Huppert and his team have developed a technique known as ‘Expert Elicitation’.
The technique assesses the abilities and reliability of each individual expert using a formula and taking into account responses to questions about future events.
In this Sydney Ideas lecture, Professor Huppert discusses how this technique has been successfully used in predictions for volcanic eruptions, dam failures, monetary policy, military engagements, future sea level rise, and other issues that confront decision makers.
Hosted by Robyn Williams, science journalist and broadcaster.
Which infectious diseases pose the greatest danger to a child during pregnancy, in infancy and adolescence?
Most of us are aware of the dangers of whooping cough and influenza, but what about little-known and disabling micro-organisms such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) and old-nasties that re-emerge periodically like measles?
What does every parent need to know about these infectious diseases? What role do family members play in passing on infections to children? How can vaccines offer protection against childhood and adolescent infections?
Speaker: Professor Cheryl Jones, Paediatrics and Child Health expert, University of Sydney, Paediatric Infectious Diseases Head, Sydney Childrens Hospital Network
What is happening in the US election campaign and where does the support for this ‘populist’ political movement come from?
On the day after the second Presidential debate, a diverse panel of academics, students and election observers discussed changes in new media platforms, youth politics and activism, and the impact they are all having on the traditional election campaign processes.
Is mindfulness all about the individual practice? What is the role of community when it come to the issues of well-being? How could institutions such as universities enhance emotional well-being of its employees and students? Dr Benjamin Veness, the University of Sydney alumnus and Churchill Fellow offers some solutions.
Is there a degree of suffering and degradation beyond which a man or a woman ceases to be a human being? A point beyond which our spirit dies and only pure physiology survives? And to what extent, if any, may literary culture be capable of preserving the integrity of our humanity?
These are some of the questions that this lecture proposes to consider with reference to two places where extreme suffering is inflicted – the fictional hell imagined by Dante in his Inferno, and the real hell experienced by Primo Levi at Auschwitz and described in If This Is A Man.
SPEAKER: Professor Lino Pertile, Carl A. Pescosolido Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University
A panel of the University of Sydney experts and practitioners discuss the possible benefits and risks of mindfulness, and how it has been used in education and workplace to produce resilient students and healthy employees.
Speakers: Professor Gwynnyth Llewellyn, Chair, Healthy Sydney University Professor Nick Glozier, Brain and Mind Centre Associate Professor Rae Cooper, Sydney Business School Professor Jane Burns, Faculty of Health Sciences Ms Jane Cox, consultant and leadership coach Dr Benjamin Veness, medical registrar, Sydney alumnus and Churchill Fellow
Co-hosted by Sydney Ideas and Healthy Sydney University, a university-wide initiative that brings staff and students together to promote the health and wellbeing of our University community.
More event information http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/can_mindfulness_save_the_world_forum.shtml
Don Watson and fellow Quarterly Essayist James Brown discuss the strangest election campaign the US has ever seen.
Approaching death is an opportunity for individuals and those who care for them to reduce unnecessary suffering and achieve something more human and humane. Sadly, few dying people or their carers achieve these ends. What can we do differently ?
In this exclusive Sydney Ideas event, Dr Bruce (BJ) Miller, a TED speaker and hospice and palliative medicine physician, reveals how The Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco is redesigning palliative care to bring compassion and imagination to the care of the dying.
His presentation was followed by an expert panel discussion and opportunities to ask questions.
The twentieth century saw the emergence of a number of authoritarian regimes – China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, the USSR – that have both challenged the global order and persisted in the face of massive external pressure and catastrophic economic downturns.
Drawing on in-depth case studies and statistical analysis, Lucan Way (University of Toronto) argues that the threat and resilience of such regimes can be traced to their origins in violent revolutionary conflict. A history of violent revolutionary struggle encourages external aggression but also inoculates regimes against major causes of authoritarian breakdown such as military coups and mass protest.
More info: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_lucan_way.shtml
Humans are superorganisms with two genomes that dictate phenotype, the genetically inherited human genome (25,000 genes) and the environmentally acquired human microbiome (over 1 million genes). The two genomes must work in harmonious integration as a hologenome to maintain health. Nutrition plays a crucial role in directly modulating our microbiomes and health phenotypes. Poorly balanced diets can turn the gut microbiome from a partner for health to a “pathogen” in chronic diseases, e.g. accumulating evidence supports the new hypothesis that obesity and related metabolic diseases develop because of low-grade, systemic and chronic inflammation induced by diet-disrupted gut microbiota. Due to the tight integration of gut microbiota into human global metabolism, molecular profiling of urine metabolites can provide a new window for reflecting physiological functions of gut microbiomes.
Changes of gut microbiota and urine metabolites can thus be employed as new systems approaches for quantitative assessment and monitoring of health at the whole-body level with the advantage of measuring human health based on the results of interactions between the two genomes and the environment rather than just host genomic information. Large-scale population-based studies in conjunction with these whole-body level systems methods will generate pre-disease biomarkers with predictive power, thus making preventive health management of populations with rapidly changing disease spectrums possible through re-engineering of the imbalanced gut microbiomes with specially designed foods/diets.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER Professor Liping Zhao is a distinguished Professor of microbiology at School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. He is a senior editor of the ISME Journal and a fellow of American Academy of Microbiology.
A Sydney Ideas event on 4 October, 2016 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_liping_zhao.shtml
Indonesia has struggled with corruption in its natural resource sector, with unchecked environmental destruction the result . Laode M Syarif, the newly elected Commissioner for Indonesia Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) presents recent progress in the prevention and prosecution of corruption.
Legal academic Professor Annalise Acorn argues that criminal punishment, devoid of all emotions of blame, is inhuman in relation to the offender and contrary to a morally robust justification for the criminal law.
More info about this lecture and the speaker: tinyurl.com/zfya9qc
Lecture by Professor Fran Bagenal, Co-investigator and Leader of the Plasma Teams for NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto and Juno mission to Jupiter, and Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado.
A Sydney Ideas talk co-presented with Sydney SpaceNet at the University of Sydney, 22 September 2016. http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_fran_bagenal.shtml
What happens in China today – from economic to political and cultural events – already has an impact on the rest of the world. As its global influence increases, what does the future hold?
Working closely with China Studies Centre and University of Sydney researchers, Sydney Ideas has provided a platform for local and international China experts to share their insights into this fascinating country over the last 10 years.
Professor Richard Salomon from Department of Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Washington presents an overview of his experiences in studying the oldest manuscripts of Buddhism. These manuscripts, written on birch bark scrolls in the Gāndhārī language which was once spoken in what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan, date back as far as the first century BC. Salomon has been leading their study since they first came to light in 1995 and is now preparing an anthology of translations from them intended for a broad audience. In this lecture, he explains how the discovery and interpretation of these unique documents has transformed the study of ancient Buddhism.
Following its military successes in Iraq and Syria, and especially after the terrorist attacks in Paris and Belgium, the Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has become a focus of media attention as the Western world attempts to understand its intentions.
But is the international media capable of representing the complexity of the jihadist phenomenon without simplifying the Islamic State as a terrorist organisation only? Does political exploitation of the fear of terrorism blur the nature of the caliphate of al-Baghdadi, heightening an already ambiguous understanding of Islam (or 'true' Islam) and suspicion of Muslims living in the West?
Barbara De Poli aims to provide an accessible interpretation of the IS phenomenon, restoring its complexity and explaining its basic traits. She discusses the ideological roots of IS, highlighting the gap between the Islamic doctrinal tradition and the religious principles widespread by the extremists.
Secondly, she examines the political roots of the same movement, since the Afghan war of '79, until the second Gulf War (2003) and the Syrian crisis of 2011, considering the strategic outlook of IS and the regional/international dynamics.
Retiring from the city to the country is a popular Australia dream. But what are these retirees’ lives like, and what should we know to help improve them?
Speaker: Professor Catherine Driscoll, Department of Gender and Cultural Studies
THIS LECTURE WAS HELD ON 8 September, 2016 at the University of Sydney as part of the Sydney Ideas and the Insights Lectures series.
For more about Insights lecture series see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/Insights2016.shtml
For several decades after the Second World War, capitalism regulated by democratic politics proved successful. Rapid growth and equitable distribution supported by open markets ended the pessimism about instability and inequality that permeated Joseph Schumpeter’s classic Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942) written during the war against Fascism.
Now doubts are rising again: in the developed countries, incomes have stopped growing for most people. Inequality is increasing. Vested interests are blocking stabilising interventions. Democracies are rejecting international exchange. And all this is happening at the very moment market authoritarianism in China is breaking the link between high incomes and democratic government.
Ross Garnaut’s public lecture probes these trends, and the new forces shaping the major global developments of our time. He notes how the abundance of capital, labour shortages and rising prosperity in parts of the global economy are elsewhere matched by political introversion, economic stagnation and rising inequality. The future attraction of democracy, he suggests, now depends on the capacity of democracies to come up with reforms that enable government for as well as by the people.
Each year around 55,000 Australians suffer a heart attack, and almost 9,000 will die as a result.
We know that obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking can raise the risk of a heart attack - but what about the factors you aren’t aware of?
From literally dying of a broken heart to unrecognised genetic conditions to complications from the medicines we take, our panel of experts will discuss triggers for heart attacks you didn’t know about and how to prevent them.
We invite you to join us for this informative and important talk, which will be followed by an extended opportunity for questions and answers.
Panelists:
- Professor Chris Semsarian, cardiologist, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Head of Molecular Cardiology Program Centenary Institute
- Associate Professor Thomas Buckley, preventative cardiovascular researcher, Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney
- Professor Andrew McLachlan, Program Director NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Medicines and Ageing, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney
- Professor Joerg Eberhard, Chair, Lifespan Oral Health, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Sydney
Western democracies have seen a resurgence in far-right populist movements. Alongside disaffection with mainstream political parties, there has been agitation against immigration and multiculturalism. How are we to make sense of these developments? What do they mean for race relations? And what implications do they have for our democratic future?
Tim Soutphommasane is Race Discrimination Commissioner and commenced his five-year appointment on 20 August 2013. Prior to joining the Australian Human Rights Commission, he was a political philosopher and held posts at the University of Sydney and Monash University. His thinking on multiculturalism, national identity and patriotism has been influential in shaping debates in Australia and Britain.
As a modern idea, national conscience dates back to the anti-slavery campaign of the late eighteenth century. Its origins were Christian, yet they arose from notions of national character. Alan Atkinson’s suggests that, in an age of reviving nationalism, when several of the world’s main problems depend on the will of governments, national conscience has a new relevance and a new urgency.
Alan Atkinson is the inaugural Australian Book Review RAFT Fellow, and this major public lecture is the culmination of his Fellowship.
THIS LECTURE WAS HELD ON 5 September, 2016 at the University of Sydney as part of the Sydney Ideas Lectures series.
For more about Insights lecture series see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/ABR_professor_alan_atkinson.shtml
For more than half a century, the fragile and frozen continent of Antarctica has been protected by ‘post-sovereign’ governing arrangements that are unusual by global standards. There are now clear signs of their breakdown. State rivalries, environmental damage and a dash for resources, including tourism revenues, are pushing the continent towards a highly uncertain future.
