Transforming Cultures eAR

TfC Public Lecture:
Professor Michael Taussig (Dept. of Anthropology, Columbia University) is one of the most innovative, distinguished and socially engaged voices in cultural anthropology. An interdisciplinary thinker and engaging writer, Taussig's work combines aspects of ethnography, story-telling, and social theory. He presented a TfC Public Lecture entitled "Colour and Slavery"
17th June 2008

Follow the links to listen to Michael Taussig's "Colour and Slavery" [MP3]

Electronic journalism on the path to peace with justice in Palestine.

Ali Abunimah, Palestinian American journalist and Editor of the Middle East website Electronic Intifada spoke at a public forum at UTS on the 13 May.

Electronic Intifada is a Palestinian portal for information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its depiction in the media. Ali is author of 'One Country: A Bold Proposal to end the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse' (2006).

Follow the links to listen to Ali Abunimah's public lecture, and the question and answer session following: Electronic jouralism on the path to peace with justice in Palestine [MP3].

1. UTSpeaks: Voyage into myth. Captain Cook as Navigator, Possessor, and the Devil under the Expressway.
Katrina Schlunke, 15th November 2007

2. Transforming Cultures Annual Lecture 2007:
Toby Miller; 11th July 2007

1. UTSpeaks: Cronulla, Conflict and Culture. Can Muslim Women find their Voice in Australia?
Christina Ho; 5 September 2006

2. Transforming Cultures Annual Lecture 2006:
Ashis Nandy; 12 September 2006

3. 2SER Interview with Erica Vowles:
Tanya Reinhart; 9 October 2006

4. Conservation and Social Justice: 
Mahesh Rangarajan, Heather Goodall, Justine Lloyd & Clare Warneminde; Landscapes of Meaning symposium reflections, October 2006

UTSpeaks: Voyage into myth. Captain Cook as Navigator, Possessor, and the Devil under the Expressway.

        Lecture by: Katrina Schlunke, 15th November 2007

Abstract:
In the myths of Indigenous Australians Captain Cook is more than one person. There is the "good" Cook who respected Indigenous law and died on Garden Island; Satan who disappeared into the earth at Sydney Cove where the Cahill Expressway now stands; and the too many Cooks who still come and fail to keep indigenous law.
As Australian leaders debate the teaching of "accurate" Australian history in schools, this free public lecture takes a Cooks' tour of the different imaginings of what Australia is and how it should be known. One of these is the modern nation of immigrants that began when a British sea captain landed on Possession Island.

Biography:
Katrina Schlunke is a Senior Lecturer in Writing and Cultural Studies, Research Coordinator for the UTS Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and a member of TfC. With Professor Stephen Muecke she is currently undertaking the ARC-funded project "Voyages of Myth: Captain Cook in the Popular Australian Imagination". She is the author of "Bluff Rock: Autobiography of a Massacre", an examination of how history works in the context of violent conflict between Indigenous people and white settlers near Tenterfield in Northern NSW in 1844.

Follow  links to listen to Voyage Into Myth. Captain Cook as Navigator, Possessor, and the Devil under the Expressway [MP3] (Connection via UTSpeaks)

Professor Toby Miller presented the 3rd Annual Public Lecture on the 11th July 2007 entitled:
"Madeover Nation: the United States of Reinvention?"
(Link to the lecture publicity here)

Abstract:
In times of economic dynamism and uncertainty, consumerism merges with old myths about meritocracy and religion to inform the 'manufacture' of citizens and the nation. DH Lawrence identified 'the true muth of America' as: "She of the old skin, towards a new youth". The detritus of Europe needed remaking, and thus, in the North, the process continues. A society permeated by the 'American Dream'. These dreams both reference and distort reality. They attract and please even as they horrify and disappoint. So I will look at the power of various forms of knowledge about people and their emotions as applied to the US, hoping that, if we are to understand an absurdly wealthy and wasteful country, we must question the pleasures of reinvention as well as embracing them, teasing out as we do so the mystification of moral panics and the reality of risk society.

Biography:
Toby Miller has taught media and cultural studies across the humanities and social sciences, both in Australia and in the US. His research areas include: media, sport, labour, gender, race, citizenship, political and cultural policy via political economy. He engages in textual analysis, archival research and ethnography. He recently became editor of the journal, "Social Identities".

