The Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Communication and Creative Industries will co-host, with the Centre for Media History, a two-day interdisciplinary symposium in Bathurst on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 May to mark the centenary of the ‘bible of the bush’ in NSW, The Land newspaper. Ms Margaret Van Heekeren, lecturer in journalism at the School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst, said the symposium, titled The Land: Past, Present and Future, will bring together media scholars to reflect on how the media sees rural and regional Australia. “The idea for the symposium was sparked by The Land anniversary but the symposium is really a broader look at how rural and regional areas have been represented in media, and how they interact with media. We have presentations covering newspapers as well as radio and film,” Ms Van Heekeren said. Academics from several universities will present papers on a range of topics related to The Land newspaper, and the general media coverage of issues affecting rural Australia in the last 100 years.

Fresh from his presentation at a conference in the United Kingdom, the Manager of Residential Operations at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga and Wagga Wagga, Mr Peter Bell will discuss an innovative youth educational program at a public lecture in Narrandera on Wednesday 18 May. At the Association for Student Residential Accommodation conference in Edinburgh in early April, Mr Bell delivered a presentation on the program, Putting Youth in the Picture. He discussed how CSU is rolling out the program across its regions after securing the first NSW licence in 2010. Designed to assist local communities in dealing with confronting issues for young people, Putting Youth in the Picture has already been implemented in the University’s Halls of Residences. “This program is about empowering local communities through their local councils, school or sporting groups to use the program’s resources to hopefully prevent their young people from getting into difficulties,” Mr Bell said.

The challenges of working to improve the lives of subsistence farmers in war torn African countries will be featured in a public lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga on Wednesday 11 May 2011. In the lecture titled Sex, babies, money, violence and genetics, international genetics consultant and adjunct senior lecturer with the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Dr Sara McClintock will share her experiences working with the International Livestock Research Centre in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia.  “I was running a lab trying to produce cheap embryos that would produce 95 per cent female calves to increase the profitability of a local farmer’s cow so she could afford to send her children to school and feed them a little milk.” Dr McClintock said in times of civil unrest, crops are often destroyed, seed stocks stolen and farm animals eaten by the tribal militias. “These animals are usually a local breed that has survived in tough conditions, may be worm resistant or have a low feed requirement,” she said. “One of the solutions is to conserve germ plasma, such as semen, in liquid nitrogen but this can be politically sensitive because many developing countries are paranoid about developed countries stealing their genetic material.”

Accessibility and human rights, instead of rigid funding models, should be the priorities when planning health care services for rural and remote Australia says Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Professor of Rural and Remote Pharmacy, Patrick Ball. “A model of health care funding for rural and remote Australia should be developed based on fundamental human rights and access to services rather than ‘bricks and mortar’,” Professor Patrick Ball said. The CSU academic studied two communities in central west NSW between 2006 and 2008 as part of his examination of the provision of health services outside metropolitan Australia. “We have the evidence to show that what is needed by rural and remote areas is more flexibility in allowing individual communities to meet their health needs, and more emphasis on access to services, rather than what hospital and which health facilities are located where. Albury can play a crucial role in providing back-up services that cannot be delivered on the doorstep.” Professor Patrick Ball will present a free public lecture on his research from 6pm in Albury on Wednesday 11 May.

Charles Sturt University (CSU), in association with the Islamic Council of NSW, will present a free screening of documentary In the Footsteps of the Ancestors: Muslims Down Under at CSU in Orange on Friday 13 May. The film captures the ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity of Muslims in Australia, and tells the stories of Muslim pioneers and their descendants, beginning with the pivotal, fundamental role the Afghan camel herders played in the development of outback Australia, to the successful integration Muslims have made into modern Australian society. Documentary producer Ms Nada Roude says the documentary encourages a greater effort in understanding and appreciation of Islam and Muslims where sharing knowledge and stories is one of the most important ways of building a genuine sense of community in Australia. “It strengthens the belief in fairness, equality and respect, the values we aspire to in Australia.”

The Border community will receive a glimpse of modern Indigenous art when Wiradjuri visual artist Ms Leonie McIntosh presents a free public lecture on her work at Charles Sturt University (CSU) this Friday 13 May. Ms McIntosh is a practicing artist, an active member of the Albury-Wodonga Indigenous community, and is currently lecturing in Indigenous art with first year students in CSU’s Murray School of Education. The free public lecture will start at 10am in the CD Blake Lecture Theatre, CSU in Albury-Wodonga, off Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, Thurgoona. Ms McIntosh will also lead workshops with CSU education students as part of CSU’s Visiting Artist Program.

Education students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) will show Border parents ideas and resources for raising young children at an expo to be staged in Lavington on Tuesday 24 May. Aimed at parents of children aged up to three years, final year students have researched and developed demonstrations surrounding hot topics in early childhood, including childcare services in Albury-Wodonga, encouraging literacy, and overcoming separation anxiety for children and parents. CSU students Ms Heather Wilson and Ms Hannah Oberin said they will “provide brochures and information packages on childcare centres around Albury-Wodonga that help parents with tips on what to look for when sourcing quality care for their children”. In exploring fostering early literacy, Ms Angela Fogarty said parents “can carry out practical ideas that can be used in the home to build a love for important aspects of literacy such as reading”. The Parent Information Expo will run from 10am to 12noon on 24 May in the Mirambeena Community Centre, 19 Martha Mews, Lavington.

The education of teachers has been a core part of Charles Sturt University (CSU) and its predecessor institutions since 1947 with the establishment of the Wagga Wagga Teachers’ College. A public forum will be held on Tuesday 24 May to discuss teachers’ important role in our diverse society. “Everyone's talking about the need for great teachers in every classroom, so how do we produce quality teachers?” asks Head of the School of Education  at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Associate Professor Roslyn Brennan Kemmis. “In our increasingly complex society, it is important that we examine the university subjects offered to education students to ensure we prepare them for a world that is rapidly changing. We need to produce teachers that are lifelong learners and agents of change within the reality of today’s schools and prepare students as 21st century teachers.

Strong prices and demand for prime lambs have seen producers shift their focus from wool production during recent times. But Professor of Animal Production at Charles Sturt University (CSU) Peter Wynn is urging Riverina producers not to lose sight of the importance of wool in their farm business. “Wool production has been the backbone of Australia and will continue to be an integral component of farm business income, particularly across the Riverina,” said Professor Wynn, who is also a member of the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation – an alliance between CSU and the NSW Department of Primary Industries. “It is important producers continue to integrate wool production into their farming practices and not be heavily swayed by current market trends.” The Graham Centre together with the University of Sydney have organised a wool symposium to be held on Wednesday 18 May at Hay. “The symposium will provide an opportunity for wool growers to meet with key industry researchers and future leaders in the industry.” Forty final year animal science students from CSU and the University of Sydney are expected to attend the event. The program is available from the Graham Centre website here.