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.

The first production for 2011 from  the University Theatre Ensemble (UTE) and the School Of Communication and Creative Industries at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga is Sarah Kane’s acclaimed  production, 4:48 Psychosis. The production is a theatrical poem by one of the most influential English playwrights of the last 20 years. Kane’s unyielding exploration of the psychotic mind is filled with beauty, irony and a palpable life force that reaches out to make this a night in the theatre like no other. 4.48 Psychosis caused a sensation when first performed and a decade later it’s still dividing opinions. 4:48 Psychosis  plays at the Riverina Playhouse in Cross Street, Wagga Wagga from 8pm Tuesday 24 to Saturday 28 May with a special late night performance on Friday 27 May at 10pm.Tickets can be booked at the Civic Theatre Booking Office on  telephone 02 6926 9688, online here and are available at the door. Tickets are $12 or $7 concession.

Funding has been provided by Charles Sturt University (CSU) to support the full-time release from teaching commitments of 14 key researchers from the EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation – an alliance between CSU and the NSW Department of Primary Industries. The 14 Graham Centre 2011 Research Centre Fellows were honoured at a special lunch on Monday 16 May. “The 14 Fellows for 2011 will focus on a broad range of research including plant and animal diseases, animal physiology and production, animal reproduction, food security, sustainable pasture systems, weeds, canola, bio-security and environmental health, water, stubble and conservation cropping,” said Graham Centre director Professor Deirdre Lemerle.“The 2011 Research Centre Fellows have been provided $40 000 each for 12 months so they can focus on their research. We are extremely impressed with the high quality of the 29 applications for the 14 Research Centre Fellowships.”

Charles Sturt University (CSU) students from the School of Communication and Creative Industries  will be putting their skills on show in the University Theatre Ensemble’s (UTE) production of Jesus Christ Superstar. This rock musical features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice with memorable songs including ‘Everything’s Alright’, ‘I don’t know how to love him’ and ‘Superstar’. It tells the story of the last seven days of the life of Christ seen through the eyes of his betrayer, Judas Iscariot. The UTE production opens on Thursday 2 June at 8pm and runs until Saturday 11 June at the Civic Theatre in Wagga Wagga. It is directed by Mr John Saunders and is cast from second year Bachelor of Arts (Acting for Screen and Stage) students, and designed and stage managed by third year students from the Bachelor of Arts (Design for Theatre and Television). Tickets can be booked at the Civic Theatre Booking Office on telephone 02 6926 9688, online here and are available at the door. Tickets are $29, $15 concession and $12.50 for students.

Three Charles Sturt University (CSU) researchers have investigated what it means for Indigenous children, families, schools and communities to be prepared for schooling. The result is an approach that goes well beyond being concerned only with what children might know or be able to do. CSU Professor of Education with Murray School of Education, Bob Perry says, “We know a few things that do work: having high quality Indigenous staff in the school, good links between school and pre-schools, positive involvement of families and communities in the the transition to school, and top quality pre-school education all contribute to positive experiences. However, we must include Indigenous families and communities in the transition process and show them cultural respect as their children’s first educators. Children, families, communities and schools all have strengths that need to be recognised and celebrated.” The report, titled ‘School readiness: What does it mean for Indigenous children, families, schools and communities?’ will be launched on Tuesday, May 31 at Parliament House in Canberra by the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Hon. Jenny Macklin MP. The report includes input from local Wiradjuri community member, Ms Leonie McIntosh, as an adviser to the research team.

American philosophy scholar Professor Theodore Schatzki will be a special guest at Charles Sturt University (CSU) later this month during a three-week visit to Wagga Wagga. “Professor Schatzki’s visit is significant for Charles Sturt University because he is a world-leading philosopher of practice, helping to develop new ways to understand the way the social world is organised,” said Professor of Education at CSU Stephen Kemmis. The Professor of Philosophy from the University of Kentucky is a guest of CSU’s Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education (RIPPLE).  Professor Schatzki will address the Institute’s annual research conference to be held on Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 June. The conference involves some of RIPPLE’s 35 academics involved in research to support a range of professions including family day care, childcare, preschools, schools, the vocational education and training sector, business and management, nursing and allied health professions. Professor Schatzki will give a free public lecture at the annual RIPPLE conference in the Convention Centre at CSU in Wagga Wagga from 3.30pm to 4.45pm on Thursday 16 June. He will also meet academics from the School of Education at CSU in Wagga Wagga from 9am to 12midday on Friday 17 June.

For the second successive year, a small group of Charles Sturt University (CSU) students will take the skills acquired during their studies to help young Fijians living in an orphanage in the capital Suva. Three students from St Martin’s College at CSU in Wagga Wagga will spend a week from Saturday 25 June volunteering at St Christopher’s Orphanage. Head of St Martin’s College, the Reverend Jenny Willsher is organising and participating in the trip. “This volunteer work will assist the students to further develop leadership skills and give them an opportunity to learn more about themselves and how they can be more effective in their own communities – especially rural Australia, once they have completed their Charles Sturt University studies.” The three volunteers include arts and education students from Armidale, Leeton and Sydney. At the orphanage, they will work in the pre-school, undertake tutoring of primary and high school students as well as do some cleaning and work in the vegetable gardens. “This year we have also been asked to help cover the university fees for one of the girls from St Christopher’s who is studying medicine with the Fiji School of Medicine,” said Rev. Willsher. “Students from St Martin’s College are currently fundraising. We will take all funds raised with us when we visit.”

The nature of human emotions and their relationship with pain will be the focus of a public lecture by Charles Sturt University (CSU) lecturer Dr Andrew Delaney in Griffith on Wednesday 15 June. Dr Delaney is a neuroscientist who recently joined CSU as senior lecturer at the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences to start a new electrophysiological research laboratory in Orange. His presentation, ‘The Emotional Brain’, will examine questions that have fascinated psychologists and neuroscientists for more than 100 years; ‘what are emotions?’ and ‘how does the brain generate an emotion?’ He will also talk about advances in tracing the neuronal pathways that are involved in generating an emotional response to pain. “I will highlight the neuroscience research that my colleagues and I will be conducting to address how the emotional circuits of the brain are activated during a painful experience,” he said. “We are also examining how changes in these circuits might contribute to the high rate of depression and anxiety in sufferers of chronic pain, a relationship that has particular relevance to those living with pain in rural communities.”