Obama: protect Barrier Reef from climate change By Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra US president Barack Obama has given Australia a sharp prod on climate change, saying he wanted his future grandchildren to be able to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef. Obama, addressing an enthusiastic audience including mostly young people at the University of Queensland, […]
Buying essays: how to make sure assessment is authentic By Shirley Alexander, University of Technology, Sydney The essay, as the primary form of assessment, should be dead. This is the kind of comment that terrifies academics everywhere – but it is an idea that I think we all need to consider. The “news” that there […]
Palm oil continues to destroy Indonesia’s wildlife By Penny van Oosterzee, James Cook University and Bill Laurance, James Cook University How do the products we buy affect the world’s rainforests? In the lead up to the Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit held in Sydney this week, The Conversation is running a series on rainforest commodities. If you […]
The Coalition’s 19th-century colonial time warp on climate By David Holmes, Monash University Greens senator Scott Ludlam’s prophecy that environment minister Greg Hunt has been directed to play solitaire for an entire term of office is so far holding up to scrutiny. It is looking increasingly unlikely that Australia will meet even its now-minuscule target […]
A Moment With Gough Whitlam By John Keane, University of Sydney Gough Whitlam, addressing supporters on the day of his dismissal, November 11, 1975 ABC Edward Gough Whitlam has passed on, leaving behind millions of citizens saddened by scores of eloquent obituaries reminding us how, once upon a time, Australian politics produced world-class leaders courageously […]
‘Gentle parenting’ explainer: no rewards, no punishments, no misbehaving kids By Rebecca English, Queensland University of Technology In a piece in The Conversation, Bernadette Saunders described positive discipline. Parents who practise positive discipline or gentle parenting use neither rewards nor punishments to encourage their children to behave. By “no rewards” I mean they don’t use […]
Since Gough died the other day there seems to be one great achievement left to be recorded – it seems to me that his passing has revitalised a broad desire to change for the greater good – apart from the standard detritus from the Cabinet we’re seeing many more elected officers standing for what’s right […]
My daily work routine over the past decade has become an increasingly global and collaborative undertaking. As a member of a few of the the Badge Alliance working groups it is gratifying to see such a huge set of outcomes from such a dedicated collaborative. The Badge Alliance is a very dynamic and productive transdisciplinary […]
By John Mendoza, University of Sydney Mental health disorders are the greatest contributor to the burden of disability and the third largest contributor to the burden of disease after all cancers and all cardio-vascular diseases. But unlike the progress we have made over the past 30 years in both cancer and CVD, life expectancy for […]
By Julian Meyrick, Flinders University Drama and its core principles are to be found in theatres while the real world goes on outside, right? Wrong. And recent events bear this out. Dramaturgy is the art of managing events in time for the benefit of their greater meaning and impact: if drama is the substance of […]