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 towa...
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 J...
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 environme...
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.
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 th...
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 1...
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-f...
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 ...
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 conne...
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 democr...
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...
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...
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 ...
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 bro...
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...
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 Edu...
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 t...
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; ...
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...
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/20...
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.
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_ide...
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...
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 Res...
