What's On at UWA

Electoral reform is a hot issue in the United States, particularly since the election of President Donald Trump. This presentation will examine how US reformers are seeking to introduce distinctively Australian institutions such as compulsory voting, preferential ballots and independent electoral boundaries as a means of combating polarization and improving legitimacy in American politics. It will focus in particular on the recent adoption of preferential voting in Maine’s 2018 mid-term Congressional elections, the first time ‘our’ system has been used for national elections in US history.

Ben is a Professor in the School of Social Sciences at UWA, working on research and engagement in a range of policy and international issues across the Indo-Pacific. He was formerly Dean of the Sir Walter Murdoch School at Murdoch University, and prior to that head of the Policy and Governance Program and Director of the Centre for Democratic Institutions at the Australian National University (ANU), and has also worked with the Australian government, the United Nations and other international organisations, and held visiting appointments at Harvard, Oxford, and Johns Hopkins universities. As a political scientist, he has authored or edited seven books and over 100 scholarly papers, and received financial support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the United States Institute of Peace, the East-West Centre, the National Endowment for Democracy and the Australian Research Council.

A free weekly seminar series, with presenters from within UWA and from the wider community.

Get a taste of the variety of research happening in the Conservatorium of Music in this semester's three-minute thesis competition! Honours and HDR researchers showcase their research projects in concise presentations targeted towards a general audience.

Further information at music.uwa.edu.au

Peter Tanfield and Shan Deng from the University of Tasmania Conservatorium of Music perform much loved repertoire for Violin and Piano in the beautiful acoustic of Callaway Music Auditorium

Claude Debussy Sonata for Violin and Piano

Edvard Grieg Sonata for Violin and Piano in C minor Op. 35

Maurice Ravel Jeux d’eau for Piano Solo

Eugene Ysaye Sonata for Violin Solo “Ballade” Op. 27/3

Astor Piazzolla Three Tangos for Violin and Piano

Maurice Ravel Tzigane – Concert Rhapsody for Violin and Piano

Tickets $10 Concessions | $20 Standard

Contact details: [email protected]

$5.00 donation for non members

In his celebrated Rougon-Macquart series of twenty novels, Émile Zola sought to present a ‘natural and social history of a family’ during the years of the Second Empire in France, 1852-1870. This was a family filled with ‘ravenous appetites’ who diffused in to all strata of French society, from the world of labour, in works like L’Assommoir and Germinal, to the upper echelons of French society in novels such as Money and The Kill. This classic sequence has not been published in its entirety in English since the late nineteenth century, but a project by Oxford World’s Classics to produce new translations of the whole series in now nearing completion.

This talk by Paul Gibbard, who has recently published his translation of The Dream (the sixteenth novel in the series), will present an overview of Zola’s career as a novelist and explain how the Frenchman’s aims and ideas evolved over forty years. It will look at some of the problems faced by early English-language translators of Zola’s novels (and their perceived obscenity) before moving on to some of the questions modern translators must address – and the particular issues involved in translating The Dream.

Dr Paul Gibbard is Senior Lecturer in French Studies at the University of Western Australia. His research interests lie in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century French fiction and intellectual history. He has worked previously as an editor of the Complete Works of Voltaire at the Voltaire Foundation in Oxford and his publications include critical editions of Voltaire’s Questions on the Encyclopedia (2008) and Letters on the New Héloïse (2013), an edited collection of essays, Political Ideas of Enlightenment Women (2013), and a translation of Émile Zola’s novel The Dream (2018). He is currently working on a translation of the journal of the botanist Théodore Leschenault who travelled to Australia with the Baudin expedition of 1800-1804.

Special Collections – special viewing for members

Special Collections 2nd Floor Reid Library will be open on Tuesday 10th September 6.30pm – 7.15pm for members to view a selection of French materials from the collection before the start of the talk by Paul Gibbard.

