Archive
Action features in SPRUNG productions
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
What do physical theatre, touring theatre for young people, and outdoor satirical hip-hop theatre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) all have in common? They are dynamic theatre forms featured in the coming SPRUNG Festival and supervised by newly-appointed lecturer in theatre/media, Mr Daniel Aubin, a former Canadian national gymnast who recently joined the School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst. “These three exciting major works by our third year students will surprise and captivate audiences,” Mr Aubin said. “All productions demonstrate a high level of technical skill and imagination, and integrate all three years in the course.” The productions include Level 101 (physical theatre), Health Havoc (touring theatre for young people), and The 7PM Projects (an outdoor satirical hip-hop theatre). Mr Aubin has been a performing artist, theatre director and educator for over 15 years in Europe, North America, and Australasia. His experience ranges from stunt-doubling for US actor Mark Wahlberg and corporate leadership programs, to theatre, film, festivals, special events and circus. He has taught physical theatre, clown and acrobatics at Flinders University, Adelaide College of the Arts, and for the Australian Dance Theatre.Focus on regional engagement
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003Regional engagement will be the topic for discussion when Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Mr John Nolan addresses the 2011 Australian Local Government Aboriginal Network Conference in Dubbo on Thursday 15 September. As community relations officer for CSU’s Centre for Indigenous Studies, Mr Nolan is passionate about regional engagement. “My lineage is part Wangkumarra northwest of Bourke, and Wiradjuri on my father’s side,” Mr Nolan explains. “After spending the first nine years of my life living in railway tents, I moved into one of the first homes built in Dubbo by the Aborigines Welfare Board in 1955.” After finishing his schooling in Dubbo, Mr Nolan worked in positions with the NSW Aboriginal Lands Trust and Aboriginal Development Commission and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission before following his other passion, teaching, which saw him working at primary and secondary schools in Dubbo, Alice Springs and Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. “I’ve certainly seen how beneficial regional engagement is in large communities. I hope to pass my knowledge on at the Conference.”
Linking ecology in China and Australia
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
Visiting Chinese ecologist Professor Cao Lei has a delightful enthusiasm for all things Australian, and a great concern for the environmental degradation of wetlands and the loss of waterbirds in her homeland. Professor Cao is working at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Institute for Land, Water and Society (ILWS) as part of her three month visit to Australia, developing a cooperative project proposal with ILWS director Professor Max Finlayson and ILWS researchers on a model for wetland restoration and management in China to address the marked deterioration of wetlands in the giant Yangtze River basin. The Chinese ecologist is particularly concerned with the dramatic fall in the number of many waterbirds that rely on freshwater lakes in the basin for winter feeding and roosting. As leader of the Waterbirds and Wetlands Ecology Group of the University of Science and Technology of China’s School of Life Science, Professor Cao is also investigating how CSU teaches its ecology courses, with a view to establishing ecology as a major area of study at her university.
Author of The Danger Game in Wagga Wagga
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
"Sometimes the only way to manage the daily percolating drip of fear, the corrosive dread of debt and humiliation, is to embrace another sort of terror, to put oneself in danger." The Booranga Writers’ Centre at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga is hosting author Ms Kalinda Ashton as its third writer-in-residence for 2011. Her first novel, The Danger Game was published by Sleepers Publishing in 2009. Ms Ashton was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald Young Novelists of the Year in 2010. Her short stories have been published in journals and anthologies including the Sleeper Almanac, Overland, Meanjin and Kill Your Darlings. Ms Ashton will attend a writers’ workshop from 2pm at the Booranga Writers’ Centre, Mc Keown Drive, CSU in Wagga Wagga on Saturday 17 September and a public reading from 5pm on Thursday 22 September at the Wagga Wagga City Library in the Civic Centre, Baylis Street, Wagga Wagga.
History of Muslims in Australia
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
An historic documentary exploring Muslim people through Australian history is the subject of a free screening in Dubbo on Wednesday 21 September. Highlighting Australia’s first interaction with Muslims, the Macassans, who travelled and traded well before European settlement, the documentary chronologically navigates the milestones for the Muslim community post-European settlement. The film captures the ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity of Muslims Down Under, and tells the stories of Muslim pioneers and their descendants, beginning with the pivotal role the Afghan camel herders played in the development of outback Australia, to the successful integration Muslims have made into modern Australian society. In the Footsteps of the Ancestors: Muslims Down Under by Ms Nada Roude can be seen from 6pm at the Western Plains Cultural Centre in Wingewarra Street in Dubbo. The event is hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) in association with the Islamic Council of NSW.
