What's On at UWA

This lecture will analyse two historical documents - two extremely popular films. Both belong to the rare cinema-released documentary-reportage genre: the first, The path of the Wild Beasts belongs to the most confidant phase of Italian colonial expansion, the other, Africa Blood and Guts to the era of Africa’s struggle for independence. Both films are pro-colonial, but the subordination of Africa is justified in opposite ways: unrestrained hunting in the 1930s and conservation in the 1960s. Looking at the films side by side it becomes clear that there is not a neutral, apolitical way of viewing nature. This becomes important if one thinks how European ideas have had a dominant role in shaping conservation policies and practices in Africa.

Equality is often assumed to imply gender equality but is that necessarily the case? Does it infer in the workplace, in a relationship or in politics? Are the dynamics of equality different in different situations? If so, how can we differentiate the shades of grey? Has the metro-sexual male gone too far trying to appease radical feminist demands for gender equality? These are some of the questions that will be discussed at the UWA Friends of Albany Philosophy Café. Join them to have your say or perhaps just be entertained.

Gen Y has become the most analysed - and most maligned - generation since the Baby Boomers. They are often labelled the 'Me Generation' by Boomer parents and employers who seem to have forgotten that this label was actually created for them. Hugh Mackay explores the social, cultural and technological influences of the past 30 years, and examines their likely impact on the ethos and values of Gen Y.

Award-winning poet and anthologist Alvin Pang will explore the history of Singaporean literature since the 19th Century, and the freedom it has created for this island nation to explore and shape its own ideas about who they are in the world and what they can be.

For nearly three decades Robert Naiman and his colleagues have been examining ecological processes in rivers and floodplains of the North American coastal rainforests and the savannas of southern Africa. Despite strong contrasts in climate and water regimes, there are a number of surprising similarities that impart ecological integrity. In both Ecoregions the characteristics of floodplain vegetation are intimately linked to flow regimes, floodplain soils acquire nutrients quickly and thereby contribute to robust plant growth, large mammals and fish play fundamentally important roles, and dead wood in river channels is paramount in shaping future ecological conditions. He will explore many of these similarities, and some contrasts, as an emerging understanding of basic ecological processes helps underpin improved resource management.

Projections of future growth such as 'Directions 2031' highlight the need to plan ahead and consider how we are going to accommodate increased population and the associated infrastructure. Hear how the mayors of Albany and Fremantle view the future of their historic port cities, and what role they see for heritage in a changing urban landscape.

Three art experts share their stories of three recent exhibitions close to their hearts. Visiting Albany to judge the 2012 City of Albany Art Prize, Jane Alexander, Jenepher Duncan and Chris Malcolm will give inspiring insights to three recent fascinating projects. The projects include a historical exhibition about Port Phillip Bay, a survey of contemporary Western Australian art at the Art Gallery of WA and an art technology project at the John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University.

We all know that school bullying is a major problem, but how many of us realise that many of Australian's most successful and interesting people were persecuted at school? One in four of Australian school children are bullied, but in the context of a lifetime our school years are fleeting. Ilustrating her talk with the true experiences of people such as Penny Wong and Charlie Pickering, author and comedian Fiona Scott-Norman shows how to give you and your children perspective and resilience. And the understanding that while being unpopular certainly sucks like a vacuum cleaner stuck on reverse, it's the long game that matters.

Fiona Scott-Norman takes us on a romp through her youth via really bad music and vinyl LPs which features music from white supremacists, William Shatner, Australian radio jock John Laws, dodgy Christians, and misguided football players. She takes us back to a more "innocent" time, when it was OK to be racist, sexist, or intolerant - or all three if you were a Christian recording artist. Fiona delivers this collection of artistic and sociological gaffes with irony and glee, so join her for one of the funniest nights out. Tickets $20, booking essential.

