Over 1400 local Zandspruit children will attend the Read-a-Thon

Children in Zandspruit, South Africa will have not one but two of their first-ever libraries to look forward to through the Monash Krishna Khetia Library initiative.

Zandspruit’s two local primary schools, Masakane Primary School and Zandspruit Primary, will house the libraries for the project, developed by the Community Engagement team at Monash South Africa (MSA) to give schoolchildren greater access to books and literacy.

The initiative is named in memory of Monash student, Krishna Khetia, who was known for her work in the community but was tragically killed in a car accident in 2010.

In preparation for the grand opening on 15 June 2012, staff and students from MSA have organised a month-long Read-a-Thon.

Brownyn du Rand, Community Engagement coordinator, said the Read-a-Thon provided the children of Zandspruit with an opportunity to discover the joy of reading.

“The Read-a-Thon will give the children a chance to nurture their natural curiosity and expand their horizons,” Ms du Rand said.

“Approximately 1400 are scheduled to attend, and we’re providing each of them with an information pack so that they can keep track of all the books they read over the month.”

The Read-a-Thon will begin at Zandspruit Primary on 11 May and a follow-up event will be held at Masakane Primary School on 16 May.

With no library in Zandspruit or either of its local primary schools, there was an increase in children hoping to attend the MSA’s Saturday school reading program. Since they could only accommodate 200 children, they had to turn away many who had walked long distances to attend.

“We’re working to decrease the number of illiterate children in South Africa. The future of a community lies in its children’s possibilities and there are over 700 children in each of these schools,” Ms du Rand said.

Ms du Rand said special thanks must go to Tamar Boddé, a third-year Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) student at MSA.

“Tamar assisted me with the concept and developed the criteria and all the information packs for the children. If it wasn’t for her hard work none of this would be possible,” Ms du Rand said.

The Monash South Africa Library team will provide skills training and cataloguing information for the new libraries, as well as assisting with staffing and management.

Dear student,

Applications for positions in the Vice Chancellor’s 2013 Ancora Imparo Student Leadership Program will open on Tuesday 8th May 2012.  The Ancora Imparo Program is a flagship program of the University. We are seeking applications from first year Monash undergraduate students from a diverse range of backgrounds, interests and courses to participate in the program in the second year of their studies. Forty students will be selected to join the program which will commence in mid-February 2013.

Leadership training helps to unlock your potential – enhancing your ability to make an impact on your peers and on the world.

Participants are given the opportunity to meet and hear from some of the nation’s most inspired leaders, with backgrounds ranging from politics to business, arts and the law. To illustrate, speakers for this year’s Program include Christine Nixon APM, Julian Burnside QC, Bernard Salt, and The Hon. John Brumby.

Students selected for the program participate in a fully-funded three-day residential workshop which is also attended by senior University staff and key speakers drawn from across Australia.  This is followed by eight evening forums held on Tuesday nights, during which students hear outstanding speakers tackle a range of contemporary leadership issues. Small group presentations will also be made on a range of stimulating topics by student participants, following which you will have the opportunity to contribute by way of debate and discussion.

As a member of this unique program, you will have the opportunity to engage in a number of events usually open only to Senior Monash Staff, including attendance at leadership summits and leadership lunches.

Successful applicants are provided with a small stipend in recognition of being awarded a position in the program. There are no exams or assignments to complete.

For more information about the program please visit www.monash.edu.au/students/leadership or come along to one of the following information sessions:

Caulfield Campus on Monday 14th May from 12:00 — 1:30pm in Building S, Room 232

Clayton Campus on Tuesday 22nd May from 12:00 — 1:00pm in Building 11, Room H7

Applications close Monday 30th July 2012.

Bruce Scates' "On Dangerous Ground"

In 1915 Lt. Roy Irwin goes missing at Gallipoli. The young woman who loves him, and the men who fought beside him, begin their search. Later, in 1919, historian C.E.W. Bean returns to Anzac Cove with artist George Lambert and soldier Harry Vickers to solve the greatest mystery of the campaign and to discover Gallipoli’s secret. Forward to 2015, and Dr. Mark Troy’s quest to preserve the peninsula from road works is sidetracked by political intervention and diplomatic intrigue. But a flirtation with a dynamic young woman from Army Intelligence uncovers long-forgotten documents protecting Gallipoli’s graves.