This public forum tackles the pressing questions: What do scientists working in Antarctica have to teach us? Are military and commercial adventures becoming a reality and does Australia have a ‘national interest’ in the continent? What are the chances of reforming and strengthening the Antarctic Treaty System? Can citizens play a role in shaping its future?
Professor Sabine Lee, the University of Birmingham.
Starting from a drawing ‘Schattenkinder ‘ by the Dutch painter Knut Weise, whose half-sister is a Russenkind (child of Russian soldier fathered during or after Second World War in Germany) this paper explores the integration of children born of war into post-conflict societies by investigating children fathered by foreign soldiers in several conflicts spanning much of the 20th and 21st centuries: the Second World War, the Vietnam War, the Bosnian War and the sub-Saharan African conflicts.
Using these case studies as anchors, the presentation will shine a light on the challenges faced by the children themselves and their mothers within their post-conflict receptor communities by looking at the development of experience over time and across different geographical regions. It contextualises historically the conflict and post-conflict policies towards children born of war and their families and discusses the consequences of such policies. In particular, it analyses comparatively childhood adversities and psychosocial challenges as well as changes to the legal and political environments.
This panel considers the diverse cultural expressions of mosque design, past and present, in areas where Muslim populations are both minorities and majorities. It explains the history and reasons behind traditional gender segregation in mosques and how this segregation plays itself out in mosque architecture and affects ultimately the spiritual experience of the community.
Panellists Dr Sam Bowker and Reem Sweid discuss the arabisation of mosques and the extent to which contemporary Australian approaches to 'sacred space' might offer a distinctive contribution to the wider Islamic global heritage.
The Holocaust is one of the most researched events of the twentieth century. Yet it continues to spark popular interest and scholarly controversy. In this lecture Professor Michael Berenbaum, former Project Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and internationally renowned Holocaust historian will reflect on the current state of research.
Challenging prevailing scholarly consensus, he will revisit the unfolding of events that culminated in the genocide of European Jewry and shed new light on its historical and contemporary significance.
SPEAKER: Professor Michael Berenbaum, Sigi Ziering Institute , American Jewish University in LA
Since they were first revealed in 1863, the casts from Pompeii which preserved the forms of the victims in their moment of death have generated huge interest. Stories of their supposed lives and deaths have proved to be persistent not just in novels and movies, but also in some academic treatments of the site.
As part of the Great Pompeii Project of 2015, the Superintendency organised the restoration of 86 of the 103 casts. Estelle Lazer and her team were given the opportunity to generate CT scans and x-ray analysis. For the first time, it was possible to carry out a scientific analysis a number of the casts and the remains embedded within them.
The results were unexpected. Yes, there were new insights into the victims, their lives and their deaths, but, as this lecture will show, there was also much to learn about archaeological practices at Pompeii in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
A Sydney Ideas lecture co-presented with the Department of Classics and Ancient History and the Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney
Drawing from his new book - part historical detective story, part family history, part legal thriller - Professor Philippe Sands QC, explains the connections between his work on 'crimes against humanity' and 'genocide', the events that overwhelmed his family during the Second World War, and the remarkable, untold story that lay at the heart of the Nuremberg Trial: how Rafael Lemkin and Hersch Lauterpacht - the two prosecutors who brought 'genocide' and 'crimes against humanity' into the Nuremberg trial and international law - discovered that the man they were prosecuting - Hans Frank, Hitler's personal lawyer and Governor General of occupied Poland - had murdered their own families.
Sydney Ideas event information http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_philippe_sands.shtml
Professor Mark Dadds from the Sydney Child Behaviour Research Clinic at the University of Sydney covers some of the current scientific evidence behind the building blocks of evidence-based parenting interventions: including rewards, punishment, and attachment.
A Sydney Ideas event for Sydney Science Festival 2016.
Politics at the End of the World: A Public Forum on the Future of Antarctica
A panel of experts and those passionate about preserving Antarctica give a fascinating overview of both the history of Antarctica, especially around the legal questions of sovereignty, and progress on the lobbying for a marine park and ultimate preservation of the environment. Speakers include Professor Gillian Triggs, Greens leader Bob Brown and Jeff Hansen of theSea Shepherd Conservation Society,
THIS LECTURE TOOK PLACE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY 13 SEPTEMBER 2012 AS PART OF THE SYDNEY IDEAS PROGRAM. For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2012/antarctica_politics_at_the_end_of_the_world_forum.shtml
The most common causes of death in Australia are chronic non-communicable diseases related to lifestyle. Despite great improvements in treatments and outcomes, more Australians are developing diseases like type 2 Diabetes than ever before, and the total cost to the health system of diabetes alone is around $15bn per year.
How do these illnesses interact? What are the factors associated with increased risk of chronic illness, and what can we do to reduce our risk? And what can scientists, health care providers and our community as a whole do to reduce the risk, and the cost, for the benefit of everyone?
For our second Sydney Ideas, Westmead we brought together a panel of leading Westmead researchers to discuss the latest science of this healthcare crisis. Listen to Professor Jacob George, Associate Professor Germaine Wong and Professor Ngai Wah Cheung in conversation with Professor Chris Liddle, as they discuss their research and take audience questions on chronic non-communicable diseases related to lifestyle.
Co-presented with the Westmead Institute for Medical Research for Sydney Science Festival 2016.
The Grandmother Hypothesis aims to explain why increased longevity evolved in humans, while female fertility still ends at the same age it does in our closest evolutionary cousins, the great apes. Beginning with ethnographic surprises that drew us to pay attention to grandmothering in the first place, Kristen Hawkes will show how, in addition to human life history, grandmothering can help explain the precocious sociality of human infants and our distinctive appetite for mutual understanding as well as patterns of male competition and pair bonding.
Crucial evidence about human evolution continues to come from the expanding fossil and archaeological records, paleoecology, and increasingly genomics. But comparisons between us and our primate cousins, coupled with formal modelling by Peter Kim and his mathematical biology group at the University of Sydney, are proving to be an especially valuable way to explore evolutionary connections between grandmothering and an array of distinctive human features.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Professor Kristen Hawkes is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of Utah. Her principal research interests are evolutionary ecology of hunter-gatherers and human evolution. She is a member of the Scientific Executive Committee of the Leakey Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the US National Academy of Sciences.
US author and activist, Linda Tirado explains the rise of Trump and suggests what can and should be done about it.
Across the Western world, we’re seeing a resurgence in plain populism. The blame for this is laid at the feet of the poor. Common wisdom holds that Trump voters are usually rural, white, and lower working class. But is this objective reality, or merely the narrative we’re used to and most likely to rely on?
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Linda Tirado is a US writer and activist. Her work focuses on economic inequality and poverty-related issues, and she has lectured across America, Australia, and the UK. Her book is sold in Australia as Hand to Mouth: Being Poor In A Wealthy World. She’s a frequent guest on Australian airwaves, and her work can be found in various outlets across the country, most recently on Q&A and in Daily Life.
Sydney Ideas event page http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/linda_tirado.shtml
A Storyology 2016 event co-presented with the Walkley Foundation
Investigative and public-service journalism shine a light on the world’s dark corners. In today’s globally connected world, leaked documents and data can be shared and analysed by reporters and citizen journalists anywhere. Major investigations into finance and corruption like the Panama Papers highlight the growing chasm between the world's elite and everyone else, and the role governments have played in creating it.
Speakers: Gerard Ryle, director, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (US); Lina Attalah, founder & editor-in-chief, Mada Masr (Egypt); Kate McClymont, investigative journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald: Penny O’Donnell (panel chair), Department of Media and Communications, the University of Sydney .
Lina Attalah was a guest of the Walkley Foundation Australia-Arab International Journalism Speaker Program, supported by the Australian Government through the Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR) of the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade.
Part of the 2016 Festival of Urbanism.
A conversation on the divergence of Sydney and Melbourne’s cultural policy between the University of Melbourne’s Dr Kate Shaw and the University of Sydney’s Dr Oliver Watts.
SPEAKERS: Dr Kate Shaw is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow in Urban Geography and Planning at the University of Melbourne. Her current research focuses on urban renewal in the 21st century. Accepting that the economic case for growth combines with the environmental case for limiting urban sprawl to produce an irresistible logic for increasing the densities of Australian cities, the research explores ways of improving on the renewal projects of the last 50 years. The current project examines the legislative, regulatory, financial, political and cultural barriers to socially equitable urban development, and pursues practices elsewhere that do it better. Kate’s background is in alternative cultures. She has particular interest in Melbourne’s live music and indie arts scenes, and advises governments and local campaigns on planning and policies to maintain them.
Dr Oliver Watts is a writer, practicing artist and cultural theorist. Oliver lectures in theory at The University of Sydney, Sydney College of the Arts. He writes regularly for The Conversation and Buro 24/7 on cultural and aesthetic issues of the day from architecture to fashion. His work looks at how power and authority is reified in cultural artefacts. He sees buildings particularly as manifesting cultural history and ideology, society’s concerns, hopes and biases. Not only do buildings mirror our society but they also help create the pattern of our lives. Oliver most recently spoke at the 2016 Vivid Idea Sydney event ‘Voice of the Artist: Age of the Image’.
The vocation of public service remains a cornerstone of Australian democracy. Yet its traditional virtues are under pressure. Too often exciting innovations have remained at the periphery, failing to deliver on their promise. New approaches to the designing, commissioning and funding of government services have yet to transform the centre of public administration. Bureaucratic structures, regulatory compliance systems and a culture of risk aversion have narrowed the manner in which public accountability and stewardship have been perceived.
Yet, with political authority, governance can become more participatory and inclusive. Businesses, social enterprises and research institutions can partner with government agencies to become co-producers of public benefit. Sectoral boundaries can become porous and relationships collaborative. A new public service can emerge, based upon principles of flexibility, experimentation, facilitative leadership and organisational agility.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Professor Peter Shergold AC is Chancellor of Western Sydney University. He has had a distinguished career in the Australian Public Service. Peter headed a range of Commonwealth agencies and was Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet for five years from 2003. He now has a portfolio career serving on the Boards of AMP, Corrs Chambers Westgarth and QuintessenceLabs. He chairs Opal Aged Care. He remains active in public administration, having been appointed as the Coordinator General of Refugee Resettlement in NSW. In the tertiary education arena he chairs both the National Centre for Vocational Education Research and the Higher Education Standards Panel.
Under capitalism, how does the state organise space in our everyday lives through the streets we walk, the monuments we visit, and the places where we meet?
A talk by Univeristy of Sydney Professor Adam Morton, Department of Political Economy.
The 2016 Australian Book Review Laureate’s Fellow Michael Aiken in conversation with David Malouf, the ABR Laureate.
The forum includes Michael Aiken reading from his verse Fellowship project, ‘Satan Repentant’, a violent epic leaping from the cosmological to the infinitesimal, and a story of contrition.
