Sydney Ideas

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

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

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

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