Sydney Ideas

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 po

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

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, Facul

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, econ

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

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 ana

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?

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 Nicholso

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 lifesty

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

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 th

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 ad