Sydney Ideas event infomation http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/ABR_laureate_2016_satan_repentant.shtml
At 35 years of age Dr Marjorie Aunos had made a name for herself nationally and internationally as a leading practitioner-researcher and advocate for parents with intellectual disabilities. In her own words, “life was good”; she was doing what she loved especially her new role as a mother to her 18 month old son. On the 5th of January 2012, on her way to work, Marjorie’s life took a sharp turn. Her car slipped on ice and collided with an oncoming truck. She was left with paraplegia. In this lecture Marjorie will share the experience of moving from being an “outsider” to an “insider” as a disability practitioner-researcher and the lessons learnt (thus far).
SPEAKER: Marjorie Aunos, adjunct professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal and Brock University
Part of the Faculty of Education and Social Work Dean’s Lecture Series, which provides an opportunity to hear internationally renowned experts as they contribute to the debates and discussions in education, social work and social policy.
According to recent reports, 1.2 million Australians regularly struggle to put good, healthy food on the table. From low incomes to high living costs, casualised labor markets to government policies, more and more Australians don’t have enough money to eat or to eat well. In policy jargon, problems like these are often referred to as food and nutrition insecurity.
This panel focuses on the problem of food insecurity here in Sydney, its causes, consequences, and – ultimately – what can be done to put good food back on the table. Drawing together academic, policy and practitioner perspectives we hope to open up a space to talk about pathways to and opportunities for a more just food system.
Professor David Schlosberg (Chair, Co-director, Sydney Environment Institute Elizabeth MillenProgram Manager, Healthy Environments, South Western Sydney Local Health District Health Promotion Service Tegan Picone, Nutrition Programs Manager, SecondBite Luke Craven, Phd Candidate, University of Sydney
A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute event in the Food@Sydney series http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/food@sydney_series_2016.shtml
Tax evasion is as old as taxes. But with the introduction of mass income taxes at the beginning of the twentieth century, the problem took on new dimensions. After 1918, the first tax haven countries appeared initially in continental Europe. After the Second World War, a new generation of havens opened up in the dissolving British Empire in places such as the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Singapore, and, for Australia, the New Hebrides and other Pacific territories.
This talk will looks at the role of governments in setting up countries as tax havens after 1945. Most tax havens were state-sponsored projects, making current calls for shutting down havens and curbing avoidance appear problematic.
What, then, can be done against tax havens especially in the face of mounting inequality today?
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Vanessa Ogle is the Julie and Martin Franklin Assistant Professor in the Department of History University of Pennsylvania, Her first book, The Global Transformation of Time: 1870 - 1950, was published in 2015.. She is now writing a book on the history of tax havens, offshore money markets, and free trade zones, 1920s-1980s. Vanessa is the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Visiting Fellow in the Laureate Research Program in International History, at the University of Sydney.
More event information http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/vanessa_ogle.shtml
The Second World War still has a defining place in how we imagine war today, despite its increasing distance from us. The west has not experienced ‘major war’ since 1945, and so our comprehension of what it means has not had to be redefined. But the war, which we have invented for ourselves, is a caricature: a ‘good’ war fought for ‘necessary’ reasons by a generation of ‘heroes’. The implicit contrast is with the First World War, which is portrayed as none of these things.
This construction of the Second World War has created a massive obstacle to our capacity to understand the war of 1914-18 on its own terms. It too has become a caricature of itself: futile, wasteful and needless. Yet many of the concepts with which we frame modern war are derived from the First, not the Second, World War, including ‘grand strategy’, ‘total war’ and even ‘existential conflict’. The First World War changed what we mean by strategy with effects that still resonate. And the conflict has a further claim to our attention in this centenary period. The complexities and ambiguities that surround it can help us understand the place of armed conflict in our own world – its causes, conduct and termination – and often do so much better than the stories which we tell ourselves of the Second World War.
SPEAKER: Sir Hew Strachan FRSE, Hon D. Univ (Paisley) was the Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford and is now Professor of International Relations at the University of St Andrews. He is an Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and a Life Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. His recent books include The First World War: Volume 1: To Arms (2001), The First World War: an illustrated history (2003); related to a multi-part television series and translated into many languages, Clausewitz’s On War: a Biography (2007), and The Direction of War (2013). He is the editor of The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War (revised edition, 2014), and a clutch of volumes arising from his Directorship of the Oxford Changing Character of War Programme.
The Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) 2016 Harley Wood Lecture for the ASA 50th anniversary Annual Scientific Meeting
Over the last 40 years, scientists have uncovered evidence that if the Universe had been forged with even slightly different properties, life as we know it - and life as we can imagine it - would be impossible. With small tweaks to the way the Universe works, we can erase the periodic table, disintegrate particles and remove all traces of structure in the cosmos.
Join us on a journey through how we understand the Universe, from its most basic particles and forces, to planets, stars and galaxies, and back through cosmic history to the birth of the cosmos.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER Luke Barnes is a postdoctoral researcher at the Sydney Institute for Astronomy. Having gained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, he has published papers in the field of galaxy formation and on the fine-tuning of the Universe for life. His forthcoming book co-written with Geraint Lewis is A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos.
RESPONDENT Professor Mark Colyvan, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney. His research includes work on philosophy of mathematics, decision theory, and philosophy of probability.
Sydney Ideas event information http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/ASA2016_harley_wood.shtml
The human war against the mosquito is once again garnering global public attention. An explosion in the number of cases of Zika virus in the Americas, has resulted in huge media coverage and the World Health Organisation declaring a global health emergency. Spread by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, Zika virus causes a mild fever in most cases, but it has recently been associated with rising rates of microcephaly (abnormal brain development) if a woman is infected during pregnancy.
This panel outlines and explore issues relating to both the recent Zika outbreak and relevant broader, contextual features of human-mosquito relations.
More info: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/defending_the_aussie_mozzie_forum.shtml
For the 2016 Insight lecture Series Professor Yixu Lu, Head of School, School of Languages and Cultures talks about the images of China tantalised the European imagination throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and still do today. The Enlightenment produced an image of China as decadent and stagnant, and this dominated European visions of China throughout the 19th century. This lecture takes a critical survey of the making and breaking of these images and consider the enigma that China remains today.
Fore speaker's biography see: tinyurl.com/zn5cqo9
The Middle Ages have never been more current. Particularly since 9/11, the term 'medieval' has been used to describe, for example, climate-change deniers, climate-change scientists, Christians, Muslims, IS, and Al-Qaeda, to name a few. In these contexts, the Middle Ages denotes ignorance, superstition and barbarism.
Why this turn to the idea of the Middle Ages to explain our modern times? Our speakers will explore the long history of the 'modern' Middle Ages and its particular relevance for today's global culture.
Our greatest task is to try to imagine the future before it arrives and then to try to shape it. Will the buzzwords ‘innovation’ and ‘agility’ come to mean more than increased efficiency and wealth for the few? The future is almost within reach, but the portents are challenging; rarely has the future seemed so difficult a prospect.
Coinciding with the 500th anniversary of Thomas More's Utopia, Griffith Review founding editor Julianne Schultz launches Griffith Review 52: Imagining the Future.
Professor Schultz is joined by University of Sydney scientist Professor Thomas Maschmeyer and distinguished writer-journalists and Griffith Review contributors Kathy Marks, Tony Davis and Paul Daley, in a conversation around themes arising from our urgent need to address the world ahead.
This talk explores how the manifesto became a defining genre of the artistic avant-garde and other political movements across the 20th century, from Futurism and Surrealism to radical feminist manifestos by Valerie Solanas and the Riot Grrrls.
It coincides with Julian Rosefeldt’s moving image 2014-2015 artwork, ‘Manifesto’,which brings to life the enduring provocation of the historical art manifesto.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Natalya Lusty is an Associate Professor in the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney. She is the author of Surrealism, Feminism, Psychoanalysis (2007), Dreams and Modernity: A Cultural History (2013), with Helen Groth and the edited collection, Modernism and Masculinity (2014), which was shortlisted for the Modernist Studies Association book prize. She has spent the last decade writing and talking about manifestos in numerous academic contexts and public forums and is currently completing a book on feminist manifestos.
The unrivalled corpus of medieval manuscripts unearthed in the northwestern Chinese desert town of Dunhuang in the early twentieth century divulged a trove of secrets about the practice of Chinese Buddhism. Among the thousands of liturgical texts created by local monks for the performance of rituals, almost two hundred separate manuscripts contain liturgies that were spoken aloud during healing rituals.
Stephen F Teiser, Professor in Buddhist Studies and Professor of Religion at Princeton University, introduces Dunhuang and its manuscripts, surveys the practice of healing in medieval Chinese Buddhism, explores how illness can be cured through karmic means, discusses the role of confession in curing, and reflects on the process of healing in Chinese Buddhism.
Why was Zika virus declared an international public health emergency by the World Health Organization? What are the implications for people living in Australia? What other infectious diseases pose a risk here, and how would we respond if there was an outbreak?
Listen to a wide ranging discussion about the facts behind Zika and other mosquito-borne illnesses, the role of the media and government in keeping the public properly informed, the mechanisms for controlling the risks, and a frank assessment of where in the world we should be focusing our attention to limit the potential for epidemics.
Data is the currency of the digital age and has transformed all areas of physical life and social sciences. In all disciplines there has been an unparalleled growth in the quantity and variety of data made available by the pervasive nature of the internet and enabled by almost free digital storage.
Moving beyond the expectations of ‘big data’ the focus is now on development of sophisticated and nuanced transformational data-driven ideas and algorithms.
Have we reached a tipping point where new approaches to complex systems, personal health, social policy and understanding our earth can now be understood with sophisticated and nuanced data-driven discovery?
What are the next fruitful steps for bringing together disparate data for applications that benefit individuals, business and our society?
The University of Sydney’s new Centre for Translational Data Science is driving new and transformational advances in research through the application of data and machine-learning technologies. The Centre is also supporting and building substantial new human capacity through teaching data science as a translational methodology and training a new generation of scientists.
In this interactive forum they discuss what we now know and what the future of data science holds.
A Sydney Ideas event on 7 June 2016 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/data_transforming_science_and_society.shtml
This talk was a key note address for the 2016 Photography.Ontology symposium that took place at the University of Sydney in June 2016.
Professor Smith considers Frederick Douglass’s propositions about the social power of photography. Looking back at Douglass’s lecture “Pictures and Progress” through the lens of contemporary artist Rashid Johnson’s homage to the nineteenth-century orator, the talk examines Douglass’s surprising celebration of photography as an objectifying medium. Douglass saw the persistence of photographs as both a conserving and a conservative force, and Johnson’s self-portrait after Douglass testifies to that doubled dynamic. But Douglass also found progressive power in the technology’s capacity to alienate the self, an unexpected position for the formerly enslaved. The talk explores Douglass’s complicated embrace of photography as a medium of objectification as well as progress, as a link to the past as well as the future.
Constructed, neglected, rebuilt and expanded over the course of nearly a century, the Qing imperial park of Bishu shanzhuang played a central, but constantly changing, role in the history of the Manchu dynasty for nearly two centuries. Scholars of the site have focused on its final form at the end of the 18th century, taking a single vision of its design and use as descriptive of its entire history.
