Archive for March, 2010

During an event on Saturday that celebrated the gold-mining heritage of the New England town of Uralla, the regional and cultural historian John Ryan said the town still had an “integrity” that it had “retained from the goldfield”.

The event, at McCrossin’s Mill Museum in Uralla, was the launch of a newly-published book on nineteenth-century gold mining and its impact on the history, folklore and landscape of the region.

Golden Words and a Golden Landscape, by J. S. Ryan, Arnold Goode, Robert Haworth and Peter O’Donohue, is subtitled “Essays on Uralla gold mining history and a Glossary of the miners’ language in Australia from the 1850s to 1905: a volume in honour of Arnold Goode, local historian”. It is a joint publication of Arts New England, the University of New England’s School of Arts, and Uralla Shire Council.

At the heart of the book is a unique 100-page glossary, compiled by Dr Ryan, of words and phrases that have a special significance (technical and social) in the context of nineteenth-century gold mining, collected from the published writings of Rolf Boldrewood, author of Robbery Under Arms. The book also contains essays on historical, archaeological, and “bushranging” themes related to the gold-mining era in Uralla.

In his Foreword to the book, Alan Atkinson, Emeritus Professor of History at UNE, says: “It is a combination of linguistic, geographical and archaeological learning – sense of language plus sense of place – and as such is a model of its kind, and a highly valuable contribution to our knowledge of the history of Australia and of New England.”

UNE’s Professor Jennie Shaw, who officially launched Golden Words and a Golden Landscape on Saturday, reinforced this assessment of the book’s significance. She said that, in tracing the influences of the gold-mining era on the character of Uralla, it was “an important contribution to the social history of the town”. Professor Shaw is both Head of the School of Arts at UNE, and Director of Arts New England.

Both Dr Ryan and the Uralla Shire Mayor, Councillor Ron Filmer, paid tribute to Arnold Goode, President of the Uralla Historical Society, for his tireless and meticulous work in preserving historical, industrial and social records of the Uralla region, and facilitating a wide range of research on the region’s economic, social, and natural history. Mr Goode responded by thanking the contributors to the book, which he said he would “cherish”.

Councillor Filmer provided a Preface for Golden Words and a Golden Landscape, in which he speaks on behalf of “the myriad supporters . . . who all hold such an enormous debt of gratitude to Arnold Goode for his on-site interpretations of the past, thereby keeping alive the deeper understanding of our distinctive and dynamic identity that has come down from colonial times”.

Dr Ryan spoke about Mr Goode’s family connections both to the working of the Rocky River goldfield and to the founding of the University of New England. (Those family connections include the University’s principal founder, D.H. Drummond.) He emphasised the vital role of Uralla – particularly in its active enthusiasm for adult education – in creating a social climate conducive to the founding of the University.

After talking about the social “freedom” (including “the need to recognise societal inequities”) that developed on the goldfields, Dr Ryan concluded that “gold revenues and societal wealth made possible the four passionately democratic university foundations – in Sydney, Melbourne, Dunedin, and Armidale”.

Clicking on the image of alluvial gold miners’ equipment from Rocky River displayed here reveals a photograph used as the frontispiece of Golden Words and a Golden Landscape. The photograph is captioned: “Arnold Goode examining a tipping frame near the entrance to the long tunnel at Rocky River.”

A medical student at the University of New England is travelling to Mozambique for three weeks in July to do volunteer work in an orphanage.

Eliza Wziontek (pictured here), who is in her second year in UNE’s School of Rural Medicine, will be travelling with a group of parishioners from her Sydney-based church, and will be staying at Zimpeto orphanage in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique.

She will be primarily assisting the staff of nurses and spending “one-on-one time” with the children.

“I want to really understand the differences between the two cultures,” Eliza said. “Having grown up in a privileged family and environment, I want to gain an understanding of what it must be like for the estimated 1.6 million orphans in Mozambique today. I just didn’t think that sending money was enough.”

She said she also felt that going now as a student would be beneficial to her, as she would like to work in a Third-World country after graduating.

The opportunity arose when one of the members of her church had a family member who worked at the orphanage and made arrangements for the group to visit. The orphanage houses approximately 300 children, all of whom need medical care. Eliza said she was most excited about spending time with the babies, as it was important for them to get the chance to play games and have “one-on-one time”.

As well as administering vaccinations to the children at the orphanage, Eliza will be travelling to a garbage dump where many children live and providing them with medical care and provisions.

