An historic documentary exploring Muslim people through Australian history is the subject of a free screening in Wagga Wagga on Thursday 18 August. 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 at the Riverina Playhouse from 6pm. The event is hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) in association with the Islamic Council of NSW.

The place of manners and etiquette in colonial Australia is the topic of the next Theo Barker Memorial Lecture at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst on Friday 12 August. An organiser of the free public lecture, CSU adjunct lecturer Dr Rob McLachlan, said, “This is the fourth biennial Theo Barker Memorial Lecture co-sponsored by Charles Sturt University and the Bathurst District Historical Society. This lecture, titled Tea, Talk and Town Life: The Manners of Colonial Australia, will be delivered by Associate Professor Penny Russell from The University of Sydney. Her latest book, Savage or Civilised?, provides the insights she will share with her audience. The lecture will be both entertaining and educational – with some delicious morsels of gossip and scandal.” Professor Russell has found many examples of colonists for whom good manners mattered very much. She said, “In this lecture I will examine the tensions between rural and urban manners, the social ramifications of the tea table, and the significant social meaning of different modes of speech, such as slang, swearing and gossip. I will show that manners mattered then to how individuals understood themselves, and to how we should understand our history now.”

Advertising ethics might strike many as an oxymoron but not Dr John Hadley, a new appointment to Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Communication on the Bathurst Campus. Dr Hadley is teaching Media Ethics and Public Policy to third year journalism and public relations students, as well as advertising ethics to advertising students. “The course deals with the ethical dilemmas that communication professionals face in their jobs,” he said. Dr Hadley completed his PhD Animal Property: Reconciling Environmentalism and Animal Rights in March 2006 at the University of Sydney where he taught last year. He is an associate of CSU’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics and his main interest is the practical application of ethics in people’s working lives. This is Dr Hadley’s first taste of Bathurst country life, after a background in inner-city Sydney. As a keen cyclist he is already revelling in “the fresh air and no cars”.

The skills of a trainee hospitality worker at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga have been recognised during annual awards run by the not-for-profit training organisation, GTES. Mr Damian Slater, 20, from Wagga Wagga is one of three finalists in the trainee category of the GTES Apprentice & Trainee Awards, which recognise the excellence and dedication of GTES apprentices and trainees employed in various industries. The winners in five award categories for southern NSW and Victoria will be announced at a ceremony in Wagga Wagga on Friday 26 August. Undertaking a Certificate III in hospitality operations at TAFE NSW Riverina Institute, Mr Slater caters for students, staff and guests at CSU. . Mr Toby Perry, team leader of Food and Beverage Services at CSU in Albury-Wodonga and Wagga Wagga, said, “Damian is an excellent team member, who learns quickly, works hard under pressure, and has a genuine pleasure in serving people. His attention to detail and his respect and rapport with our customers help him to stand head and shoulders above where one would normally expect a trainee to be, so early in their career.”

Black and white photography taken by Albury-based historian and photographer Associate Professor Dirk Spennemann from Charles Sturt University (CSU) highlights the splendour of architecture from the Art Deco period found throughout Albury. His exhibition, Light Lines – architecture for a modern age, is a key feature of an extensive Art Deco exhibition on show until Saturday 8 October in the Albury Library Museum, Kiewa Street, Albury, and Albury Regional Art Gallery in Dean Street. Professor Spennemann will speak about his exhibition, which re-frames details of Art Deco architecture in Albury and the region using mainly Art Deco-period cameras, at a public lecture starting at 1.30pm on Sunday 21 August at the Albury Library Museum. He is also a presenter at an Art Deco Talkfest to be held at the Albury Library Museum, between 1.30 and 4pm on Sunday 28 August. For more information about the exhibition and other activities, including bus tours and film nights, visit here.

More than 50 participants from universities around Australia and overseas are expected to attend The Future of Fatigue symposium hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst between Monday 22 and Wednesday 24 August. Conference chair and Associate Dean of Research for CSU’s Faculty of Education, Professor Frank Marino, said, “Fatigue is central to how ordinary people manage their daily activities, and to how athletes perform and recover in any sport, particularly the elite. This symposium will discuss the latest research and developments in the field, and will help to define research areas that could increase human capacity for exertion and how we recover from it. The University’s School of Human Movement Studies is at the forefront of this research. Following the success of the first symposium in 2009, the School has attracted the best speakers in the field and will generate research for years to come.” Presentations at the symposium will examine such issues as muscle wasting disorders, neurophysiology, older athletes, cycling, and decision making by athletes and umpires.

Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) range of high quality cheeses is set to tempt tastebuds and tantalise tourists. Tourism NSW is sponsoring a media tour for travel journalists to highlight some of the outstanding attractions and tourism products available in the Riverina region. The group will visit the CSU Wagga Wagga Campus cheese factory on Wednesday 28 February at 10:15am to taste test CSU cheeses. The tour party includes journalists from the Australian Traveller, the Sun Herald, the Open Road and other publications. CSU cheese maker Barry Lillywhite says: “This sort of national media exposure is invaluable to the region’s tourism potential as well as CSU cheese sales”, adding “People have to see the exciting work going on at the CSU Cheese Factory and in the Riverina”.

Planting vegetables, herbs and a citrus tree are among the plans for two new gardens in the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Children’s Centre in Wagga Wagga. The gardens will be constructed and planted through sponsorship from Bunnings Warehouse at Wagga Wagga. Representatives of the store will visit the CSU centre at 10am on Wednesday 24 August to discuss the garden plans. Centre Director Ms Megan Isaac said, “The gardens will be important for our children to provide a sensory experience, explore relationships with other living things, learn about plants and allow them to taste fruits and vegetables with which they may not be familiar. This contributes to a healthy lifestyle and good nutrition for our children.”

Known for their visual and sensual appeal, lavenders have been grown for centuries in the garden and commercially for their essential oils. A free public lecture in Tumbarumba on Wednesday 7 September will introduce some of the 39 species and many hybrids of lavenders. Since 2002 Dr Nigel Urwin from the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga has bred high yielding lavenders better suited to the Australian environment. His research, sponsored by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation and Larkman Nurseries, has produced some novel plants, including the world’s first commercially available ‘polyploid’ lavenders for farm and garden, and led to some interesting insights into the biology of lavenders. The lecture Breeding Lavenders in the Riverina for Farm and Garden will be held from 6pm in the Tumbarumba Shire Council Chambers in Bridge Street, Tumbarumba. CSU wine and cheese will be served after the lecture. Read more about Dr Urwin’s research here.