In this talk, Stephen Whiteman explores the park’s early history under the Kangxi emperor, from its original conception as an imperial retreat to its representation through text and image, and considers the legacy of this history not only in later iterations of the landscape, but also in collective memories of the rise and fall of the dynasty itself.
Scientists have long thought that the adult brain is unchangeable, but new evidence is emerging to challenge this belief by revealing that the brain is capable of lifelong change and adaptation.
This adaptability - or neuroplasticity as it is commonly known - shows the mature brain can reorganise or ‘rewire’ itself in response to experience, disease or injury.
University of Sydney researchers are at the forefront of brain and mind research. In this fascinating forum our experts will share what neuroplasticity means for degenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s, regaining speech after disease or injury, and the implications for all of us in terms of maintaining a healthy brain. Presenters:
Associate Professor Michael Valenzuela, Head of the Regenerative Neuroscience Group, Brain and Mind Centre
Professor Leanne Togher, Professor of Communication Disorders following Traumatic Brain Injury, Faculty of Health Sciences
Dr Michael Lee, Clinical Neurophysiologist and Physiotherapist, Brain and Mind Centre and Faculty of Health Sciences
Professor Simon Lewis, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Clinical Director of the Ageing Brain Clinic, Brain and Mind Centre
Panel discussion with audience Q&A on the topic of Wiser Healthcare
We all want to be able to get good healthcare when we need it. But what would it mean to provide and consume healthcare wisely? This panel discussion with Dr Iona Heath considers a radical idea: that sometimes wiser healthcare means less healthcare. Or at least, less healthcare for people who don’t need it, so we can give more healthcare to people who do.
Music’s power to form, sustain and present social identities is especially relevant in today’s changing and increasingly networked world. A panel of Indigenous researchers and performers from Australia and overseas discuss: how songs can support language revitalization; how music can help us to understand our history and our communities; and how Indigenous youth today are using Rap music to share their cultural knowledge and their lived experiences.
A Sydney Ideas event on 27 May 2016. http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/music_and_contemporary_indigenous_identities_forum.shtml
Economic Modelling now plays a significant role in the development of public policy development and the conduct of public debate in Australia. Modelling has been central to the case for and against the carbon tax, the mining tax and industrial relations reform. But the widespread use of economic modelling is not matched with widespread understanding of its strengths, weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
When used well economic modelling can help policy makers understand the existence, and magnitude, of likely interrelationships; when used poorly it can conceal those same linkages; and when use dishonestly it can be used as a tool to dress up the self-interest of advocates as national interest.
In this address Richard Denniss outlines the use and abuse of economic modelling in Australia and argue the case for a Code of Conduct for economic modelling.
Since the global food crisis of 2007, agricultural land has become an attractive asset for large private corporations and state-owned entities wanting to secure food supplies. These investments have had varying effects. At times, they have been associated with forced removals of pre-existing landholders with weak tenure rights. On other occasions they have driven up local property prices and altered production priorities towards export markets. Either way, they have been implicated in creating a more vertically integrated food system aligned to global markets. This panel discusses these issues from international and Australian perspectives.
PANEL: Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Lawrence, University of Queensland Dr Sarah Sippel, Senior Researcher, Centre for Area Studies, University of Leipzig, Germany Professor Bill Pritchard, Human Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney
A Sydney Ideas and Sydney Environment Institute event in the Food@Sydney series http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/food@sydney_series_2016.shtml
To celebrate National Archaeology Week 2016 we present two talks on the topic of archaeology and heritage in the Pacific.
Wasteland and Wonderland: Bikini Atoll - from atomic bomb testing ground to World Heritage Dr Steve Brown, Lecturer in Archaeology, Master of Museum and Heritage Studies program
Sydney’s Missionary Connections to the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) in the 19th Century James Flexner, Lecturer in Historical Archaeology and Heritage, Department of Archaeology
More info: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/archaeology_heritage_tropical_pacific.shtml
It is now well established that digital media has given rise to new forms of political speech. Just as importantly though, the new media environment has also created space for new types of listening. Media scholar Dave Karpf discusses the role that digital listening, measurement, and experimentation play in shaping the contours of ‘analytic activism’.
More info: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/david_karpf.shtml
A look into how bottles are impacting on tap water provision and the implications of accumulating plastic waste on environments and bodies.
SPEAKERS: Professor Gay Hawkins, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University; Assoc Professor Kane Race, Gender and Cultural Studies, the University of Sydney; and Kylie Yeend, Education, Engagement and Partnerships Manager at Sydney Water.
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, dominated by President Erdogan, has governed Turkey for more than a decade. Its initial democratisation agenda, however, has taken an authoritarian turn - with minimal tolerance for dissent.
The lecture by Professor Umut Azak (Okan University, Istanbul) investigates the shifts in state-Islam relations within the context of a shrinking pluralist democracy in Turkey and the broader Middle East. The AKP’s state-led Islamisation and commitment towards creating a ‘devout generation’ are examined by locating the institutionalisation of ‘state Islam’ within the foundations established by the secular Kemalist Republic.
More info: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_umut_azak.shtml
Did you know that at the height of 2015 forest fires, Indonesia was emitting more carbon than the entire US economy?
Kiki Taufik, the Global Head of Greenpeace’s Indonesian Forests Campaign outlines why protecting Indonesia's forests is critical to global efforts to stabilise the climate and preserve biodiversity. He analyses recent developments concerning Indonesia's forests, the creation of a new agency to protect peatland, the work of the anti-corruption commission, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s recent bans on new forest clearance and mining.
Co-presented with the Sydney Environment Institute in association with Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
Leading theatrical designers Michael Scott-Mitchell and Nick Schlieper join Associate Professor Branka Spehar, who specialises in the psychology of visual perception, to present a panel discussion about light and colour effects and their implications for performance, architecture and visual perception.
This forum brings together two esteemed investigative journalists from overseas, Anna Nemtsova from Russia and Madhu Trehan from India, with Australian journalist Tom Dusevic and former NSW Premier Bob Carr. It will be moderated by David Marr, widely regarded as one of the country’s most influential commentators.
Co-presented with the Australian Press Council as keynote event in the Press Council’s 40th Anniversary International Conference.
"Not too hot, not too cold" reads the prescription for a world that's just right for life as we know it. Finding evidence of life beyond Earth is one of the primary goals of science agencies around the world. The goal looms closer as a result of discoveries made by NASA's Kepler Mission.
Find out more from Dr Natalie Batalha, NASA Ames Research Center and the Mission Scientist for NASA's Kepler Mission, as she describes the latest discoveries and the possibilities for finding inhabited environments in the not-so-distant future.
This lecture took place at the University of Sydney as part of the 2016 Professor Walter Stibbs Lecture, an annual lecture by a distinguished astronomer of international standing. A Sydney Ideas co-presentation http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/dr_natalie_batalha.shtml
There is now almost universal recognition around the world that 'teaching matters' and that the quality of teaching is crucial in social and economic development.
However, there has been remarkably little change in the ways in which teachers' work is constructed and the ways in which teachers are educated for a lifetime of preparing young people for their future worlds.
In this talk Ian Menter reflects on debates about the nature of teaching and teacher education in order to challenge much of the dominant thinking, suggesting that such thinking is often driven by ideology and prejudice rather than by careful deliberation or by the use of research evidence.
His conclusion is that there are important underlying values that can be traced through the history of teaching which may now be more important than ever, but that the ways in which these values are embodied in the work of contemporary teachers are in need of major reconsideration.
This lecture was a part of the University of Sydney's Faculty of Education and Social Work Dean’s Lecture Series which provides an opportunity to hear internationally renowned experts as they contribute to the debates and discussions in education, social work and social policy.
Ugandan human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo and Human Rights Watch Senior Africa Researcher Maria Burnett examine Uganda’s failure to make progress on human rights issues, and discuss what can be done to ensure its citizens can freely exercise fundamental human rights.
Hosted by Dr Susan Banki, lecturer in human rights at the University of Sydney.
As the United States teeters under the weight of Trumpism while inequalities of race, class, gender, and nativity inspire protests and political organising, it has become increasingly common to harken back to the political divisions of the 1960s.
This roundtable panel will explore the usefulness of the ‘1960s’ as a point of comparison for contemporary politics and culture not just in the U.S. but around the world in locales like Brazil and Greece.
What has changed in the way we think about the 1960s as scholarship on the decade has passed from those who participated in its upheavals to those who study it as scholarly project? Is the ‘1960s’ a coherent category of historical time and analysis? If so, are the inequalities, oppressions, and counter-revolutions of the contemporary world producing a ‘new 1960s?’.
The four panellists, all historians of American social movements who teach outside of the United States, will offer diverse answers to these questions while placing the idea of the 1960s in the contemporary political and cultural context.
Discover how Harvard University Professor Joanna Aizenberg’s research is inspired by biology to design slippery surfaces that mimic those found in nature. Her novel nanostructured materials will have huge impacts in areas as diverse as medicine, construction, shipping industries, aircraft industries, fluid handling and transportation, and optical sensing.
Inspired by the slippery surfaces of a pitcher plant, Professor Aizenberg and team have invented new technology to create self-healing, anti-fouling materials, called Slippery, Lubricant-Infused Porous Surfaces, or SLIPS. These novel nanostructured materials outperform state-of-the-art materials in their ability to resist ice and microbes sticking to surfaces, repel various simple and complex liquids, prevent marine fouling, or reduce drag.
This lecture took place at the University of Sydney in celebration of the launch of the Australian Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at the University of Sydney, which is discovering and harnessing new science at the nanoscale.
Insight into how local councils are educating communities about climate change, even when they are pressured to avoid using the term.
SPEAKERS: Lisette Collins, PhD Candidate, University of Sydney Maria Taylor, journalist and author
Professor Kathy High, Video and New Media in the Department of the Arts, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY
Recent research into the human body biomes and fecal microbial transplants (FMT) has led to better understanding of both the important function of bacteria in our bodies and the ecological systems that sustain us. These include microbiota – ecologies within the body.
Kathy High an interdisciplinary artist working in the areas of technology, science and art, explores these new developments through metaphors of interspecies love, immunology and bacteria as players. Waste Matters expands ideas around imbalances of internal biomes as a mirror to the imbalances in our larger ecological sphere, where the gut is a ‘hackable space’.
12 April 2016.
Sydney Ideas event: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_kathy_high.shtml
Professor Nick Couldry, London School of Economics and Political Science
In earlier modernity the infrastructures of communication required for an expanding economy and society remained tied to national boundaries and broadly compatible with the values on which democracy was based. In late modernity, globalisation challenged nation-state boundaries, but not yet the values underlying democratic governance.
But the era of late late modernity - characterised by the embedding of internet-based connectivity into action at all levels and scales - creates conditions incompatible with freedom, a value generally regarded as essential to the quality of human life, and democratic capabilities in particular.
The internet involves the connectability of all points in space-time, which become points in an unlimited information-space. This generates a two-way bargain: if every point in information-space is connectable to every other, then it becomes susceptible to monitoring from every other point.
Meanwhile, the resulting ease of information production generates an information excess which makes targeted communication ever more difficult. In response, business and government are constructing a social world based on the permanent monitoring of all actors and the processing of the resulting data.