A fund-raising dinner was held on the 6^th of March, and from this the group now has $40,000 to help the orphanage. Eliza has paid her own airfares and will be staying in the orphanage, where she will eat and live with the children so as to immerse herself in the culture.

Australia’s river scientists are watching the flooding of the Paroo, Warrego and Condamine River systems with great interest. “These river systems don’t conform to the textbooks,” said the University of New England’s Professor Martin Thoms. “We’re ‘writing our own textbook’ on how these highly variable river systems work.”

Professor Thoms, a leading authority on rivers, floodplains, lakes and wetlands in arid landscapes, believes that the behaviour of such systems will become even more variable under the influence of climate change.

“These floods in the Murray-Darling Basin are incredibly important in maintaining the resilience of Australia’s riverine landscape,” he said. “They will go some way to restoring the capacity of the river systems. There will be some short-term pain, but great medium-to-long-term benefit.

Last week, Professor Thoms witnessed some of the “pain” and assessed the massive gain when he travelled to the flooded areas with a camera crew from the Channel 9 current affairs program 60 Minutes. During the three-day trip he helped farmers rescue sheep while gaining a valuable insight into this once-in-a-hundred-years phenomenon. The flooding story – including Professor Thoms’s expert comments – will be broadcast on the 60 Minutes program this Sunday, 28 March, at 7.30 pm. After the program, people will be able to talk to Professor Thoms online about the causes and effects of such events.

“These floods have a beneficial impact on many aspects of the riverine environment,” he said. “Some of the big floodplain lakes are receiving water for the first time for many years. The last time that water from the Paroo got down into the Darling River was in the early 1970s.

“Animals, birds and plants all benefit. You see animals and plants coming out of dry soil – some of the plants growing up to two metres in two months. To see them bounce back to life is really amazing.

“The floods also have a huge influence on water bird movements. Birds from China, Japan and Korea follow the weather patterns and the floodwaters down through eastern Australia, where water bird populations have taken a real hammering in recent years.”

Professor Thoms and his colleagues are setting up a large interdisciplinary group, based at UNE, looking at all aspects of water in the environment. “I’m a fluvial geomorphologist by training,” he said, “but, after developing a more interdisciplinary approach, I now think of myself as a ‘river scientist’.

“We’re trying to understand how these river systems operate – and, in doing so, to produce information that can be used for the benefit of people and the environment.”

Clicking on the image displayed here reveals a photograph of Professor Martin Thoms.

A new agreement between the University of New England and Korea’s National Institute of Animal Science has established a framework for collaborative projects on livestock production and meat quality assurance.

During a visit to UNE last week, the Director of the Institute, Dr Seung Yong Ra, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Jim Barber.

“UNE has had a long and fruitful collaboration with the National Institute of Animal Science in Korea,” Professor Barber said. “The success of this collaboration so far, and the commitment of both our institutions to its continuation and expansion, all point to an exciting and productive future.”

The MOU recognises – and extends the scope of – a fruitful collaborative relationship that, over the past 14 years, has fostered a growing number of joint projects, exchange visits, training courses, and Korean PhD students training at UNE while working on Korean research projects.

The relationship began with work on Korean meat quality standards and assessment with UNE’s Professor John Thompson, who was a driving force behind the development of Australia’s unique meat grading scheme, Meat Standards Australia (MSA).

It then widened to involve UNE’s Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (AGBU) and The Institute for Genetics and Bioinformatics (TIGB) in collaborative work with the Korean Institute on the use of genetic information in livestock breeding. Professor John Gibson, the Director of TIGB, has visited Korea several times to coordinate this work, and is currently a co-supervisor (along with Professor Thompson, Professor Julius van der Werf, and Dr Cedric Gondro) of the PhD project of a Korean student, Mr Seung Hwan Lee, on the use of molecular genetic information in livestock improvement.

“New projects to be developed under the MOU will include applications in livestock genome research, research towards greener livestock systems, implementation of meat quality assurance programs, and improved methods of genetic improvement of livestock,” Professor Gibson said.

Professor Barber pointed out that all these were “areas in which UNE has internationally recognised expertise”.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Professor Jim Barber and Dr Seung Yong Ra with the signed MOU.

About four hundred school students have been visiting the University of New England over the past two days to experiment with the design, construction and operation of working models – including cars, aircraft, and catapults.

Secondary students from Armidale, Uralla, Guyra, Walcha and Dorrigo competed, today, in the Highlands Science and Engineering Challenge, and primary students from Armidale schools travelled to UNE yesterday for the Highlands Discovery Day.