Future Events

October 8th is a special event, the presentation of the Clérambault 1710 edition from David Tunley to the Special Collections, with a performance of the work by the Conservatorium of Music Irwin Street Collective. The venue will be the Eileen Joyce Studio Conservatorium of Music. Our final speaker for the year is Jill Benn, University Librarian and her presentation is “Library Place for Learning Space: Reflections in the Changing Nature of the Academic Library. Drinks and nibbles will be provided by the Friends of the Library after the 12th November talk

RSVP: Kathryn Maingard – [email protected] or 08 6488 2356 https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/translating-a-classic-french-novel-by-emile-zolas-the-dream-tickets-69820688559

Musica Viva Masterclasses offer the opportunity to see international artists working with talented music students, learning techniques to perfect their craft in an open lesson format.

Musica Viva presents the Emerson Quartet's Masterclass with violist Lawrence Dutton.

Bookings via the Musica Viva website, https://musicaviva.com.au/masterclass-emerson/

Muslims in India have lived alongside Hindus peacefully for many centuries. Yet in the contemporary period some politicians have orchestrated division for political ends, for example, during the Godhra-Gujarat riots in India in 2002 in which there were many Muslim casualties. Critics allege that the ruling party in Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and its leader Chief Minister Narendra Modi (now the Prime Minister of India) were responsible for the Godhra-Gujarat riots.

Within the framework of identity politics in India, where religion seems to dominate the social, economic and political spheres, this paper examines how the 2002 Gujarat riots impacted on Muslims in Gujarat. This paper is based on interviews with Muslims (aged 15 years and over) that I conducted in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in 2012. I will examine Muslims’ experiences during the riots and in the aftermath of the riots. I conclude that, in the era of identity politics when Muslims form a disadvantaged minority, national and international policy makers should promulgate policies that would improve social cohesion and intercommunal understanding in India in general, and Gujarat in particular.

Biography Nahid Afrose Kabir, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of English and Humanities, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, USA, and holds Adjunct Professor positions at Edith Cowan University, Perth and at the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.

Nahid Kabir is the author of Muslims in Australia: Immigration, Race Relations and Cultural History (Routledge 2005); Young British Muslims: Identity, Culture, Politics and the Media (Edinburgh University Press 2012); Young American Muslims: Dynamics of Identity (Edinburgh University Press 2014); and Muslim Americans: Debating the Notions of American and Un-American (Routledge 2017). In addition, she has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters.

ENTRY: Free, but please RSVP to [email protected]

Muslims in India have lived alongside Hindus peacefully for many centuries. Yet in the contemporary period some politicians have orchestrated division for political ends, for example, during the Godhra-Gujarat riots in India in 2002 in which there were many Muslim casualties. Critics allege that the ruling party in Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and its leader Chief Minister Narendra Modi (now the Prime Minister of India) were responsible for the Godhra-Gujarat riots.

Within the framework of identity politics in India, where religion seems to dominate the social, economic and political spheres, this paper examines how the 2002 Gujarat riots impacted on Muslims in Gujarat. This paper is based on interviews with Muslims (aged 15 years and over) that I conducted in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in 2012. I will examine Muslims’ experiences during the riots and in the aftermath of the riots. I conclude that, in the era of identity politics when Muslims form a disadvantaged minority, national and international policy makers should promulgate policies that would improve social cohesion and intercommunal understanding in India in general, and Gujarat in particular.

Biography Nahid Afrose Kabir, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of English and Humanities, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, USA, and holds Adjunct Professor positions at Edith Cowan University, Perth and at the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. Nahid Kabir is the author of Muslims in Australia: Immigration, Race Relations and Cultural History (Routledge 2005); Young British Muslims: Identity, Culture, Politics and the Media (Edinburgh University Press 2012); Young American Muslims: Dynamics of Identity (Edinburgh University Press 2014); and Muslim Americans: Debating the Notions of American and Un- American (Routledge 2017). In addition, she has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters.