Bruce Scates’ eagerly awaited On Dangerous Ground is a playful hybrid of history and fiction from one of Australia’s leading historians. Moving between the historical realm and the world of the imagination it recreates the most dramatic moments of the Gallipoli campaign in the Great War. It is about unresolved loss, the need to know, and a story of reconciliation that bridges countries and generations. Fusing literature, fiction and history, On Dangerous Ground journeys across a real and imagined landscape, empowering voices and lives too long locked in the archives.

Steeped in a deep knowledge of the past and courageously contemporary, it asks what Gallipoli means in the twenty-first century. Thorough research and a compelling semi-fictional narrative shape an “imagined history” that enriches our understanding of the Great War.

Professor Scates addresses the audience at the launch

Bruce Scates is a prize-winning teacher, historian and storyteller. He is based in the National Centre for Australian Studies at Monash University. On Dangerous Ground was recently launched at Readings Carlton and then at the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne.

On Dangerous Ground: A Gallipoli Story is available now from UWA Publishing.

For an opinion piece on Anzac Day, see Bruce Scates, Gallipoli a global calamity, The Age, 25 April, 1212.

For a discussion of Anzac Day and imagined history, see Bruce Scates, Margaret Throsby Interview, ABC Radio National, 3:05pm, 23 April 2012.

And Bruce Scates, Anzac Day Stories, Radio National, ABC Radio National, 10.05am, 25 April 2012.

Dr Muhammet Erat, *Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University and Serdar Baycan a prominent member of Australian Turkish community spoke at the launch.

Former parliamentarian Paul Jenkins speaks with Professor Scates at the launch.

The joint programmes complement Monash’s objective of building strategic global collaborations that will create opportunities for students to engage with international experts and gain valuable experience in managing research projects.

Goethe University is recognised as a leading university in Germany with an international research profile. Established in 1914 it is best known for producing some of Europe’s leading thinkers in philosophy and the social sciences. More recently it has expanded its research presence into areas such as languages and humanities.

The collaboration is a development of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Faculties of Arts at Monash and Goethe University initiated by the Centre for Postcolonial Writing (CPW) at Monash and The Centre for New Anglophone Literatures at Geothe FranKurt (NELK).  Associate Professor Chandani Lokuge from CPW says “this new venture will further enhance the research links that have developed between CPW and NELK while enriching the international collaborative research profile of each university.

The University of Bologna is probably the first University in the western world with history dating back to the 11^th Century and is among Monash’s priority partners.  The university is historically notable for its teaching of canon and civil law and is renowned for interdepartmental research centres in the sciences and the humanities. In the last three years, it has consistently been ranked within the top 200 in THE /QS World University Rankings lists

The Joint PhD programmes with the University of Bologna was initiated by the Faculty’s School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics (LCL).  Monash and Bologna share research strengths in the area of translation and intercultural studies and the programmes will support existing activities by bringing supervising academics closer together.  Head of LCL Associate Professor Rita Wilson says the partnership will give a significant boost to international research collaboration in interdisciplinary studies in translation, languages and cultures, and greatly enhance our ability to recruit excellent graduate students. For the students, it provides exposure to two different research environments, cultures and sets of resources and a head start in future career planning, professional development and employment prospects on an international scale.

Prof. Bruce Scates

Monash University historian, Professor Bruce Scates, has been appointed as chair of the Military and Cultural History Working Group, one of six expert committees advising the Anzac Centenary Board.

Prize winner Ernest Koh.

Monash history academic Ernest Koh has been awarded a major book prize for his first book. Singapore Stores: Language, Class, and the Chinese of Singapore 1945 – 2000 was based on his PhD thesis, and looks at the relationship between language and economic stratification in post-war Singapore. The book was published by Cambria Press.