Long service at CSU
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
Charles Sturt University (CSU) will formally congratulate almost a dozen staff on Friday 16 September in Wagga Wagga for their lengthy contributions to the institution. During a lunch in the University’s Convention Centre, medals will be presented to nine staff for 30 and 20 years of service to CSU and its predecessor institutions. Among those to receive a medal will be Head of Campus at CSU in Wagga Wagga, Mr Adrian Lindner for his 20 years of service with the organisation. The Vice-Chancellor and President of CSU, Professor Ian Goulter will present the medals to the staff over lunch in the Chancellor's Room in the Convention Centre at CSU in Wagga Wagga from 12noon on Friday 16 September.
School students solve science questions
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
From bouncing balls to lava lamps, teenage sleep deprivation to what makes plants grow – 100 school students have put their scientific theories to the test at a competition held at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga. The Science Investigation Awards were held by the Primary Industries Centre for Science Education, in partnership with CSU, on Friday 16 September. The major prize, the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation’s Science Investigation Award, was won by Jasmine Garland, a Year 10 student from Mount Austin High School in Wagga Wagga, for her project looking at plant tolerance to acid, salt and grey water. The effect of different liquids on plants was also a topic explored by Year 6 students Tayla Fisher and Jack Langley from St Joseph’s Primary School in Narrandera. “Science is fun and I’ve learned a lot of things I didn’t know before,” said Jack. “We saw how white carnations turned different colours when we put them in coloured water.” Jack and Tayla won the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s Earth and Environment Award.
Young minds for health and safety messages
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003Exposing young school students to important health and safety messages is the focus of a cooperative effort between Charles Sturt University (CSU) and West Albury Primary School at the annual Health and Safety Education Expo. Around 80 students enrolled in CSU’s early childhood education degree will present hands-on learning experiences and displays to 80 children between Kindergarten and Year 2, who will practise storm survival, be healthy fruit master chefs, escape an imaginary fire, and discover how to be head lice busters. "Charles Sturt University students are involved in hands-on teaching and learning with the local community. The students researched their topics with the help of local professionals and prepared interactive experiences for the school children. The expo emphasises the importance of giving young children support to promote their own wellbeing from a very young age," said early childhood education lecturer, Ms Angela Fenton, from CSU’s Murray School of Education at Thurgoona. West Albury Public School will host the Health and Safety Education Expo between 2pm and 3.30pm on Wednesday 21 September.
Economic, social and environmental issues in international tourism
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003
International early career researchers continue to flock to the Border region, with research students from Indonesia, China, Nepal, Bhutan, India, Canada and Ghana commencing research Doctorate and Master degrees during 2011. Mr Patrick Cobbinah came from Ghana in West Africa to Albury in July to explore how economic, social and environmental issues could be integrated in the planning of ecotourism activities in Ghana. “I chose Charles Sturt University to do my Masters as there are reasonable research facilities available and experts in research related to ecotourism and poverty. The city of Albury is such a serene place, where there are constant efforts in integrating environmental, social and economic needs and variables into management plans, especially on the University’s campus at Thurgoona,” Mr Cobbinah said. Seven postgraduate research students have commenced their studies in 2011with the CSU School of Environmental Sciences based at CSU in Albury-Wodonga.International academics unite for Thai rights
Wednesday, 1 Jan 2003A Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer has joined more than 100 academics from around the world in their concern for human rights in Thailand. Dr Robert Tierney is a lecturer in management in the School of Business at CSU in Bathurst. He signed an open letter to the Thai Prime Minister Ms Yingluck Shinawatra highlighting concern about ‘the diminution of the space for the free exchange of ideas in Thailand’. A total of 112 international scholars signed the letter which draws attention to human rights issues and the political use of lese majeste (Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code) and the 2007 Computer Crimes Act. Spokesman for the academics is Kevin Hewison, Professor of Asian Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA. “The political abuse of these laws has seen a precipitous deterioration of human rights in Thailand,” said Professor Hewison. “Censorship of websites, self-censorship in the media and many, many charges of disloyalty mean serious restrictions on freedom of expression.” Dr Tierney said, “The legislative changes in Thailand make it much more difficult for people to speak out in this so-called democracy. Any legislative decree which sets out to squeeze the right to freedom of academic expression silences not only those who wish to undertake research which may be deemed hostile to the authorities but also interviewees who desire their views to be expressed.”