But such generalised surveillance is incompatible with the personal autonomy required for democratic agency. The result is an impending crisis in democratic norms from which we do not yet know how to escape.
Professor Yu Keping from Peking University, Beijing elaborates on the meaning of political philosophy and political thought in the Chinese context, traditionally and currently. He highlights the distinction between legitimate authority and legal power, and the ways by which power is transformed into authority.
Professor Yu looks specifically at the sources and nature of power and authority, and gives his answer to the question of what kind of power and authority we need in terms of modern democratic governance.
China is a rising power in the world. Its grand strategy, regional role and foreign policy have significant impacts on global and regional affairs, and have important implications for countries such as the United States and Australia.
Australia faces the challenges of balancing its relationships with both the United States and China in a sometimes volatile regional security environment, exemplified by the South China Sea disputes.
How do the Chinese perceive their role and key relationships with global and regional powers? The University of Sydney brings together prominent Chinese scholars and Australian scholars to engage in open, extensive and in-depth conversations.
Without stories there is silence. Without stories told, we are voiceless. Without our stories heard, we are invisible.
The topic of violence against women with disability is only now entering the conversation on gender-based violence.
Recognition that violence does happen to women with disabilities and that violence causes disability is the first step in creating environments of social and economic sustainability for all women who are impacted by violence. Their lived experience is multi-faceted and formed at the intersections of their identity, gender and culture, making gender based violence difficult to resolve unless a holistic approach is undertaken.
In this panel discussion we hear directly from some of the women with disability who have experienced violence and look at an inclusive and holistic approach that recognises diversity.
Aristotle (384-322 BC), together with his teacher Plato, is one of the most widely recognised and studied philosophers of all times. His work established the fundamental traditions of rationalism and scientific logic. It is also a bridge that links ancient paganism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam and many modern philosophical, political and religious movements.
In this lecture, Professor Vrasidas Karalis, offers a brief presentation of Aristotle's life, work and thought, focusing on his political and ethical ideas. It will attempt an evaluation of his continuing significance in the context of contemporary cultural pluralism and philosophical diversity.
The growth in foundations and philanthropic giving in Australia draws on a rich tradition in American culture. Two of America's leading voices on philanthropic giving discuss the effective philanthropy.
Stephen Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund addresses the question of philanthropy’s responsibility to communities and to society. Philanthropy, he says, cannot rely simply on the presumption that it will always automatically be seen as inherently good, but must think about the broader consequences of its decisions and actions.
Bradford K. Smith, the president of the Foundation Center of New York details the past, current and future trends and organizations involved in US foundation giving in Australia. He demonstrates the values of openness and availability of philanthropic data for advancing the social sector through more effective philanthropy.
Assoc Professor Abbas El-Zein, School of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney and Tayanah O’Donnell, University of Canberra discuss the complexities associated with rising sea levels and the decision-making being made at a municipal level.
The idea of “East” and “West” as immutable and irreconcilable cultures, geographies and civilisations has been around for a long while. It has been used in various guises to imagine a “Middle East” that is the antithesis of – and inferior to – the “West” in values, practices and ideas. Arab migration to the “West” profoundly undermines this persistent argument, and the peregrinations of millions of Arab migrants lays bare its inherent contradictions.
This talk by Professor Akram Khater (Director of the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University) explores how Arab migration to the US shaped both the Middle East and the US, and tied them together inexorably through the movement of people, ideas and commodities over the past 150 years.
Recent protest movements in Europe and the Middle East have called for a greater political voice, a more equitable economy, and greater social justice. Yet five years after the mass mobilisation of the 'Arab Uprisings' and of Europe's anti-austerity movements, the message of these protests seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
The Middle East has seen a powerful wave of counter-revolution sweep the region. In Europe political elites have attempted to prevent new leftist movements from achieving power while the political landscape has drifted slowly but surely to the xenophobic right.
This panel considers the response of Europe and the Middle East to the opportunities for democratic transformation afforded by the 2010-15 wave of protests, why those opportunities were missed, and what can be done to address the underlying tensions in these societies.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/europe_and_arab_uprisings.shtml
Guided by experimental tests of theory and practice, science and engineering have advanced rapidly in the past 500 years. Guided primarily by tradition and dogma, science education meanwhile has remained largely medieval. Research on how people learn is now revealing much more effective ways to teach, learn, and evaluate learning than what is in use in the traditional science class.
SPEAKER: Professor Carl Wieman holds a joint appointment as Professor of Physics and of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. He has done extensive experimental research in both atomic physics and science education at the university level. Wieman has received numerous awards recognizing his work in atomic physics, including the Nobel Prize in physics in 2001 for the first creation of a Bose-Einstein condensate. He served as Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House in 2010-12.
More info: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_carl_weiman.shtml
Do dolphins say ‘Huh?’ when they mishear other dolphins’ squeaks? Do gorillas point it out when other gorillas drop things on the ground? Can a currawong quote the call of another currawong? Do ants gossip? Sadly, the answer to these questions is no. But why not?
This lecture explores the idea that humans are equipped with a unique combination of social and cognitive capacities that together constitute a ‘conversation machine’, without which language as we know it would not exist.
Professor Nick Enfield presents new research on core features of the human conversation machine, including our cooperative tendencies, our heightened sense of accountability, and the fact that ours is the only communication system that can be used for making statements about itself.
For more about Insights lecture series see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/Insights2016.shtml
As the age of cheap oil and fossil fuels is coming to an end, humanity will face an energy crisis. Many alternative energy sources have already been identified. However, there is no optimal solution to replace fossil fuels on a short time scale with new sources that are economically viable and environmentally sustainable in the long term. History reports disastrous consequences for human societies that exploited their resources in a non-sustainable way, and arguably this is exactly what is happening today on a global scale. Evidence for climate change is overwhelming.
Federico Rosei is one of the world’s leaders in nanomaterials and its applications in photonics. Concerned about the looming energy crisis, he proposes some solutions involving the use of advanced materials and nanotechnology for energy saving, energy storage and energy conversion.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_federico_rosei.shtml
China sees itself as a victim of imperialism and colonialism. The modern Chinese nationalism, including the one adopted and promoted by the Chinese Communist Party, is defined through this. International scholarship on China often takes this narrative of China as anti-imperialist for granted.
Professor Dibyesh Anand (University of Westminster, London) interrogates this narrative and argues that there is a fundamental disjuncture at the heart of the modern nation-state project in China.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/assoc_professor_dibyesh_anand.shtml
A panel discussion with seven contestants from a popular Chinese TV dating show.
The Chinese TV dating show If You Are The One has become a global cultural phenomenon. With a viewing audience of up to 50 million people per episode, it has received a cult following in Australia thanks to regular screenings on SBS2.
What’s behind the show’s popularity? Is this what dating is like in today’s China? And are the contestants looking for love, fame or both?
Seven contestants from the recently aired Australian specials discuss their experiences.
Annie Shu, David Zhang, Feng Guo and Linda Li joined SBS’s Dr Jing Han, who in the course of translating over 150 episodes has become one of Australia’s foremost experts on If You Are The One.
Hosted by Claudia Chan Shaw, designer, director and festival curator.
More info: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/if_you_are_the_one_forum.shtml
The past decade has solidified and advanced two important tracks in helping researchers understand learning: neuroscience and big data. Sophisticated imaging techniques allow insight into the functioning of the human brain that was until recently unimaginable. Small controlled studies are laying a foundation for a new science of learning.
In contrast, big data, often generated in technological environments, presents researchers with fuzzier and messier data than what is common in neuroscience. The large N, however, offers tantalising insights into the social, affective, and meta-cognitive aspects of learning as it happens in authentic work and school settings.
In this presentation Professor George Siemens (Director of the LINK Research Lab at the University of Texas, Arlington) explores the methodological differences that underpin the neuroscience and big data (learning analytics) frameworks of learning research and suggest ways in which they might contribute to future educational models.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND SPEAKER'S BIOGRAPHY SEE THIS PAGE: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_george_siemens.shtml
Professor Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University
In public health terms soft-drinks, called soda in the US, are low-hanging fruit. Containing little more than sugars and water, and increasing linked to obesity and other health problems, they are an easy target for health advocacy. In the US sodas have enabled their makers, primarily Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, to become multibillion dollar, international industries.
Health advocates, however, have found many ways to counter the relentless marketing and political pressures. As a result, soda sales are falling, at least in the United States and Mexico. Lessons learned from soda advocacy are applicable to advocacy for additional aspects of the movement toward healthier and more sustainable food systems.
For further information and speaker's biography see this page http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_marion_nestle.shtml
With five prime ministers in five years, and shocking truths coming to light daily about our institutions – from unions to schools to detention centres – many fear our system is broken.
'Griffith Review: Fixing the System' brings together writers and analysts to provide fresh insights into how to fix the system and why it matters.
Political biographer Chris Wallace, former teacher GJ Stroud, journalist Ann Arnold and academic Tamson Pietsch join Griffith Review editor Julianne Schultz in a spirited discussion at how our institutions – political, social and legal – both support and fail us, and what we can do about it.
For further info see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/fixing_the_system.shtml
A recent series of controversial moves by the new Polish Government, especially the weakening of the Constitutional Tribunal and subjecting the public media to ministerial appointments and supervision, have triggered mass protests in Poland and concerns among EU officials.
Professor Jan Pakulski analyses these developments in the broader context of the rapid economic development, new social divisions, and the polarisation within the Polish political elite combined with electoral re-alignment.
For further info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_jan_pakulski.shtml
Kim Williams AM has had a long and stellar career in news media, film and television, and music. Over four decades he has served on numerous boards in the cultural sector. In this Sydney Ideas event he gives an inaugural Australian Book Review (ABR) Patrons’ Lecture on Cultural Renewal in Modern Australia: Philanthropy, public discourse and the role of the ‘public academy’ in the modern era.
For further info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/kim_williams.shtml
When a pineapple soda can becomes a ‘bomb’ and takes down a Russian airliner, the everyday objects around us provoke a sense of horror. International Relations is in need of a quantum turn so that we can understand the very real consequences of events and things whose capacities defy easy or rational explanation.
SPEAKER: Jairus Grove, University of Hawaii Center for Futures Studies
The 2016 Q Lecture was presented by the Centre for International Security Studies with the support of the School of Social and Political Sciences and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
For further info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/q_lecture_2016.shtml
Renmin University Professor Christof Mauch, Director of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, looks back to understand how societies have dealt with energy expectations, energy needs, and energy transitions in the past. Can a look at the past help us understand the present and the future?
For further info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/professor_christof_mauch.shtml
Cancer is the most studied phenomenon in biology, with over a million published papers, yet it remains poorly understood. In the USA alone, more than a trillion dollars has been spent on cancer research, but mortality rates remain little changed in several decades. Maybe progress is so slow because we are thinking about the problem the wrong way?
For the 2015 Charles Perkins Centre Oration, celebrated theoretical physicist, cosmologist, astrobiologist and author, Professor Paul Davies proposes that by regarding cancer as an ancient biological phenomenon, as opposed to a modern disease, new approaches to therapy can be suggested.