Working in teams, the students soon had Lazenby Hall and the UNE Bistro alive with working hovercraft, balloon-driven cars, airships, and much more. (The catapults were built and tested outdoors.) They not only designed and built the models, but competed with them under handicap conditions that they had to take into consideration in their design.

“They’re given a problem and the materials to solve it,” said Dr Peter Lye, the coordinator of the event at UNE. “The really important thing they learn is that there’s not just one solution to the problem.”

“They can experiment with a number of different designs and come up with the optimum solution,” added David Steller, from Armidale Central Rotary Club, who chairs the organising committee for the UNE “Challenge” events.

The “Discovery Day” for primary-school students comprises the same activities as the “Challenge” itself, but without the competitive element.

Since its beginning 10 years ago, the Science and Engineering Challenge has grown into a national organisation that this year will engage 23,000 students from about 700 schools around Australia in science-based activities designed to show them that science can be enjoyable and rewarding.

The winning school in the Highlands Challenge was O’Connor Catholic College, with Dorrigo High School in second place and PLC Armidale third. Winning teams from the regional competitions will travel to Newcastle for the “Super Challenge” in August, and the State winners will go to Gosford for the national “Grand Challenge” in October.

This is the eighth year that UNE has staged “Challenge” events, and this week about 15 UNE staff members and six UNE students – together with a number of Rotarians – have assisted with the activities. UNE’s School of Science and Technology and School of Environmental and Rural Science provide support for the “Challenge” events at UNE, and the major national sponsors are the Australian Constructors Association and the Australian Government. Rotary plays a pivotal role in organising “Challenge” events around the nation.

Clicking on the image of airship construction displayed here reveals a photograph of students preparing their completed airship for flight.

The Chancellor of the University of New England, Dr Richard Torbay, yesterday officially opened the UNE branch of United Campus Bookshops (UCB) in its new location at the heart of the University’s campus.

UCB has been in operation at UNE since November 2001. Late last year, after nearly three years of planning, the shop (including retail space and administrative facility) moved to spacious new premises adjacent to the University’s central courtyard.

Mr Kristian Romuld, Chief Executive Officer of UCB, attended yesterday’s opening. “Over the years we have enjoyed being an integral part of the vibrant academic community at the University of New England,” Mr Romuld said. “Our move into this fantastic new space reflects the commitment we have to the University.”

In addition to adding much-needed additional shelving for academic texts, the new shop front has allowed for a new and extensive range of non-academic books to be available for browsing by staff, students and the general public for the first time.  Staff and student discounts apply to the non-academic as well as to the academic books.

The Chancellor, Dr Torbay, said he was delighted to have the honour of officially opening the bookshop, believing it to be a great asset to the campus and to the Armidale community.

“A significant amount of work has taken place to get this bookshop open, and I would like to congratulate all parties involved for working together to achieve this great outcome for the community,” Dr Torbay said.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, said that the new bookshop, while providing “an essential facility” for UNE, greatly enhanced the overall amenity of the University’s campus.

UCB is a family-owned, Australian business that has been operating bookshops for over 30 years. It started with TAFE colleges, and over the years has operated at 20 TAFE colleges and four university campuses. “The official opening of the bookshop is a timely opportunity to acknowledge the importance of the partnership between United Campus Bookshops and the University of New England,” Mr Romuld said.  “The opportunity to play a part in the growth of the University as it goes from strength to strength is exciting.  We look forward to continuing our support of the University community every step of the way, providing a first-class facility and first-class service for the general public, UNE staff, and students – both on campus and externally.”

A Welcome to Country by Mr Steve Widders, Community Liaison Office at Armidale Dumaresq Council, began the proceedings at the opening function yesterday afternoon. The Guyra Shire Mayor, Councillor Hans Hietbrink, acted as MC, and the Armidale Dumaresq Mayor, Councillor Peter Ducat, was among the guests.

Clicking on the UCB image displayed here reveals a photograph, taken at yesterday’s opening function, of (from left) Professor Jim Barber, Dr Richard Torbay, and Mr Kristian Romuld.

Arriving in northern NSW from rural Brazil in March 2004, Carina Bossu (pictured here) embarked on what she now sees as “an amazing journey” at the University of New England.

That journey, made possible initially by a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship, has included her successful completion of Master’s and PhD degree programs, her marriage to a fellow student, and her appointment to the staff of a major research project based at UNE.

