What's On at UWA

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.

Professor Oliver Rafferty will look at religiously motivated violence and the attitude of religious authorities to them. As he examines the Crusades, the Church's attitude to political violence in Ireland and contemporary issues surrounding Islamic fundamentalist violence questions arise. Is the result of all this to undermine the role of religion as an instrument of peace in the world, and therefore to give ammunition to hostile non-believers who assert that religion in itself is fundamentally a cause of suffering in the world?

The UWA Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management (CENRM) has now been in operation in Albany for 10 years. During this time, a range of regional, national and international projects have been completed raising the profile of CENRM and Albany as a destination of quality research directed at solving, not just studying, environmental issues. Professor Davies will highlight CENRM research, talk about constraints of running a regional research centre and discuss future plans including the new Albany Sciences Building, the appointment of a Chair in Biodiversity (Professor Steve Hopper) how the Centre plans to further engage the community in our research programs. Professor Peter Davies is Foundation Director of the Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management at The University of Western Australia based in Albany. He currently leads a team primarily focussed on ecological health of rivers and streams, and particularly how to restore degraded landscapes in areas of intensive land use and escalating climate change. He is currently working in a range of regions including temperate and tropical Australia, island nations of the Pacific, India and western Africa. His interests also include training future water managers and how to deliver knowledge to ensure uptake by the community.

The loss of a life through suicide is the most feared and tragic outcome from mental ill-health. It’s also an outcome which is preventable, and we all need to know how. headspace Great Southern Manager Andrew Wenzel will speak about the need for more open discussion about suicide at a community level, as well as look at the understandable fear about talking to someone at risk of suicide. Andrew Wenzel is the Manager of headspace Great Southern , a local not-for-profit youth mental health and support service. He graduated in Medicine and worked for 10 years in state Mental Health Systems, before a fascination for people’s stories led him to a career change to Broadcasting, and a shift to Albany. A synthesis of these two career paths led him to his current position. He is passionate about mental health awareness and youth health.

Adjunct Professor Andrew Turk will facilitate a discussion on the topic 'Seeking Adventure'. Questions will include: Why do we seek challenges and dangerous thrills? Is it bad, or is it good for us? Do we always need to seek out adventure or does it sometimes find us? Philosophy of extreme sports; The notion of the sublime.

Increased consumption of resources is leading to a proliferation of global environmental problems that cast doubts on the capacity of the biosphere to continue to support our well-being in the context of a growing population. Ecologists and environmental scientists are busy documenting the deterioration of land and oceans. Yet alerting society to the risks and challenges ahead has proven ineffective to curve present trends, suggesting that a different dialogue is required to engage society in acting to ensure the best possible future for humanity.

A fresh view of the research we do reveals ample opportunities to deliver solutions to these challenges. The ocean represents a largely untapped reservoir of resources and opportunities, which offer a huge potential for innovation. Realizing these opportunities into specific outcomes requires a broad interdisciplinary approach and sufficient critical mass to take the extra step from excellence in research and technology to delivering ocean-based solutions.

Professor Carlos Duarte was appointed Director of UWA’s Oceans Institute in March 2011. He is currently leading the Malaspina 2010 Expedition, a Spanish circumnavigation expedition that is sailing the world’s oceans to examine the impacts of global change on ocean ecosystems and explore their biodiversity.

Peter le Breton is in love with excellence. He will share why pursuing excellence or expertise or mastery in virtually any field of endeavour can be blissful and deeply fulfilling. Even being an expert bank robber can be delicious—just ask Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Peter will explain why most people settle for mediocrity, for surviving instead of thriving, and why many of us are less happy and successful than we can be. Peter has pursued excellence in many areas of life, including family, business, sport and scholarship. He is happily married and has normally dysfunctional teenagers. He was Managing Director of Perth’s Down to Earth Bookshop for 15 years, became an Ironman triathlete at age 61, and is completing his PhD in this his 69th year.