If you believe in the sensationalist portrayal of sharks in some media and Hollywood movies then you probably think that it is only a matter of time before sharks sprout limbs and leave the water to hunt us down on land. However, when you look at the facts the reality is that shark populations are in trouble in Australia and around the world. Up to 73 million sharks are killed every year to satisfy an insatiable and unsustainable appetite for shark’s fin soup, a traditional Asian dish thought to signify great wealth and prosperity of those who consume it. Most sharks serve as top predators at the pinnacle of the marine food pyramid and so they play a critical role in our ocean ecosystems. Directly or indirectly they regulate the natural balance of these ecosystems, at all levels, and are an integral part of them. As they usually hunt old, weak or sick prey, they help to keep the prey population in good condition, and therefore allow the healthy and strong animals to reproduce and pass on their genes. The effects of removing sharks from the ocean ecosystems, although complex and rather unpredictable, are likely to be ecologically and economically devastating.

The process the US uses to select major party presidential candidates is long, difficult and exhausting for both candidates and voters. It can also hurt the eventual nominees, because of the attacks that their co-partisans make during the struggle to obtain the nomination. Why does the US have such a process, which is unique among industrialized democracies? Prof Mayer will discuss the history of nominating systems in the US, the origins of the current primary system, talk about the 2012 process, and address possible reforms. Professor Mayer’s teaching and research interests are in American government and institutions (especially Congress and the Presidency) and campaign finance. He is the author of 'With the Stroke of a Pen: Executive Orders and Presidential Power' (Princeton University Press, 2001), 'The Political Economy of Defense Contracting' (Yale University Press, 1991), and 'The Dysfunctional Congress? The Individual Roots of an Institutional Dilemma' (Westview Press, 1999, with David T. Canon). His current research focuses on election administration in the United States, and the effectiveness of recent state-level campaign finance reforms.

Late in 1994, to the great excitement of the Western Australian community, Gilbert’s potoroo, believed extinct by 1906, was rediscovered near Albany. Fewer than 40 individuals survived, in dense scrub on the rugged Mount Gardner headland. A conservation program commenced immediately, aimed at bringing this fungivorous marsupial back from the brink. Seventeen years later there are three populations and close to 100 animals known. Dr Tony Friend traces this story and examines how collaboration between government agencies and the Albany community continues to contribute to this success.

Susan Swingler is the step-daughter of one of Australia's most revered writers Elizabeth Jolley. Abandoned by her father at the age of four, Susan had no contact with the Jolley family until they found and reclaimed her at the age of twenty-one. Why they were kept apart is the subject of her startling new memoir. The House of Fiction: Leonard, Susan and Elizabeth Jolley (Fremantle Press) tells the story of Ms Swingler’s painstaking quest to find her father and what she inadvertently discovered about the complex fabrications Elizabeth Jolley spun in her personal life.

In the mid-1940s, Ronald M Berndt collected 600 drawings in crayon on sheets of brown paper created by Aboriginal men living at Birrundudu, located in North-Central Norther Territory. This talk focuses on the origins of the images and the intentions of the artists - even at the time - to engage with a much wider and public audience, and analyses the nature of Aboriginal depictions of people, country and place prior to the commercialisation of their art that started at Papunya some 30 years later.

Be inspired to make music quickly and enjoyably with award- winning musician Andrew Winton. Learn how to get started on acoustic guitar and how to use theory for ‘dummies’ so you can jam with others.

Greg Hocking will help you to master the essential techniques and skills that will enable you to take better photographs inside and outside. The session will cover types of cameras to use, the best lens for a given situation and the camera accessories that can improve your photography.

Learn to draw and paint in a digital world. Express your artistic side with easy to use painting and drawing tools that work just like the real thing! Explore powerful and intuitive painting tools that let users of all levels work with a wide range realistic media. Learn how to turn your digital artwork into paintings you can hang. Recommended for anyone with the desire to paint in a digital medium.

Wind up the weekend with a glass of wine and the fabulous singer-songwriter Andrew Winton. Relax to his eclectic mix of styles and songs, his thought-provoking lyrics, his on-stage humour and storytelling, and his dynamic vocal range that has earned him comparisons with Sting, Steely Dan and fusion folk musician Harry Manx. Andrew is a musician truly doing it for the love of it.

UWA opens up the whole campus to the public.

Come and find out about the courses on offer, career options, scholarship opportunities, our valuable research, community programs and facilities.

There's also residential college tours, hands-on activities, live music and entertainment, and plenty of fun activities for the whole family.

Visit the UWA Albany Centre to discover all that UWA has to offer in the Great Southern. Academic advisers will be on hand to answer questions and provide advice on courses. 10am-12noon and 4-6pm.