It began with a 15-week program of English language training in UNE’s English Language Centre, which was then housed in the heritage-listed Newling Building (“the Old Teachers’ College”) overlooking the city of Armidale. “I had only basic English when I arrived – enough to survive,” Carina said. “And I must say the Australian accent was a problem at first.”

At the English Language Centre – and within the Armidale community – she met, for the first time, people from countries other than Brazil. “I was born and raised in a very small town in the countryside of São Paulo State,” she said, “where there was no opportunity for multicultural experience. But in Armidale I had it all. Having something to compare my Brazilian background with, I learnt much more about myself and where I come from.”

“Everything was so new to me I wasn’t even homesick,” she added. “I just couldn’t believe I had this opportunity. I tried to do as much as I could in meeting people, learning about Australia, and practising English.”

From the outset, her Armidale experience was enhanced by the support and friendship of her “Rotarian counsellors” John Turnbull and his wife Fran, who became – and remain – her “Aussie parents”.

Having satisfied the requirements of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Carina enrolled in UNE’s Master of Educational Administration degree program. Her approach to her Master’s research project so impressed her principal supervisor, Dr Robyn Smyth, that Dr Smyth encouraged her to go on to doctoral studies. She did so with such success that she will graduate from UNE as a Doctor of Philosophy next month (on the 16^th of April).

To assist her with her PhD studies, Carina was awarded a UNERA International Scholarship (“UNE Research Assistantship for International Student of Exceptional Merit”), and – to support her field work in Brazil – a Keith and Dorothy Mackay Postgraduate Travelling Scholarship. “I want to thank everyone – Robyn, my other supervisors, the University generally, and the Rotary Foundation – for believing in me and giving me the opportunity for further education,” she said.

She plans to develop her PhD thesis, titled Higher Distance Education in Brazil: Policies, Practices, and Staff Development, into a book for publication (in Portuguese) in Brazil, believing that it could assist the development of distance education in that country. “For the first time in Brazil, staff development is – to a certain extent – being encouraged by new policies on distance education,” she said. “But the policies need to be developed further.”

Carina Bossu and Darren Ellis met and got to know each other at UNE, and were married there, in the gardens of Earle Page College, on the 2^nd of May last year – less than a fortnight after Carina submitted her PhD thesis. Her parents travelled from Brazil for the wedding, and the couple reciprocated by travelling to Brazil for a second ceremony on the 18^th of July. “We have plans to experience other places and cultures,” Carina said, “and eventually become parents.”

Both Carina and Darren are now working at UNE – Darren as a lecturer in the School of Business, Economics and Public Policy, and Carina as a Research Fellow on a collaborative project (“DEHub: Innovation in Distance Education”) that, led by UNE, is paving the way for 21^st century developments in distance education both within Australia and abroad. Carina is conducting research on open education resources in collaboration with UNE’s partner universities. She is also leading an academic exchange project between four distance-education universities in Australia and four in South America, in which they will share information, build capacity, and establish links between the two regions.

“It’s a big transition from being a student, when everybody helps you with your own project, to doing a job, where you have to contribute to something much larger,” she said. “I’m starting to feel, however, that I am making a contribution.

“It’s been an amazing journey.”

The University of New England and Southern Cross University have announced that the third biennial Australian Seniors’ Choral Festival will be held this year from the 12^th to the 17^th of July.

The 2010 festival, to be held in Coffs Harbour, NSW, is being organised jointly by the two universities.

UNE’s Dr Terrence Hays, the Artistic Director of the festival, said that it was “a wonderful opportunity for older Australians to be actively involved in music making at a high level”. “Music is not only about emotions and life experience,” he said. “It is about connection with others, personal identity, and sharing the joys of life.”

The festival is open to anyone aged 55 or over who can read music and sing in tune. The varied repertoire will range from classic anthems to chorus excerpts and dynamic spirituals. “You don’t necessarily need to be a singer,” Dr Hays explained. “People with an instrumental background are also encouraged to participate.”

Christopher Allan, Senior Lecturer in Voice at the University of Newcastle, will be the Resident Conductor for the 2010 festival. He is well known as a conductor and singer with many choral groups including the Sydney Philharmonia Choir, The Song Company, and Cantillation. The festival’s patron is the internationally renowned Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe, and Kawai Pianos Australia is a major sponsor.

Music workshops throughout the first five days of the festival will be followed, on Saturday 17 July, by a final rehearsal and then a public concert (as pictured here).