A Sydney Ideas event held on 4 December 2015 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/professor_paul_davies.shtml
On 11 November 1975 the Prime Minister of Australia, Gough Whitlam was dismissed from office by the Queens Representative in Australia, Governor-General Sir John Kerr.
Three scholars share their research on the long-lasting impact of the ‘The Dismissal’ on Australian legal and political life.
Hosted by Andrew West, broadcaster and presenter of ABC Radio National’s Ethics and Religion Report. Panellists: Dr Harshan Kumarasingham, University of London; Professor Anne Twomey, University of Sydney; Associate Professor James Curran, University of Sydney.
For more info and speakers’ biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/dismissal_40_years_forum.shtml
Melanoma is known throughout Australia, however, it is only when our family or ourselves are directly impacted that we realise the seriousness of this type of skin cancer.
Professor Graham Mann and Associate Professor Georgina Long explain firsthand the science behind the latest immunotherapy treatment for melanoma which has been heralded as "the most important development in the treatment of this disease ever and a landmark in terms of cancer treatment in general". This innovative treatment has seen life-expectancy rates triple and has made waves in the science and medical worlds.
Professor Mann and Associate Professor Long also provides details of the University of Sydney's world-class melanoma program. This includes the Melanoma Research Database - containing information on over 40,000 patients' melanomas - and the ambitious Melanoma Genome Project that is mapping the entire genome of 500 melanomas.
A Sydney Ideas co-presented with the Sydney Cancer Research Network event held on 10 November 2015 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/melanoma.shtml
Bassem Youssef - credited as a key figure in the Arab Spring - is a global icon of freedom of expression and political satire. Despite its immense popularity, in June 2014 Youssef had to end his TV satire show, Al Bernameg, and leave Egypt due to continued threats and harassment.
Bassem Youssef joins The Chaser’s Chris Taylor for a conversation about the perils and power of laughing at politicians.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/bassem_youssef_and_the_chaser.shtml
Sydney Ideas partnered with the Confucius Institute to present Liu Cixin, leading contemporary Chinese science fiction writer, and recent winner of the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel. In an exclusive and rare appearance outside China, Cixin talks about his visions of modern China.
In this Sydney Ideas lecture China's est-selling contemporary science fiction author Liu Cixin, winner of the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel, talked about how his vision for modern China is reflected in his work.
Professor Song Mingwei, critic and literary scholar at Wellesley College, USA, was in conversation with Liu Cixin to talk about the growing popularity of science fiction in China, and how it reflects the population’s longing for, but anxiety about, development and its unknown impact on humanity.
For further info see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/liu_cixin.shtml
The importance of creativity is frequently highlighted in education and the marketplace. In the heart of Redfern, Sydney Story Factory is changing the lives of young people through creative writing and storytelling workshops designed to foster creative thinking and boost confidence. Designed particularly for Indigenous students and those from non-English speaking backgrounds, Sydney Story Factory is open to all.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/sydney_story_factory.shtml
Noel Pearson is one of Australia’s foremost indigenous leaders and political activists. He titled his first Quarterly Essay, Radical Hope, explicitly referring to the work of the renowned philosopher and psychoanalyst Jonathan Lear of the same title.
What is recognition? What kind of acknowledgement is involved? How does recognition affect the identities of both sides?
Noel Pearson and Jonathan Lear discuss the constitutional, philosophical and psychoanalytic perspectives of the complex question of recognition of indigenous peoples.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/lear_pearson_recognition.shtml
Elizabeth Broderick, former Sex Discrimination Commissioner, shares her thinking on the big ideas to shift mindsets and mobilise change to create a truly gender inclusive Australia for our children and our grandchildren. Followed by an inspirational panel of University of Sydney students, staff and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices.
A Sydney Ideas discussion on 29 September, 2015 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/elizabeth_broderick.shtml
What role does the media play forming public perceptions on mental health? A panel of journalists, media theorists, and mental health experts reflect on the portrayal and discussion of mental health issues in the mainstream media.
SPEAKERS: Georgie Harman, CEO beyondblue; Sophie Scott, national medical reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; Professor Gerard Goggin, Department of Media and Communications the University of Sydney; Dr Bettina Friedrich (panel chair), Postdoctoral Researcher, Brain and Mind Centre, the University of Sydney
A Sydney Idea talk 8 September, 2015 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/mental_health_media_forum.shtml
At the United Nations Indigenous peoples have been at the forefront of discussions regarding the human rights abuses committed by corporations since the 1970s. Today, little has changed in relation to this situation.
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Special Rapporteur for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations, reflects on the reasons why local Indigenous communities continue to suffer disproportionately the negative impact of corporate activities.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/victoria_tauli_corpuz.shtml
Health experts are divided over the benefits of cancer screening – are we saving lives or harming lives?
Some experts argue that widespread screening, such as for breast and prostate cancer, can lead to over-detection and over-treatment of illnesses which are not life threatening. Healthy people can be unnecessarily alarmed, falsely diagnosed, or subjected to invasive procedures that can cause emotional and physical harm.
Critics say cancer screening does little to prevent deaths or extend life expectancy, which is the goal of mass population screening.
However, medical experts who support cancer screening programs and new-generation genetic tests argue that we are saving millions of lives and preventing untold suffering by detecting early-stage cancers.
Promoters of genetic testing say that people who have a family history of cancer can benefit from knowing if they carry a heightened risk of disease.
Agreement between experts about cancer screening is urgently needed so that Australians can be better educated about their options, and make informed choices.
In this panel discussion University of Sydney experts talk basic science to lived experience.
A Sydney Ideas event held on 29 July 2015 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/health_forums.shtml
The Pacific region boasts a third of the world’s total living languages. A panel of experts examines ideas around national policies that recognize and protect minority languages, education systems that promote mother-tongue instruction, and creative collaboration between community and linguists.
Indigenous language expert Professor Jakelin Troy, joins linguistics professor Nick Enfield, Professor of Oceanic Languages and Cultures, Bernard Rigo, founding member of the Australian South Sea Islanders, Emelda Davis and Ernie Dingo in a robust discussion on language use.
THIS LECTURE TOOK PLACE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY ON 25 MAY 2015 AS PART OF THE SYDNEY IDEAS PROGRAM. For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/competing_voices_pacific_forum.shtml
The panel brings together scholars who have direct experience of the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain. They discussed the historical roots, recent developments and challenges that civil societies in these countries are currently facing.
Chaired by Dr Lucia Sorbera, University of Sydney, speakers include: Larbi Sadiki, Assoc Professor of International Affairs at Qatar University; Walid El Khachab, Assoc Professor and Coordinator of Arabic Studies, York University; and Dr Ala'a Shehabi, co-founder of Bahrain Watch, an NGO working on transparency and accountability.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2015/civil_society_resilience_authoritarianism.shtml
In recent years, interest in contemporary Chinese art has exploded in Australia and across the world. Tonight some of Australia's most prominent curators share their thoughts on what makes certain artists stand out, and what might be the challenges of putting up the exhibitions in a cross-cultural context.
For more info and speakers' biographies see: tinyurl.com/of4lc9k
Training in cultural competence to allow people to work better in cross-cultural environments is becoming increasingly important in our globalised community. American trailblazer Professor Tawara Good, Director of the National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University, shares her experiences of establishing perhaps the world’s first cultural competence thought centre.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_tawara_goode.shtml
If research demonstrates that students who engage in an active, demanding, high-quality arts education are more likely to excel in their academic and non-academic lives, why has the recent review of the Australian Curriculum recommended reducing arts learning in our schools? Speakers include: Professor Michael Anderson (panel chair), Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney; Tom Alegounarias, President of the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW (BOSTES); Rob Carlton, a Silver Logie winning actor; Andrea Connell, the Principal of Sydney Girls High School; Professor Robyn Ewing, Professor of Teacher Education and the Arts at the University of Sydney; Professor Julianne Schultz, founding editor of Griffith REVIEW; and Tamara Winikoff, Executive Director, at the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA).
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/arts_as_learning_forum.shtml
One of Australia’s highest profile media executives Kim Williams talks about the enduring impact of arts education on his life and advances a strong case for the primacy of music education from a young age. "Music is a bedrock for good thinking," says Williams. Presented with the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/kim_williams.shtml
Cancer does not occur in a vacuum - it has a major impact on family, friends and colleagues. When a parent has cancer, the whole family experiences cancer. For a parent, there are many questions to answer. How much, and what to tell the children is a frequent concern. Do young children need different information to teenagers? What do we know about how children really feel regarding a cancer experience in the family?
Professor Kate White from the University of Sydney Nursing School answers these questions.
A Sydney Ideas talk from 24 September, 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_kate_white.shtml
Young people aged 12–25 are the highest at-risk group for experiencing mental health problems. They are also the group most likely to look for help and support online. Using the internet for social networking is their haven – but is it safe, reliable and helpful? Andrew Campbell from the University of Sydney Faculty of Health Sciences and Tracy Adams from Boystown discuss the issue.
A Sydney Ideas talk on 10 September, 2014 http://whatson.sydney.edu.au/events/archived/sydney-ideas-dr-andrew-campbell
An expert panel on 'War, Death and Memory' with leading Australian historians explores consequences of the Great War on individual lives and the national psyche.
The panel discussion marked the launch of the new University of Sydney 'BEYOND 1914' website, an interactive biographical database of students, staff and alumni who served in the First World War.
Panellists: Joy Damousi, Professor of History University of Melbourne; Professor Stephen Garton, Provost and Deputy Chancellor University of Sydney; Associate Professor Julia Horne, the University Historian and co-organiser of 'Beyond 1914 – The University of Sydney and the Great War'; Brad Manera, Executive Manager of the ANZAC Memorial, Hyde Park; Assoc Professor Mark McKenna, ARC Future Fellow in the Department of History University of Sydney; Kerry Neale, Curator at the Australian War Memorial; Dr Tamson Pietsch, ARC DECRA Fellow in School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry University of Sydney.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/beyond_1914_forum.shtml
Professor Raewyn Connell from the University of Sydney Faculty of Education and Social Work) gives her ‘last lecture’ celebrating 43 years of groundbreaking teaching and research, and a body of work that has reshaped the study of sociology.
Professor Connell is a recipient of the American Sociological Association's award for distinguished contribution to the study of sex and gender, and of the Australian Sociological Association's award for distinguished service to sociology in Australia. Her teaching fields have included general sociology, social theory, sociology of education, gender relations, sexuality, and research methods.
A Sydney Ideas talk on 5 September, 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_raewyn_connell.shtml
How do different forms of urban life get ‘under our skin’ shaping our bodies, souls and mental states? Prominent British sociologist Nikolas Rose considers some recent work in the neurosciences and its potential to revitalize sociology of urban experience.
A Sydney Ideas talk on 26 August, 2014: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_nikolas_rose.shtml
In January 2011 Egyptian people took to the streets demanding the fall of a corrupt and authoritarian regime. A revolutionary movement including women and men from different generations, social backgrounds, and diverse political and religious affiliations joined forces to ask for freedom, dignity and social justice.