RSVP: [email protected]

A public lecture by Mark Bateman, Director Sheffield Luminescence Dating Laboratory, University of Sheffield and Institute of Advanced Studies Visiting Fellow.

Coastal dunes can contain lengthy, but complex, records of long-term environmental, climatic and sea-level fluctuations particularly where the dune sand has become lithified into aeolianite or calcarenite. Both Australia and South Africa have fairly widespread occurrence of on-shore coastal aeolianites. Aeolianites can form shore-parallel barrier reaching up to 200 m above modern sea level and up to a few km inland.

This talk will focus on Professor Bateman’s research on the South African aeolianites which occur in association with world renown Middle Stone Age archaeological sites. The aeolianites provided the caves and at times dune sand inundated or blocked caves aiding archaeological preservation. But why did our early ancestors choose to live in dunefields? What was the environment and coastline like then and how has it changed through time? This talk will show how integrating off-shore and on-shore topography with an extensive luminescence dating programme allows for a better understanding of the evolution of coastlines through time. The sediments themselves can also be used to gives hints of the humans, animals and plants occupying past dunes.

We now know the preserved terrestrial dunes have been constructed over at least the last two glacial-interglacial cycles (back to ~270,000 years) with multiple phases of deposition during sea-level high-stands. Tectonic stability of the region allowed shorelines to reoccupy similar positions on multiple occasions with sediment deflated from beaches building large stacked dunes. Local variation in the off-shore topography controlled when and where these stacked dunes formed. As global sea-levels rose during non-glacial times so pre-existing dunes were eroded and recycled into new on-shore dunes. As global sea-levels fell during glacial times so dune construction moved out onto what is currently the off-shore platform. Thus whilst the preserved on-shore dune and archaeological record looks fragmented this reflects the big changes in coastline position which have occurred in the past. When sea-levels were high, people occupied caves in the aeolianite and utilised both marine resources and the diverse flora and fauna found on the shifting dunes. When sea-levels were lower they followed the coast-line and dunefields onto the newly exposed coastal plain.

Coastal dunes can contain lengthy, but complex, records of long-term environmental, climatic and sea-level fluctuations particularly where the dune sand has become lithified into aeolianite or calcarenite. Both Australia and South Africa have fairly widespread occurrence of on-shore coastal aeolianites. Aeolianites can form shore-parallel barrier reaching up to 200 m above modern sea level and up to a few km inland.

This talk will focus on Professor Bateman’s research on the South African aeolianites which occur in association with world renown Middle Stone Age archaeological sites. The aeolianites provided the caves and at times dune sand inundated or blocked caves aiding archaeological preservation. But why did our early ancestors choose to live in dunefields? What was the environment and coastline like then and how has it changed through time? This talk will show how integrating off-shore and on-shore topography with an extensive luminescence dating programme allows for a better understanding of the evolution of coastlines through time. The sediments themselves can also be used to gives hints of the humans, animals and plants occupying past dunes.

We now know the preserved terrestrial dunes have been constructed over at least the last two glacial-interglacial cycles (back to ~270,000 years) with multiple phases of deposition during sea-level high-stands. Tectonic stability of the region allowed shorelines to reoccupy similar positions on multiple occasions with sediment deflated from beaches building large stacked dunes. Local variation in the off-shore topography controlled when and where these stacked dunes formed. As global sea-levels rose during non-glacial times so pre-existing dunes were eroded and recycled into new on-shore dunes. As global sea-levels fell during glacial times so dune construction moved out onto what is currently the off-shore platform. Thus whilst the preserved on-shore dune and archaeological record looks fragmented this reflects the big changes in coastline position which have occurred in the past. When sea-levels were high, people occupied caves in the aeolianite and utilised both marine resources and the diverse flora and fauna found on the shifting dunes. When sea-levels were lower they followed the coast-line and dunefields onto the newly exposed coastal plain.