The National Library Board of Singapore’s E.W. Barker Prize is in its inaugural year, and is meant to acknowledge innovative contributions to the study of Singapore in the humanities. There were forty titles that were submitted by publishers for consideration by the prize panel (made up of academics from the National University of Singapore and the National Library Board of Singapore)

Koh also a very accomplished teacher, having received Faculty recognition in the Faculty’s last round of awards and citations.

Sarah is completing a Bachelor of Law /Bachelor of Arts degree at Monash University. She was an exchange student at the University of California Berkeley and a Prime Ministers Australia Asia Endeavour Scholar at the University of Hong Kong (2011). This has provided her with a valuable understanding of international difference and cross cultural issues.

Sarah has applied these intercultural skills through her work at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre in 2011. In 2010, she represented Australia at the Japanese Government’s Ship for World Youth Program which brought together young people from different countries to discuss and implement solutions to international issues. Sarah is also an Asia Literacy Ambassador for the Asia Education Foundation.

Sarah has also employed her legal and cultural skills in a number of volunteer positions. Last year she volunteered at the Women’s Aid Organisation in Malaysia. In 2010, Sarah worked as a volunteer with Victorian Women’s Lawyers on an initiative seeking to inform Victorian migrant women from diverse backgrounds of their legal rights. Sarah’s performance has been recognised through various awards including the Australian Olympic Committee’s Pierre De Coubertin Award and the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award. Sarah is currently completing her degrees and an Honours thesis in international law. She aims to use her skills to assist disadvantaged groups in society both directly and by contributing to the development of public policy solutions. 

The Dynamic Duo Kiran Iyer and Amit Golder

The dynamic duo of Amit Golder (Law/Arts) and Kiran lyer (Law/ Arts) recently took out top honours at the 2012 World University Debating Championships, hosted by De La Salle University in Manila. The Monash pair defeated teams from all over the world on the road to the Grand Final. Ultimately, they out-argued and our-performed teams from Stanford, Oxford and arch rivals Sydney in a stellar final showdown on the topic that “This House supports nationalism.” In another feat of international proportions, Law/Arts Student Chris Bisset was ranked as the ninth best speaker in the world for his individual performance. He and teammate Madeline Schultz. (Law/Science) reached the Semi-Finals after ranking impressively as the third highest-scoring team in the preliminary rounds.

The annual tournament is held in the format of British Parliamentary debating, which sees four teams line up against each other in every round – two on the side of the government (proposing the motion), and two on the side of the opposition (negating the motion). The format is technically and strategically unique because it requires debaters to compete against an opposition and another team which actually supports their side of the topic. In the final, Amit and Kiran were allocated the role of Opening Government — the side which speaks first in favour of the motion. Although it is widely regarded as the most difficult position from which to win a British Parliamentary debate, they rose spectacularly to the challenge.

In fact, Monash debaters arc quickly developing a reputation for their prowess at motion proposition – our team of Fiona Prowse and Victor Finkel won the tournament last year from the same position. Historically, only Monash and Oxford Universities have fielded teams which have won the world championships in consecutive years. Monash has now become the first university to accomplish this feat twice, following its back-to-back success in the 1999 and 2000 tournaments.

In the Grand Final, Monash’s case looked at the comparative advantage of nationalism to other forms of collective identity, such as race, class and sexuality. They argued that nationalism is inclusive and accessible, and inspires unifying altruism in individuals towards causes which don’t affect them personally. It was a testament to the pair’s argumentative clarity and sophistication that the premise of their case was the key point of clash for the entire debate. Although much easier said than done, this is the trick to winning a BP debate from an opening position – your arguments have to stay relevant and remain hotly-contested throughout the entire debate. Whilst closing arguments from both Oxford and Sydney were powerful extensions on the parameters of debate, the structure and substance of Monash’s early setup were too strong to overcome. The adjudication panel was unanimous in their verdict.