More than three years on from this epochal moment, what are the main challenges that face the politicians, civil society, and the international community?
H.A. Hellyer, Brookings Institute, Anthony Bubalo, Lowy Institute, and Lucia Sorbera, University of Sydney share their views, personal experiences and expertise on the present and future of the region. They speak with award-winning Middle East correspondent David Hardaker.
The inaugural event in the lecture series 'A Continuing Spring: Arab and Australian views on social justice, equal economic development and cultures of freedom’.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/egypt_2011_2014_forum.shtml
Author Tara Moss on molded gender narratives, toxic silences, and damaging stereotypes. In conversation with Professor Elspeth Probyn and a fellow PhD candidate in the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney, Paul Priday.
More info: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/tara_moss.shtml
Good conversation is a rewarding and important part of social interaction. Professor Leanne Togher from the University of Sydney Faculty of Health Sciences shares her research into teaching people with brain injury the art and science of conversation, and shows how basic principles can benefit all who seek the rewards of satisfying conversation with the people close to them.
A Sydney Idea talk 14 May, 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_leanne_togher.shtml
The year 2012 marked the 40th anniversary of UNESCO’s 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It remains the only international instrument for safeguarding the world’s heritage.
Director of the Stanford Archaeology Center, Professor Lyn Meskell asks: how are emergent rights to the past being presented, promoted and prevented by particular actors internationally? One of UNESCO’s millennium challenges was the very issue of sovereignty in an increasingly transnational world and in the face of indigenous claims and rights that often conflict with nation states.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_lynn_meskell.shtml
What lessons should we draw from the First World War?
Professor Glenda Sluga will discuss the war's legacies from the perspective of its end, and the twinned principles on which a new postwar international order was to be established – namely nationality and the League of Nations. Her aim is to understand the relative significance of nationalism and of what contemporaries articulated as a 'new era of internationalism' in the last years of the war and in its wake.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_glenda_sluga.shtml
Lionel Shriver writes big, feelingful, socially and emotionally engaged novels of everyday horror, perversion and compulsion in the tradition of Flaubert and Wharton. We Need To Talk About Kevin, a novel in letters written by the mother of a school shooter, won the prestigious Orange Prize in 2005 and became an international sensation. In this Sydney Ideas session she talks to University of Sydney academic and poet, Associate Professor Kate Lilley.
For more info see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/lionel_shriver.shtml
Deirdre McCloskey, a well-known economist and historian, was until 1995 known as Donald. She tells her story since then, of happy and unhappy endings–mainly happy–and how becoming a new woman affected her academic work and her spiritual life.
A Sydney Ideas talk from 28 November, 2013 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2013/professor_deirdre_mccloskey.shtml
Since the fall of President Ben Ali in Tunisia, followed by those of President Moubarak in Egypt and Colonel Kaddafi in Libya, France has been one of the West’s strongest and most vocal supporters of the "Arab" street protesters against their leadership. This support, however, has proven to be more declamatory than tangible.
French diplomat EU chargé d'affaires to Syria, Anis Nacrour discusses the topic with Dr Rodger Shanahan, non-resident Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2013/anis_nacrour.shtml
In December 2001, after two years of searching for somewhere in Australia to put her archive, Germaine Greer was taken to the Numinbah Valley in South-east Queensland, to see an abandoned dairy farm that was for sale. It was the last thing she wanted, totally unsuitable as a site for a library, but the battered subtropical rainforest that clothed the upper slopes of the property needed her. Since then she has spent every spare cent on rehabilitating the forest, and set up a charity to continue the work after she has gone to be recycled.
White Beech tells the story of how Europeanisation has devastated our landscape and what we can do to restore its biodiversity and uniqueness. In Germaine's view conservation is too important to be left to politicians; it is time ordinary Australians began doing it for themselves.
THIS SYDNEY IDEAS LECTURE TOOK PLACE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY ON 27 October, 2013.
For further information and additional content see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2013/germaine_greer.shtml
Historian and commentator on women, gender and feminism in Egypt, Margot Badran joins Sydney Ideas for a conversation with the University of Sydney’s Lucia Sorbera.
Held on 15 October, 2013 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2013/margot_badran.shtml
One of Chile’s leading political scholars, Professor Ana Maria Stuven, joins Sydney Ideas for an informative presentation on the changing role of women in the public sphere in her country.
Held on 3 October, 2013 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2013/professor_ana_maria_stuven.shtml
2013 marks 150 years since the first of 55,000 Pacific Islander labourers (known as Australian South Sea Islanders or ‘ASSI’) were brought to Australia between 1863-1901, partly by kidnapping and in slave-like conditions to develop the sugar cane, pastoral and maritime industries. Over the past 20 years numerous community members have been involved in “The call for recognition” – a community initiated movement seeking federal government recognition of this community as a disadvantaged ethnic identity within Australia.
A panel of representatives from current governments, historians and ASSI representatives to outline the present situation and plans that are in development for formal ongoing assistance to Australian South Sea Islander peoples.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2013/the_call_for_recognition_of_the_australian_south_sea_islander_peoples.shtml
I’m not creative, but... playfully investigates the role of creativity in all career paths, well beyond the so-called creative industries. Academics Rick Benitez, Wendy Davis, Iain McCalman AO, Judy Kay, and Martin Tomitsch, representing diverse disciplines including design, history, IT and philosophy, explain their views on creativity and its role in their careers to date. A Vivid Ideas event.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2013/im_not_creative_but.shtml
The Australian Constitution has not been amended for more than 35 years. In fact, with only 8 of 44 total referendums successful, changing our Constitution is a notoriously difficult task. With a referendum proposed for the near future and the daunting task of achieving a ‘yes’ vote, what is the likelihood of constitutional change? Will Australians be ready to erase the racial discrimination in our founding document and include significant recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians? And what does it say about us as a nation if we don’t?
To celebrate Reconciliation Week 2013, join Dr Tom Calma AO, Associate Professor Sarah Maddison and Professor Anne Twomey in a discussion on national identity, Constitutional change and the next steps for reconciliation in Australia.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2013/the_c_word.shtml
Vivien Lovell is a visual arts curator and founder of Modus Operandi, an independent public art consultancy organisation based in the UK. She has managed numerous national public art commissions for clients including London Docklands Development Corporation. She explores the fundamentally positive contribution public art can make to creating communities.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2013/vivien_lovell.shtml
Professor Rana Mitter, History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Cross College, explores how the battered China of wartime became today’s superpower in the making – and why.
For more information and speaker's biography see: tinyurl.com/jbga4ql
For decades, particle physicists have searched for the elusive Higgs boson, the missing piece to the "Standard Model" that explains the world we see. In July 2012, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva announced that they found it.
In this 2013 Sydney Ideas lecture, theoretical physicist Sean Carroll explained why the Higgs boson is so important, talked about the enormous challenge physicists overcame to build the LHC and get it running, and considered what the future of particle physics will look like.
For further info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2013/sean_carroll.shtml
American art historian and art critic, Professor Thomas Crow from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York, is best known for his influential writing on the role of art in modern society and culture. For this presentation he turns his attention to 1960s Pop Art, and examines it enduring legacy beyond the international counter-culture it originally represented.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2013/professor_thomas_crow.shtml
A fascinating conversation with novelist and journalist Ahdaf Soueif who witnessed first-hand the Egyptian Revolution of January 2011. As the events in Egypt unfolded, she reported for The Guardian newspaper and her access to insider information played a key role in outsider understanding of the Arab Spring. Her published account of her participation in the revolution ‘Cairo: My city, our revolution’.
She talks frankly about her compatriots’ commitment to revolution, and the hopes and dreams for their country that remain two years later.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2013/ahdaf_soueif.shtml
China is undergoing a radical transformation that is changing the lives of everyone who lives there – and reporters have a ringside sea. Five years as the BBC’s correspondent in China have given Michael Bristow a unique insight into daily life and the often perplexing political system in China.
For more information and speaker's biography see: tinyurl.com/jma6l5o
Professor Elizabeth Grosz addresses the complex relation between Francis Bacon and Gilles Deleuze, who wrote one of the most perceptive and sympathetic books on Bacon’s painting, Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation. Both Bacon and Deleuze, argues Grosz were interested in the possibilities for presenting and perceiving forces that are normally imperceptible - forces of magnetism, gravity, causality and chance, forces of aging and disintegration.
The lecture was co-presented with the Power Institute and the Art Gallery of NSW exhibition 'Francis Bacon: Five Decades'.
For further info about this lecture and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2012/professor_elizabeth_grosz.shtml
The incoming Director of University of Sydney’s China Studies Centre Professor Kerry Brown explores the new leadership of the Chinese Communist Party in China. He offers an assessment of the Hu and Wen period, and suggests how the future leaders will deal with a transition into an era in which the greatest challenges will be socio-political.
SPEAKER: Kerry Brown, Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Sydney
Journalist Stephen Crittenden chairs a fascinating and robust conversation about the current state of Europe. What do historians say we can learn from history about how to manage the current crisis?
Panellists include: Patricia Clavin, Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford; Professor Patrizia Dogliani, Professor of Contemporary and Modern European History at the University of Bologna; Dr Marco Duranti, University of Sydney; and Glenda Sluga, Professor of International History, University of Sydney.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2012/why_history_matters_forum_2012.shtml
Many of those who engage with the Chinese world encounter the stories that are told about China–there is the monolithic narrative of the party-state, the multiple stories of individuals, companies, communities, and then there are the array of accounts told about China, some that try to deepen understand others that evoke. Geremie R Barmé considers how some of these stories have come to be told, by whom and for whom, and what this may mean for those who pay attention. This lecture will also introduce The China Story, a publishing and Internet project being launched by the Australian Centre on China in the World.
For speaker's biography see: tinyurl.com/jma6l5o
Les Malezer is from the Butchulla/Gubbi Gubbi peoples in southeast Queensland. He has extensive experience in campaigning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights. On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, his presentation discusses how Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have greater capacity to take advantage of the legal opportunities and build social capital through ‘Indigenous Knowledges’, increasingly recognised in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2011/les_malezer.shtml
Ban Ki-moon was the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations. His priorities have been to mobilize world leaders around a set of new global challenges, from climate change and economic upheaval to pandemics and increasing pressures involving food, energy and water. He has sought to be a bridge-builder, to give voice to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, and to strengthen the organisation itself.
More info: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2011/ban_ki_moon.shtml
Pablo Picasso painted his large scale Guernica (1937) in response to the bombing of the Spanish town by German and Italian forces during the Spanish Civil War. Art historian T J Clark discussed Guernica, examining how a work of such enduring political resonance emerged. He looked at the step-by-step creation of Guernica, taking advantage of the set of photographs of the work in progress taken by Dora Maar.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2011/professor_t_j_clark.shtml
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda charts an agenda of hope that can guide us towards a reconciled Australia. Commissioner Gooda argued that effective engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should drive the work in the three key areas identified. His central thesis being, that without effective engagement the reconciliation agenda will stall.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2011/mick_gooda.shtml
What do we learn when we revisit scientists' past worlds? How might one write a life as famous as Charles Darwin's? Why is biography the best-selling genre of all?