Mark Bateman was appointed at the University of Sheffield in 1995 as a post-doctoral researcher to set up and run the Sheffield Luminescence Laboratory and in 1998 was appointed as a lecturer. He was promoted to senior lecturer in 2004, reader in 2007 and became a Professor in 2011. He is a world-leading expert on research on sediments as an archive for better understanding past depositional processes and environmental changes. In particular, he has applied and developed luminescence dating as a tool for understanding the ages of sediments but also post-depositional disturbance they may have undergone since burial. His work has spanned from understanding coastal dunes, coastline changes and Middle Stone Age archaeology in South Africa to dating the retreat sequence of the Last British and Irish Icesheet. He has also undertaken research in Arctic Canada on cold-climate aeolian systems and periglacial sediments. He has over 180 research publications including in Nature and recently published the Handbook of Luminescence Dating (2019, Whittles Publishing).

Following 2018's hugely successful performance at the Perth International Classical Guitar Festival, talented high school players in UWA's Accelerate program join forces with emerging artists from the UWA Guitar Studio in a program that is not to be missed.

Tickets from $10

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This paper looks at Singapore’s rapid industrialisation between 1965 and 1994 with a particular emphasis on the rising number of industrial accidents and how this was dealt with by the Singapore State. Its looks at the shipbuilding and repair industry as one of the most dangerous workplaces in Singapore and questions the effectiveness of the states largely top down approach in efforts to curb the number of accidents and deaths. It suggests that the lack of a truly independent union movement (along with other factors) in Singapore hampered efforts to curb the number of injuries and fatalities in the sector. Bio Stephen Dobbs is associate professor in the School of Social Sciences at UWA.

Be transported from the everyday by our free lunchtime concert series, featuring the best musical talent from with the UWA Conservatorium of Music and around the country.

In a lunchtime concert sure to delight, this week our students take the stage to perform works for wind and piano by Luciano Berio, Francis Poulenc, Frank Martin, and James Ra.

Free entry, no bookings required.

India’s frontier state of Sikkim is a ‘sensitive space’ (Dunn and Cons 2014) sharing borders with Bhutan, China and Nepal. As distinctions between urban and rural dissolve across the Himalaya, attention to concrete narrates the transformation of these landscapes and the assemblages that hold them together. In Sikkim, tourism is a key development strategy that is built around mountain landscapes, organic agriculture and concrete structures. Religious theme parks, Hindu temple complexes, gigantic statues of Lord Buddha and other religious figures are crucial components of this concrete landscape. The success of these attractions has led to public demands for more concrete. Concrete is now imbued with hopes of transforming villages and towns into popular and economically prosperous tourist destinations. On the other hand, large-scale hydropower projects which also promise economic development for the state and its citizens are being built across the river Teesta and its tributaries in Sikkim. Concrete, therefore has become the focal point of the state’s development initiatives; the tangible representation of hope and prosperity for citizens whilst simultaneously being used for resource extraction by private hydropower companies. Based on ethnographic research in Sikkim, the paper focuses firstly on the development narrative and visions of modernity which is based on the construction of concrete structures; concrete foregrounds the ways aspirations are materialised in the built environment of a ‘remote’, yet geopolitically significant territory. Secondly, the paper offers a critical reading of the ways landscape is imagined, reproduced and politicised through this development narrative of environmental destruction and cultural distractions ; and thirdly the paper discusses how concrete heralds the collusion of the state and private finance leading to the social and spatial transformation of Sikkim, producing a loyal border state out of a recently independent polity.

Dr Mona Chettri is UWA Australia-India Institute New Generation Network Scholar. She is the author of Constructing Democracy: Ethnicity and Democracy in the eastern Himalaya (Amsterdam University Press, 2017). Her current research focuses on resource frontiers, urbanisation, gender and development in the eastern Himalaya, India.

Vandoren Paris and the UWA Conservatorium of Music offer you the opportunity to attend a masterclass with saxophonist Martin Trillaud.