Kiran was ecstatic about the win. In an interview with the University, he said: “We feel proud and really grateful. It’s such a difficult tournament and many of the decisions were close. A sign of great humility, he added: “We had luck when we needed and had amazing support from the rest of the team.” He added that they were thrilled to have the experience of debating in the Grand Final, and were really happy that all of their hard work and preparation paid off. Monash’s record of recent success at the international level is tremendous, and a shining endorsement of the quality of training programmes provided to the club’s membership. After Kiran and Amit’s success in the Philippines, Monash has retained its ranking as the number two debating institution in the world. The Monash Association of Debaters is incredibly proud of Kiran and Amit and all of its tournament participants, who have been immeasurably integral as important role models for the club.

Monash debating has broken world records. But there’s one more for which one can easily fancy our prospects – the elusive hat-trick. We’ll have to wait another year to find out.

The Monash Association of Debaters holds training sessions every Monday at 5pm in the Law Basement. New members are always welcome.

– DUNCAN WALLACE

With thanks to the author and Lot’s Wife for granting their permission for this article’s reproduction. 

Bridget Mattingley in the Banaue Rice Terraces, the Philippines

Just days after the world celebrates International Women’s Day, one Monash student will begin walking in the shoes of women less fortunate to show she cares.

Bridget Mattingley, a fourth year Bachelor of Arts (Global) and Bachelor of Science student at Monash University’s Clayton campus, will begin walking 10,000 steps, or approximately eight kilometres, each morning as part of CARE Australia’s ‘Walk in her Shoes’ Challenge.

Every day millions of women and girls around the globe walk over six kilometres in search of food, water and firewood, leaving them with little time for school, accessing health services or earning an income.

“CARE works in a range of countries, with the money raised from this particular challenge put towards empowering women and their communities through principles such as equal access to education,” Bridget said.

“One of my key motivations for participating has been my experience studying at Monash University’s Sunway campus in 2011, during which I also travelled extensively throughout Southeast Asia. This deepened my awareness of key issues and complexities prevalent through the region.

“It was a joy to see the smiling faces of locals and the strong sense of community shared and open hospitality, even in places where hardships and discrimination were widely evident.”

At Monash Bridget is focusing on international studies and conservation biology, two passions which she hopes to eventually combine.

“I am interested in issues of sustainability, environmental education and how to maximise livelihoods and development without compromising cultural diversity, access to and resilience of natural resources and the land,” Bridget said.

From 12-18 March Bridget will walk 10,000 steps a day in order to raise her target of $750. Just $250 can provide a girl with an education scholarship that includes uniforms, travel costs and food for one year. A simple rope water pump and maintenance training for a community can be bought with $500, drastically reducing the time taken to collect water.

“Such funding is important in providing economic opportunity, with the overall goal of strengthening the capacity of individuals and communities alike to be independent, dynamic and resilient while upholding values of dignity, respect and cultural diversity,” Bridget said.

For more information on CARE Australia, visit their website. To donate to Bridget’s cause, visit her Walk In Her Shoes fundraising page.

Dean of Arts, Professor Rae Frances, said that she is proud that Monash is able to sponsor this exciting initiative. “Monash is committed to developing the next generation of Australia’s creative writers, and this prize is an indication of this commitment,” she said.

It is a major aim of the Undergraduate Prize for Creative Writing to recognise, discover and celebrate the diversity within Australia’s writing and educational communities.

The Prize’s 2012 theme of ‘Revolution’ provides the inspiration for emerging creative writers of all forms to submit their work for consideration by Prize judges Fiona McGregor and Ali Alizadeh.

The winners of the Monash University Undergraduate Prize for Creative Writing will be announced at the 2012 Emerging Writers’ Festival. In addition to cash prizes, the winners will receive festival tickets and a paid publication opportunity in The Emerging Writer.

Lisa Dempster, Director of the Emerging Writers’ Festival, said, “This is an exciting opportunity for writers and student-writers. The Emerging Writers’ Festival exists to promote the interests of emerging writers, and the development of this significant Undergraduate Prize for Creative Writing is the outcome of a shared commitment with Monash University to developing the careers of tomorrow’s literary voices, today.”

For more information see The Emerging Writer’s Festival Site.