What's On at UWA

The UWA Business School Centre for Social Impact is delighted to announce the 2nd annual Indigenous Business, Enterprise and Corporations (IBEC) Conference to be held at UWA Business School on 3 –4 December 2012.

The theme of the 2nd IBEC Conference is Growth and New Opportunities for Indigenous Business.

Conference Streams;

- Indigenous business, enterprise and entrepreneurship in action

- Native Title trusts, agreements, and Corporations

- Corporate and Government Indigenous business partnerships

- New opportunities and emerging sectors: Finance, education, housing, tourism and the arts

- Research in the IBEC sector

Abstract Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by repeated collapse of the upper airway during sleep. It affects 4 - 9% of the adult population. Obesity is a major risk factor for OSA. Research and awareness of OSA is slowly but steadily on the rise and so are the co-morbid conditions associated with OSA such as metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. The Information Technology (IT) boom in India has resulted in improved economic status for the country but this has been accompanied by increased consumption of junk food and a more sedentary lifestyle - changes which are driving an obesity epidemic in India. This epidemic will result in an increased incidence of OSA and its associated co-morbid conditions. This presentation will highlight the current status of sleep medicine and sleep research India, with a particular focus on OSA.

Recent years have witnessed significant growth of Indigenous businesses and community enterprises around Australia. Native Title agreements are providing new opportunities to transform economic and social outcomes for Traditional Owners and Indigenous communities.

This breakfast brings together a panel of Indigenous leaders to examine the state of the Indigenous economy in Australia and consider how new opportunities can be created and built upon to improve economic and social outcomes for Indigenous people.

The panel will consider issues surrounding the balancing of cultural values and economic opportunities and the role the corporate sector and governments can play in enhancing the environment for growth. It will also consider the barriers faced by Indigenous businesses and the challenges of transforming the benefits of Native Title agreements into sustainable opportunities.

This breakfast coincides with the UWA Business School Centre for Social Impact’s 2012 Indigenous Business, Enterprise and Corporations Conference being held on campus on December 3 and 4.

Price: Members $45 / Guests $55 / Table of Ten $450 Price includes a two-course, sit-down breakfast and panel discussion.

Presented by: The State Library of WA

Dr Wade Davis (Canada) is a best-selling author, intellectual, photographer, Explorer-in-Residence for the National Geographic as well as a noted two-time TED Talk speaker.

Described as “A rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet and passionate defender of all life’s diversity”, Wade Davis is perhaps the most the most articulate and influential western advocate for the world's indigenous cultures.

Through his work as a Harvard Anthropologist and Ethnobotanist he spent years living and working in the jungles of South America as a plant explorer. In more recent years he has travelled to and lived with Indigenous communities in some of the most remote places on the planet.

Against a backdrop of extraordinary stories that ignite the imagination, Wade Davis explains the importance of ancient wisdom in teaching us valuable lessons in how to protect the future of our earth.

The talk will be followed by a book signing. Books will be available for purchase.

The State Library of Western Australia would like to thank its major partners and sponsors: National Geographic Channel, ABC 720, Creative Innovations 2012 and UWA Publishing. TICKETS: $39 plus ticketing fee. Cost includes finger food and drinks. Tickets will be on sale via www.ticketek.com.au / 1300 795 012

Learn how to how to make the most of your WACE results and achieve your study and career goals.

For Year 12 students and their parents, applying for university can be a daunting process.

This session will provide you with information on UWA courses, admission requirements and how to structure your TISC preferences.

UWA Admissions staff will be available to answer any questions you may have following the presentation.

St George's College at UWA invites you to a service of readings and carols with the UWA Winthrop Singers. The same service will be on two nights at 7pm Thursday 13th and Friday 14th December. Free event but we invite you to make a donation which will be shared between the choir development fund and overseas development aid.

Please note that there is no parking on the college grounds

UWA Publishing's Big Book Sale. Saturday 15th December, 9am-12pm. UWAP carpark, UWA Claremont campus, cnr Goldsworthy & Princess Rd, Claremont. Fantastic books from UWA's publishing house, at warehouse clearance prices! Nothing over $20, don't miss out!

Professor Michael Burawoy who is the 2013 UWA Business School Visiting Professor will present a public lecture as part of the Contemporary Issues in Employment Relations Series.

Abstract: The world is currently living through multiple crises including the ongoing global financial crisis, the Arab Spring, pervasive work insecurity and the present and looming ecological disasters. In this lecture, Professor Burawoy will consider new social movements that have emerged in response to these, and their source in the different manifestations of neoliberalism and its impacts on labour, finance, nature and knowledge. How should we characterise these movements, what can we attribute them to, and what can we glean from them in terms of future forms of engagement both broadly, and in relation to work and labour?

Professor Burawoy is a longtime member of the sociology department at the University of California at Berkeley and the current President of the International Sociological Association. Professor Burawoy was the former president of the American Sociological Association.

