Sydney Ideas

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 Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney

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 lifestyle. Co-presented with the Westmead Institute for Medical Research for Sydney Science Festival 2016.

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 SPEAKER: Professor Kristen Hawkes is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of Utah. Her principal research interests are evolutionary ecology of hunter-gatherers and human evolution. She is a member of the Scientific Executive Committee of the Leakey Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the US National Academy of Sciences.

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 the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade.

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 advises governments and local campaigns on planning and policies to maintain them. Dr Oliver Watts is a writer, practicing artist and cultural theorist. Oliver lectures in theory at The University of Sydney, Sydney College of the Arts. He writes regularly for The Conversation and Buro 24/7 on cultural and aesthetic issues of the day from architecture to fashion. His work looks at how power and authority is reified in cultural artefacts. He sees buildings particularly as manifesting cultural history and ideology, society’s concerns, hopes and biases. Not only do buildings mirror our society but they also help create the pattern of our lives. Oliver most recently spoke at the 2016 Vivid Idea Sydney event ‘Voice of the Artist: Age of the Image’.

The vocation of public service remains a cornerstone of Australian democracy. Yet its traditional virtues are under pressure. Too often exciting innovations have remained at the periphery, failing to deliver on their promise. New approaches to the designing, commissioning and funding of government services have yet to transform the centre of public administration. Bureaucratic structures, regulatory compliance systems and a culture of risk aversion have narrowed the manner in which public accountability and stewardship have been perceived. Yet, with political authority, governance can become more participatory and inclusive. Businesses, social enterprises and research institutions can partner with government agencies to become co-producers of public benefit. Sectoral boundaries can become porous and relationships collaborative. A new public service can emerge, based upon principles of flexibility, experimentation, facilitative leadership and organisational agility. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Professor Peter Shergold AC is Chancellor of Western Sydney University. He has had a distinguished career in the Australian Public Service. Peter headed a range of Commonwealth agencies and was Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet for five years from 2003. He now has a portfolio career serving on the Boards of AMP, Corrs Chambers Westgarth and QuintessenceLabs. He chairs Opal Aged Care. He remains active in public administration, having been appointed as the Coordinator General of Refugee Resettlement in NSW. In the tertiary education arena he chairs both the National Centre for Vocational Education Research and the Higher Education Standards Panel.