Follow links to listen to " Madeover Nation: the United States of Reinvention?" [MP3]

Conservation and Social Justice - Landscapes of Meaning symposium reflections:
Mahesh Rangarajan & Heather Goodall speak to Justine Lloyd & Clare Warneminde, on key issues raised at the International symposium on South Asia-Australia connections regarding environment and people, hosted by the Trans/forming Cultures Research Centre.

Interview discussion in: October 2006

Summary:
Mahesh Rangarajan and Heather Goodall speak about the issues that the conference raised for both activism and theory concerned with interactions between culture and the environment.
Topics discussed include the Tribal Rights (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill under which indigenous people in India are entitled to land tenure in National Parks and Sanctuaries. (Read more about this here: India Together).
Read more information on the symposium here - Landscapes of Meaning. South Asia-Australia connections: environment and people.

Biographies:
Mahesh Rangarajan is a conservation advocate, historian and political commentator, based at Jadavpur University, India.
Heather Goodall is an Associate Professor in Social Inquiry, the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, UTS.
Justine Lloyd is a Research Fellow at TfC.
Clare Warneminde is co-presenter of 'Zapatismo" on Tin Radio in Newcastle, and was co-ordinator of the Earthling Festival 2006.

Follow links to listen to Conservation and Social Justice: Landscapes of Meaning reflections. (MP3)

Tanya Reinhart: Interview with Erica Vowles, 2SER

Interview on 9th October 2006

Summary:
Tanya Reinhart spoke to Erica Vowles, Producer of The Wire (an independent current affairs programme broadcast around Australia) about the current situation in Israel/Palestine. This is an unedited version of her interview, which was broadcast through The Wire, 2SER, and can be downloaded here: " Conflict in Palestinian Territories Requires International Focus" (MP3).

Biography:
Tanya Reinhart is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and Media Studies at Tel Aviv University and as of January 2007, a Global Distinguished Professor in NYU. Since 1994 she has been a columnist for the Israeli daily 'Yediot Aharonot' and publishes widely on the net. She is the author of Israel/Palestine - how to end the war of 1948, Seven Stories, NY (2002-2005); and The Roadmap to Nowhere - Israel/Palestine since 2003, Verso, London (2006).

Tanya Reinhart's visit to Australia was supported by the Centre for Middle East & North African Studies, Macquarie University; the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, The University of Sydney; The Australian Friends of Palestine Association; Trans/forming Cultures and the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, UTS.

Follow links to listen to Tanya Reinhart's interview with Erica Vowles (Wav file)

Trans/forming Cultures Annual Lecture:
The Return of the Sacred: the Language of Religion and the Fear of Democracy in a Post-Secular World

Lecture by Professor Ashis Nandy.
Date: 12th September 2006

Biography:
Professor Nandy has had a long and prolific career illuminating an extraordinary number of subjects. He lists his research interests as: "political psychology, mass violence, cultures and politics of knowledge, utopias and visions", but he has also written on the history of science and technology, the nature of the post-colonial state, alternatives to 'development', alternate politics, the role of religion in society and the game of cricket in India. His works have been translated into Chinese, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malayalam, Polish, Russian and Spanish (not to mention most of the languages of the Indian subcontinent).
Ashis Nandy is a major world thinker with unusual and stimulating perspectives on many topics.

Follow links to listen to The Return of the Sacred: the Language of Religion and the Fear of Democracy in a Post-Secular World. (MP3)

UTSpeaks:
Cronulla, Conflict and Culture. Can Muslim women find their voice in Australia?

Lecture by: Dr. Christina Ho
Date: Tuesday, 5 September 2006, 6:30pm

Summary:
Following the Cronulla riots, Muslim women have again found themselves targets of violence and abuse in public spaces. Meanwhile public figures claiming to defend women's rights have added to conflict by damning Islam as misogynistic and a threat to Australia's egalitarian culture. In this climate, how can Muslim women speak publicly about cultural change without fuelling further hatred?
This public lecture confronted issues of feminism, nationalism and Islamophobia in the post-9/11 world.

Biography:
Christina Ho lectures in Social Inquiry in the UTS Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. She researches migration, multiculturalism and gender and is currently working on a project in partnership with the Muslim Women Association entitled "Sanctuary and Security in Contemporary Australia: Muslim Women's Networks, 1980 - 2005"

Follow links to listen to Cronulla, Conflict and Culture here. (MP3)