The 2010 event builds on the success of festivals in 2006 and 2008. “The festival has provided fresh insights into the possibilities of ‘positive ageing’ for everyone involved,” Dr Hays said. “Feedback from participants has indicated that it has provided them with life-enhancing emotional experiences that are intensely personal, while at the same time enabling them to experience the joy of creative self-expression as part of a group.”

More information and a registration form are available at: http://www.une.edu.au/ascf.

Adrian Kiernander, Professor of Theatre Studies at the University of New England, is travelling to Las Vegas, where, in a public lecture, he will take residents of that glittering city on a virtual tour through the muddy streets of Shakespeare’s London.

Professor Kiernander’s Las Vegas lecture – part of the highly-regarded “University Forum” series of public lectures – is one of the scheduled events during his current visit to North America as an international authority on Shakespeare’s play Richard III. He is conducting research for an online edition of the play to be included in the Internet Shakespeare Editions (ISE).

In the lecture, titled “Richard the Third’s online London”, Professor Kiernander (pictured here) will track the events of the play on an online map of London dating from the mid-sixteenth century (midway between the events depicted in the play and its composition).

“Richard III is probably the first tragedy in the English language that uses so much local knowledge,” he said. “London is referred to more often in Richard III than in any other play by Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s audience would have had immediate associations with all the places mentioned.”

He compared the effect of the play on Shakespeare’s audience with that, today, of some films – particularly horror films – that depict frightening events against a background of recognisable landmarks. “The scary events are made all the scarier by seeing them happening in places you know well,” he said.

Professor Kiernander is visiting the University of Victoria in Canada, where the ISE has its base. From there he will go – at Easter – to Chicago, where he will deliver a paper about the online editing of Richard III at the 38^th Annual Meeting of the Shakespeare Association of America. “I’ll be discussing possible solutions to problems posed by some unusual differences in the two earliest versions of the text,” he said.

From Chicago he will go to the University of Nevada, Reno, to work with the technical editor of the ISE, then on to Las Vegas to present the “University Forum” lecture, and then back to Victoria in British Columbia.

Speaking of the online version of Richard III to be included in the ISE, he said that it would feature an interactive map enabling people to follow the action of the play through its late-medieval London setting. “It’s very much part of the meaning of the play,” he said. “This local knowledge produced a vividness that – over the centuries – has partly been lost. Reviving it will help actors and readers visualise what it really means to ‘go to Whitefriars’ or ‘to the Guild Hall’.”

Professor Kiernander was an associate director – with John Bell – of a production of Richard III that toured Australia in 1992, and last year co-directed – with Ruth Thompson – an experimental production of the play (in which Richard did not appear on stage) at UNE.

A forum allowing women who work at the University of New England (UNE) to voice their opinions about furthering women at UNE has been held to coincide with International Women’s Day, last week, March 8.

The seminar opened with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof Graham Webb, speaking about how important it was to try to create more effective ways of getting more women into higher management level jobs within the institution.

The forum was chaired by Prof Alison Sheridan who discussed the issues and barriers for development and progression that women at UNE face. Prof Sheridan also talked about possible solutions for these issues.

Issues that were discussed included chauvinistic stereotypes and attitudes, nepotism and stressful workloads. The difficulties of balancing work-life and home-life were also addressed.

The forum also aimed to find ways to create more avenues for women to reach higher level management positions.

Event organiser Bronwyn Kirk explained in detail some of the programs that are being put in place to further women’s opportunities at UNE, which included a Pathways to Promotion program, a Women and Leadership program (a series of workshops to develop and enhance leadership capacity amongst female employees), and a Female Shadowing Program which is being piloted in 2010.

Prof Victor Minichiello was one of only two men at the forum and stated that he felt that it was really important as a male who sat through and participated in the forum that “males need to be sensitized. They need to understand and be advocates and promote (awareness).”

The forum followed an all-day session held in late 2009, where women in more senior roles discussed furthering the careers of women at UNE.

Prof Sheridan commented that at this year’s forum there was a “broader voice”, as there were women from all departments, including both academic staff and general staff in all levels of positions. She also said that the forum brought out a “greater awareness of what women want”.

Dr Eliza Kent, Prof Alison Sheridan and Bronwyn Kirk all agreed that there were good suggestions made by the women who attended today’s forum and that there was now a clearer direction to take action on these issues.

Professor Sheridan also touched on the “momentum of women” and the feeling of empowerment that women have when they act as a whole. With continuing workshops throughout the year, there will be many further opportunities for women at UNE to make themselves heard.

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Bronwyn Kirk (left) and Professor Alison Sheridan displayed here expands to include Dr Eliza Kent and Professor Graham Webb.