Sydney Ideas

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 p

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_

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

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

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

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