Join Stephen Scourfield as he takes you on a pictorial journey through his new novel As the River Runs, a powerful ode to one of Australia’s most stunning regions. In the Kimberley water is plentiful, but in Perth it’s precious, and political. When ex-greenie Dylan Ward takes a group of city pollies through the wild river country, their journey takes some unexpected turns.

As a novelist, photographer and travel editor of The West Australian, Stephen weaves stories and images together.

THINGS TO KNOW This talk runs for an hour with time for questions. Books will be available for sale and signing by the author.

Tickets $29 Concession available

The celebration of The University of Western Australia’s centenary in 2013 gives pause to think about the luminous ideas that shaped the contemporary world and the possibilities for tomorrow. The focus of this symposium will be on moving from ideas of modernism to post-modernism to an increasingly global and virtual reality and the new ideas that will shape the next hundred years.

Cost: $75/$70 (concession). Register online at http://www.ias.uwa.edu.au/conf/2013-doi

The Alumni Weekend presents a unique opportunity to celebrate the University's centenary. It offers a diverse program of activities, events and reunions, including a Welcome Cocktail Party, seminars, lectures, panel discussions, tours and the launch of the Shaun Tan Sundial, Centenary plant, music CD entitled Luminosity, Musical Treasures from UWA and the history of UWA book entitled Seek Wisdom.

Lectures and seminars will be presented by prominent UWA alumni including Sir Rod Eddington AO, the Hon Geoff Gallop AC, Nobel Laureate Professor Barry Marshall AC CitWA, Professor Steve Hopper AC, Professor Peter Quinn (The Square Kilometre Array), mountaineer Patrick Hollingworth and Geraldine Doogue AO.

The festivities begin with LUMINOUSnight where the campus will come alive with art and illuminations that celebrate UWA's history and its key alumni, teachers and researchers.

For booklovers, there is the Writers' Corner which will showcase the brilliance of our award winning writers.

The UWA residential colleges are offering accommodation for those who require it as well as hosting sundowners and dinners on the Saturday night for those who would like to attend.

You can book events by visiting http://www.centenary.uwa.edu.au/

All queries can be answered by contacting the Alumni Weekend team on 61 8 6488 4773 or by email at [email protected]

From 7pm until midnight on Friday 8 February 2013, the UWA Crawley campus will be transformed into a walk through phantasmagoria presenting a rich program of performances and displays that celebrate key moments and individuals in the University’s glowing history.

With more than 250 artists involved in this spectacular program, there is something for everyone including music (classical, world, folk, pop and jazz); dance, theatre and multi-media performances; readings; a silent film with a live original score; a spectacular architectural projection onto Winthrop Hall; projected portraits onto prominent campus trees; virtual augmented reality images embedded in the landscape; street performances; giant articulated puppets; exhibits of light-art, science-art and astro-photography; and a fire finale.

Visit www.luminousnight.uwa.edu.au for full program details, performance times and information on refreshments, parking and special bus services.

LUMINOUSnight is the University’s 100th birthday gift to the people of Western Australia.

A lecture by Professor Norah Keating, Director, The Global Social Initiative on Ageing.

In this presentation, Professor Keating speaks about her journey toward answering the question, ‘age-friendly for whom’? To illustrate the tremendous diversity in both people and place, she draws on examples of communities such as retirement villages in rural Canada and high-density urban settlements in urban South Africa; and of active engaged older persons and those who are marginalized as a result of poverty and poor health. She argues that an age-friendly community is one in which there is a good fit between the needs and preferences of older persons and community features and resources.

Viewing age-friendly as a measure of goodness of fit between communities and their older residents provides a platform for examining what community resources and needs might be most compatible with which groups of older residents. It moves the focus away from somewhat static evaluations of whether communities have a set of requisite features toward an examination of what opportunities they afford and to whom.

You are invited to an informal Open Day at the UWA Turf Research Facility to see how different water allocations, in combination with wetting-agents, have influenced the development of dry-patch. A brief presentation will commence at 10:15am sharp. Please remember to wear sturdy footwear, as the site is very sandy. RSVP appreciated

As with all international students who come to study at UWA, AusAID students face many challenges. They need to understand local geography, adapt to our cultural and social norms, adjust to a different climate and food and quickly come to terms with their role and responsibility in the UWA community. While the staff in the International Centre provides a comprehensive orientation program, it can still take some time for these students to settle in to their new environment.

The AusAID Connect program was established to provide our AusAID students with the experience of meeting and spending time with a local family. Jointly run by the Alumni Relations office and the International Sponsored Student Unit at UWA, it gives you, as a UWA alumnus, the opportunity to make a positive difference in the life of a student adjusting to being so far from their home, by hosting them at a dinner in your home.

Alumni interested in being involved firstly need to fill out the program registration form and sign the authorisation. We will then review all applicants and match the students with alumni families based on information provided by both parties. As a part of this matching process we may contact you by telephone. Participating alumni will then receive information on the student as well as the country and culture from which they come.