Pre-eminent Darwin scholar and Harvard Professor of the History of Science Janet Browne, talks with University of Sydney historian Professor Iain McCalman, about the challenges and delights of the biographical genre for historians. In conversation with Alison Bashford, this is an evening that probes the intellectual life of these keen observers and interpreters of the world of Victorian science.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page:http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2010/why_biography_matters.shtml
Astronomical interests prompted a series of entries by European travellers into the Pacific. In studies of the complex motives and effects of these expeditions, it has been common to treat astronomical interests either as rationales for more profound political and economic enterprise, or as of a strictly utilitarian character.
Simon Schaffer, professor in the history of science at the University of Cambridge, looks at the cosmologies on which certain forms of European astronomy depended, and how the Pacific encounters changed and reoriented their meanings.
For further info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2010/professor_simon_schaffer.shtml
Do we need our history to be global? Work, leisure, war and peace, these are some of the themes that historians are now mapping onto a global past.
Join historians David Armitage, Joyce E. Chaplin and Erez Manela from Harvard University, along with Sunil Amrith from Birkbeck College, University of London, in a conversation led by Glenda Sluga from the University of Sydney, as they talk about how they approach the past globally, and hear the stories that they have to tell about our round world.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2010/why_history_matters_forum_2010.shtml
The award-winning author and University of Sydney Alumna Kate Jennings, with her brother, Mambo founder Dare Jennings, discuss how they combine their creative passions and imaginations with a unique entrepreneurial spirit. Dare might be the most obvious entrepreneur but writers are entrepreneurial: every day the blank page, every day an act of invention. Anyone can try out an idea and throw it into the ether. But what does it take to make an idea work? ABC Radio broadcaster, writer and musician James Valentine hosts the discussion.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2010/kate_jennings.shtml
How to modernise art for a modern China? What ideas and practices should China adapt from the West? Such questions figured prominently in intellectual debate about modernisation at the start of the twentieth century. Within a few decades, art in China had undergone dramatic change, from conception through production to reception. This public lecture will look at Chinese art practice and art debate at the time with a focus on the first Chinese national art exhibition in Shanghai in 1929.
SPEAKER: Dr Yiyan Wang, Chair of Chinese Studies, the University of Sydney
For speaker's biography see: tinyurl.com/jyxabv3
This forum and open discussion with Australia’s leading China commentators was hosted by Dr James Reilly, Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney.
Participants included: Professor Michael Wesley, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy Dr Richard Rigby, Executive Director of the ANU China Institute Dr John Garnaut, China correspondent, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
Chaired by Professor David Goodman, Chinese Politics, University of Sydney.
A Sydney Ideas lecture by James E Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute.
Trained in physics and astronomy, Hansen is best known for his Congressional testimony on climate change in the 1980s that helped raise broad awareness of global warming. He has been an active researcher in planetary atmospheres and climate science for nearly 40 years, with the last 30 years focused on climate research, publishing more than 100 scholarly articles on the latter topic.
Time Magazine designated Dr. Hansen as one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2006, a tribute to his continuing efforts to serve the public through his scientific work.
For more info see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2010/professor_james_hansen.shtml
Confucius (traditional dates 551-479 BCE) lived during the waning years of the Zhou dynasty. He was deeply troubled by the disorder of his age and took it upon himself to teach others about Zhou virtues as well as to instruct them on how to cultivate such virtue in themselves. Confucius’s efforts mark the beginning of the traditional Chinese emphasis on education and the crucial role of self-improvement and self-cultivation in any ethical system. Some of his followers refined his teachings on the importance of education while philosophers from competing schools of thought rejected Confucian ideas as outmoded and ineffective.
First Emperor of Qin (239-210 BCE) assumed the throne as king at a young age and was aided and tutored by a brilliant minister named Lü Buwei. The young king eventually outgrew his minister and aggressively took over the reins of government himself. He conquered his enemies and created an empire in 221 BCE. The First Emperor appointed as his chief minister an accomplished legalist thinker named Li Si. Together they created a philosophy for empire based on the primacy of law, the high (and almost god-like) status of the emperor, and a system of universal standards that embraced everything from thought to weights and measures. These features of his rule continue as hallmarks of Chinese governance to this day.
SPEAKER: Professor Jeffrey Riegel, Professor and Head of School of Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts
In 2004, construction began in Jerusalem on the local branch of the Los Angeles-based Museum of Tolerance, designed by the leading American architect, Frank Gehry. The museum is now being built over the remains of what had been the largest and most important Muslim cemetery in Palestine, which had been in continual use from the time of the Crusades up until 1948.
Professor Saree Makdisi examines the clash between the two competing claims to the same site, and offers a paradigmatic case to explore and rethink the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, since all of the elements of the larger conflict are also in play in the struggle over this specific site.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2009/excavating_memory_jerusalem.shtml
SPEAKER: Professor David Goodman, Professor of Chinese Politics, and Director, Institute of Social Sciences
Mao Zedong (1893-1976) is best known as the founder of the People’s Republic of China. He led the Chinese Communist Party from 1935 until his death, and brought it to political power in 1949. Mao is well known as a revolutionary, a guerrilla leader, a political and military strategist and icon for post-modern art. During the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution that started in the mid-1960s he attacked the establishment of the new party state in China for “succumbing to the sugar coated bullets of the bourgeoisie”, though his motives have always been a matter of controversy inside as well as outside the People’s Republic of China. Mao himself was always anxious to be seen as an ideologist, as well as an active revolutionary. The lecture will introduce the different and often competing strands in his ideology, which remain an important legacy for China today.
How does the past shape the present? Should history play a role in shaping politics today? Should we be held accountable for the wrongs of the past? Does history divide or unite us? Join prominent Australian and American scholars for an open discussion of these and other issues. Panellists will also explore how and what we remember collectively, and how this contributes to our sense of patriotism, nationalism, or indeed, alienation. With: Bob Carr, former Premier of New South Wales; Professor David Blight, Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University; Professor W. Fitzhugh Brundage, University of North Carolina; Profesor James T. Campbell, Stanford University; Professor Jonathan Hansen, Harvard University; and Professor Glenda Sluga, the University of Sydney,
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2009/why_history_matters.shtml
At the same time that we have been developing the capabilities to detect distant Earths, we have also been finding that life on Earth occurs in places that earlier scientists would have considered too hostile to support life. We now know that extremophiles can exist (and sometimes thrive) in the most astounding places.
Since life-as-we-know-it is so extraordinarily hardy, might it exist on any of the exoplanets that are being found?
In this 2009 Sydney Ideas lecture, professor Jill Tarter discussed what was then known about life on other planets, as well as the questions that would likely remain unanswered until new technologies enable new explorations. She argued that it might even turn out that our first indication of another inhabited world will be the signals deliberately generated by its inhabitants.
For more info see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2009/extremophiles_exoplanets.shtml
Artist, curator and producer Fiona Winning discusses the often problematic relationship between the hard and soft infrastructure - of arts buildings and the artists and organisations that work in them.
This lecture was the 2009 Rex Cramphorn Lecture.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2009/rex_cramphorn.shtml
Dr Sara Roy, a senior research scholar at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University, explained how the "stunning" economic and social changes of the past decade in Israel and the Occupied Territories have undermined the possibility of peace in the region.
Dr Roy was in Australia to deliver the University of Adelaide's Edward Said Memorial Lecture.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2008/beyond_occupation.shtml
Professor David Armitage is an internationally acclaimed historian and a world expert on empire-building and British history. In this thoughtful and well-researched lecture, the Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History at Harvard University turns his attention to the compelling area of civil war, a war he describes as one of the “most ferocious forms of human conflict” in history.
“Civil war remains a global scourge and one that shows no sign of disappearing any time soon.” – Professor Armitage
For further information and additional content see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2008/civil_war_rome_iraq.shtml
Executive Director of New York-based Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth gives compelling evidence of the way some of the world’s greatest human rights violators are calling themselves democrats. And, he argues, it is the west’s willingness to “close one’s eye” to these regimes that allows them to do so.
“What they get away with is this label of legitimacy and in many ways I guess the question to ask is: why do we let them?” – Kenneth Roth at Sydney Ideas
For further info see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2008/despot_masquerading_as_democrats.shtml
Prominent Palestinian-British author and academic, Dr Ghada Karmi, had just released her book - Married to Another Man: Israel's Dilemma in Palestine, when she spoke at Sydney Ideas in 2007 to say the two-sate solution promoted by the West is no longer viable.
Dr Karmi was in Australia as the presenter of the 2007 Edward Said Memorial Lecture at the University of Adelaide.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1974
An Australian-born University of Oxford ethicist, who argued for allowing drugs in sport, speaks on the controversial ethics of cloning, stem-cell research and human enhancement.
Professor Savulescu argues that a "new science", which uses radical techniques such as genetic engineering, is needed in order to enhance people's lives rather than just prevent and treat disease.
For further info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1848
The London-based historian, political campaigner and prolific author Tariq Ali argues that Middle East should look to Latin America.
Pointing to the success of Venezuela's leadership under the seven-times elected President Hugo Chávez, the author of Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope (2006), said that a new level of unity lead by radical new leaders has had a "massive impact" on South America.
New pride has emerged in Latin American countries, said Ali. "You can see it in the way they walk." At the same time, the contrast to the Middle East "couldn't be greater."
Alis said that hope came in the knowledge that political and social change was constant and discussed the future impact China's economy will have on the dominance of America as a world power.
For further information and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1795
UK activist, historian and author Tariq Ali took the Sydney Ideas audience through a world divided between privilege and poverty and demonstrated the situation in Latin America could not be more different to the Arab world. Both Latin America and the Arab world have sparked intense hostility from the West by challenging neoliberalism, but according to Ali, the resistance in the Middle East is divided and without the social vision to unite people.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1795
In Australia to deliver the University of Adelaide's Edward Said Memorial Lecture, eminent Israeli academic, author and linguist Tanya Reinhart argued that speaking out against Israel's handling of the Palestinian conflict is the best act of solidarity one can show towards Israelis and the Jewish people.
"When I think of Edward Said, I not only think about a voice of reason and justice, but also a life in exile, losing the landscape of your childhood," she said.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1333
Dr Jordi Bonet, the Spanish architect who is completing the Sagrada Família Church, Gaudí's unfinished masterpiece in Barcelona, shares his incredible knowledge of the ongoing renovation project.
For more info and speaker's biography see this page: http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1083
Are we running out of planet? Do economies self-correct or self-destruct when operating as if resources are limitless? How do we meassure our footprint and what do we do once we know this?
In this 2006 Sydney Ideas lecture Mathis Wackernagel, co-creator of the Ecological Footprint concept explored these questions and demonstrated how the meassuring tools can help in better management of our ecological assets.
Robert Fisk, arguably the most distinguished foreign correspondent of his generation, has witnessed many of the most important and savage events in recent history, reporting on two US wars in Iraq, two Afghan wars, the Israel/Palestine conflict, Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, and the civil war in the former Yugoslavia.
Fisk has also been the most compelling voice against British and American intervention in the Middle East.