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

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

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.

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