Martin Trillaud obtained his Master degree in performance in 2014 in the class of Claude Delangle and is continuing his studies with David Walter at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris with the Yendo Quartet. He has won several first prizes at international competitions in France and abroad, and performs regularly with several orchestras such as the Orchestre des Lauréats du Conservatoire, la Musique principale de l'Armée de l'air and l’Ensemble Orchestral des Jeunes de Paris. Passionate about his instrument, he has worked with composers of his generation, notably at IRCAM, and also performs a repertoire of transcriptions from solo to orchestral works through to chamber music.

Please join Martin and representatives from Vandoren from 4.30pm - 6pm in the Tunley Lecture Theatre to try out the new PROFILE mouthpieces from Vandoren before the Masterclass begins at 6pm.

Perth Upmarket is Perth’s original and best design market, featuring more than 180 of Perth's most talented artists, designers, craftsmen and foodies all at The University of Western Australia's Winthrop Hall.

There is something for everyone, including a Junior Upmarket section in Hackett Hall which showcases all the best local designers for kids' clothing, toys, games and decor. Have a browse through the gourmet section to inspire your inner Masterchef, shop original locally designed homewares or find the perfect gift for someone special. Then enjoy a coffee or lunch relaxing on the beautiful lawns around Winthrop Hall.

DETAILS:

Sunday 15th September 2019 Sunday 24th November 2019

Time: 10am-4pm Venue: The University of Western Australia’s Winthrop Hall Parking and entry free, venue is easily accessible, 3 ATMs on site 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley Website: www.perthupmarket.com.au Facebook.com/perthupmarket

Modern slavery remains one of the largest and most complex human rights issues. Few industries are untouched by it. The shirt on your back, the food you consume, the house you live in: the materials may have passed through the hands of slaves at some point.

The UWA Modern Slavery Research Cluster is offering an opportunity for academics, professionals, students and members of the public to learn more about and discuss the pressing issues surrounding modern slavery.

The Perspectives on Modern Slavery Symposium brings together academics from across Australia, the UK, India, and elsewhere, along with industry and government representatives. Topics include: • Child slavery • Slavery in Australia • Forced marriages • Business operations and supply chains • The fishing industry • Slavery in the UK, India, and Africa.

The keynote speaker is Professor Justine Nolan (UNSW), a leading expert on business and human rights.

All are welcome. Tickets are on sale now.

A free weekly seminar series, with presenters from within UWA and from the wider community.

Further information at music.uwa.edu.au

Join Concordia Vocalis - the UWA Conservatorium's premier vocal ensemble - as they perform masterpieces from the Renaissance madrigal repertoire.

Tickets from $10

trybooking.com/BASXH

In 2018, 63 students sat the Chinese Second Language WACE exam. Although Chinese had more candidates than other languages such as Indonesian, there has been a steady downward trend in students attempting the WACE over the last two years. The low retention rate is of concern to teachers of Chinese, with only 5% of each cohort of students who start to study Chinese continuing to year 12. Previous initiatives to increase the rate of students studying Chinese to year 12 level have failed to make any real progress to the situation. In order to understand what motivates students to study a language this study investigates the future language self of high school learners of Chinese following Dörnyei's L2 motivational self system framework to better understand how students envision themselves as speakers of a foreign language. Students in years 7-8 in WA were surveyed using Q methodology, a qualitative method, to individuate typologies of future language self. Results can be used to devise potentially motivating classroom activities based on future self vision.

Be transported from the everyday by our free lunchtime concert series, featuring the best musical talent from within the UWA Conservatorium of Music and around the country.

Join us this week for an exciting concert featuring our talented brass students. The program will include solo works by Messiaen, Wilder, Schumann and Mozart, before the UWA Brass Ensemble perform 'Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral from Lohengrin' by Wagner and 'Little Suite for Brass No. 1 for Brass Band' by Malcolm Arnold.

Free entry, no bookings required.