If you are matched with a student you will need to attend a function on Friday, 8 March 2013 which is for all participating alumni, families and students to meet, start to get to know each other and arrange your hosting dinner.

Close of Applications is the 21st of February

In this talk, Sharon Farmer, Professor of History at University of California Santa Barbara will use examples from Medieval and Early Modern Europe to challenge the major tenet of twenty-first century conservatism that, when it comes to taking care of those who cannot take provide for themselves, societies that rely on systems of private charity are far superior to those that rely on government sponsored systems of social welfare.

This lecture is presented by the Institute of Advanced Studies and the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at The University of Western Australia.

The O-Day Festival is a great opportunity to get involved with the social side of uni and activate your Guild membership, join clubs and societies and then wrap up the day with a huge concert on the Oak Lawn!

Headlining the O-Day Festival are hot Australian band, Last Dinosaurs - who are here as part of their First Degree Tour. Other acts include Sun City, DJ Lindsay, and some other special guests!

Time: 11am - 6:30pm (Concert starts at 2pm!) Place: James Oval and Oak Lawn, UWA When: 22nd February, 2013 Who: EVERYONE.

Don't miss the biggest student event on campus and and the best way to kick start your uni year!

The 2013 Guild O-Day Festival is an alcohol and drug free event.

There is a popular view of biological development which goes something like this. Biological form is the cumulative result of internal genetic forces and external environmental ones. Like all models in biology this rather neat view had the advantage of allowing researchers to navigate a path through the bewildering complexity of organic life. But like all metaphors it comes at the price of bewitchment. As Wittgenstein writes in Philosophical Investigations 115: “a picture held us captive and we could not escape it because it lay in our language”. One consequence of this bewitchment is that explanatory privilege was given to the internal 'code' enshrined in the DNA, a view most famously (or notoriously) associated with Richard Dawkins' gene-centric account of evolution. This apparently resolved a number of outstanding puzzles in theoretical biology notably the transmission of stable form across generations.

In this context, the Human Genome Project can be seen as the most fruitful failure in scientific history. Such a claim may seem puzzling, since the Human Genome Project might be considered a success, not least in the numerous promising advances in medicine that it presaged. Nevertheless, the somewhat hyperbolic claim that it would finally unlock the secret code which would reveal what it means to be human have been largely unfulfilled and with good reason. There never was such a code.

The last two decades in the biological sciences can be characterised by the slogan: Taking Development Seriously. Whereas the neo-Darwinian mathematical modellers tended to treat the actual process of development as a black box, a sustained effort is now underway to explain the relationship between evolution (phylogeny) and organismic development (ontogeny). One thing has become clear: the simple dichotomous picture of gene and environment is inadequate, even as a simplifying device. DNA rarely exists in isolation and where it does it is inert. There is no reason to give DNA causal or explanatory privilege in developmental processes. Rather, development is a complex and contingent process in which the developing organism constructs itself and to some extent its developmental environment from the resources at hand. The organism makes its own history albeit not in circumstances of its choosing.

If the code metaphor is no longer adequate what can replace it? In this talk I will suggest a new and hopefully fruitful analogy which might capture some of the complexities involved. I will compare the process of biological development to the construction of a Shakespearean play. As Shakespeare scholars have long known there are no definitive Shakespeare texts and it seems likely that Shakespeare never actually sat down and wrote Hamlet or Much Ado About Nothing. Rather the plays were workshopped and Shakespeare provided prompt notes to the players. The texts with which we are familiar are re-constructions of performances which have been handed down corrected and interpreted through numerous generations. Most crucially every new performance of Shakespeare is an interpretation be it a group of Lesbian players doing in Hamlet in Soweto or an 'authentic Elizabethan dress' performance at the Globe in London. Moreover, every performance takes place in a rich and complex interpretative environment and the audience plays as much a role in the play's construction as the author or players.

Similarly, all the natural world is a stage, or so I shall argue.

Dr. Richard Paul Hamilton completed a PhD on love as a social phenomenon, under the supervision of Professors Susan James and Jennifer Hornsby at Birkbeck College, The University of London. He works on moral philosophy, the philosophy of the emotions, the philosophy of action and the philosophy of social sciences with particular interests in the legal definition of morally contested concepts. His most recent publications have dealt with evolutionary psychology and love as an essentially contested concept. He is currently engaged in a project investigating the biological bases of moral conduct. Before arriving at Notre Dame, he taught at the University of Manchester, the University of Leeds and Manchester Metropolitan University.

UWA's free open and online courses begin with "Developing the Sociological Imagination" and "Ocean Solutions"

Registration is free

A trillion text messages are sent and received every hour. Every minute 48 hours of video is uploaded on YouTube alone. The “present” has never been as ever-present as it is now. Institute of Advanced Studies Writer-in-Residence Kunal Basu will discuss whether such a high premium on the instantaneous and the topical in our “fact rich” world obliterate historical imagination.

Free, but RSVP essential. Bookings: www.ias.uwa.edu.au/lectures/basu