All 2007 episodes

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Tariq Ali - Latin America and the Arab World: Resistance and Occupation

Tariq Ali - Latin America and the Arab World: Resistance and Occupation
Fresh from a tour of Latin America, Tariq Ali, discusses how the views of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez - the foremost challenger of American foreign policy - have polarised Latin America, at Sydney Ideas, the University of Sydney's international lecture series.
(Running time 96:02)

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Michael Otterman - The Truth about American Torture

Michael Otterman - The Truth about American Torture
New York-based author and University of Sydney visiting scholar Michael Otterman exposes the long-standing history of torture practices used by the United States and the impact these techniques have had on the "war on terror" at Sydney Ideas, the University of Sydney's international lecture series.
(Running time 80:37)

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Associate Professor Catherine Waldby

Biology and New Communities - Tissue donation and social relationships - Associate Professor Catherine Waldby, Department of Sociology and Social Policy
Tissue donation creates strong social bonds. This talk discussed various forms of tissue donation and the 'imagined communities' that develop around them. Respondent: Associate Professor Ian Kerridge, Director, Centre for Values and Ethics and the Law in Medicine, The University of Sydney.
(Running time 77:21)

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Existential Jesus

The Existential Jesus: Professor John Carroll in conversation with Archbishop Peter Jensen
Sydney Ideas brought together the author of The Existential Jesus, Professor John Carroll, and one of the Anglican Church of Australia's leading theologians and academics, Archbishop Peter Jensen, to discuss the concepts behind this provocative new book.
(Running time 92:30)

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Where is government going?

Where is government going? - Professor Geoff Gallop
In this lecture, Professor Geoff Gallop, former Premier of Western Australia, looked at the changing nature of government and politics in Australia. Professor Gallop is the Director of the University of Sydney's Graduate School of Government.
(Running time 74:53)

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Democracy and the 'entrepreneurial' university

Democracy and the 'entrepreneurial' university: visioning the university in the age of globalization - Professor Derrick Armstrong
In this lecture, Professor Armstrong argued that the idea of an 'entrepreneurial' university inadequately reflects the challenges and opportunities facing higher education. On the one hand, the relationship between the state and universities remains a serious impediment to any refocusing of the activity of universities. On the other hand, although highly contestable, academic values must remain central to the re-conceptualisation of modern universities. In unravelling these changes and contradictions, alternative options for a more democratised form of the university are to be found.
(Running time 83:41)

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Future of Work The future of work - Dr John Buchanan

The future of work is not what it used to be. As recently as the 1970s the prime concern was the coming of leisure society - how were we going to handle all the free time about to be delivered by "technological advances" like automation and computers? Far from facing problems of this nature we now have the reality of "over work" for some and unemployment for others. Can we expect more of the same in the future, or will the predictions of an earlier era ultimately come true?
Running time 71:56)

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New Security Challenges New security challenges - Professor Alan Dupont

In this lecture Professor Alan Dupont argued that the "drivers" of tomorrow's future security environment will be substantially different from those of the past. A new class of threats is emerging which is stretching the boundaries of conventional thinking about security.
(Running time 79:45)

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Public Health The scope, mission and method of public health - Professor Stephen Leeder
We may take "public health" to mean the organised efforts of society to maintain good health. It is a broad church within which reside many denominations - epidemiology, biostatistics, demography, health policy, health promotion and advocacy, infectious disease control, history, environmental surveillance and the social sciences applied to health to name several.
(Running time 79:45)

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Julia Gillard Julia Gillard lecture on the future of work
The workplace relations debate came to the University of Sydney when Julia Gillard delivered the annual industrial relations lecture, the Kingsley Laffer Memorial Lecture.
(Running time 55:38)

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Sir Bernard Crick Defining strangers: human rights immigrants and the foundations for a just society
Associate Professor Mary Crock opens the inaugural Key Directions Public Lecture Series with the issue of human rights and, in particular, how Australia's treatment of migrants is affecting regimes for the respect of human rights generally. Associate Professor Crock's central argument is that to have real meaning, "human rights" must be read as an indivisible phrase - not as two words that can be separated according to putative membership of a society.
(Running time 84:10)

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Sir Bernard Crick Citizenship: The Challenge for Today - Sir Bernard Crick
UK author and political theorist Sir Bernard Crick argued that citizens need to actively participate in modern democracies in order for them to work when he spoke at Sydney Ideas, the University of Sydney's international public lecture series.
(Running time 94:21)

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Clive Hamilton

Inside the dirty politics of climate change: Clive Hamilton at Sydney Ideas

"Over the past decade in Australia, fossil fuel industries have had unparalleled insight into, and influence on, greenhouse policy. The Howard government has given these industries extraordinary power. It's the best cross-industry alliance that's ever been put together." This was the verdict of Clive Hamilton, head of the Australia Institute, when he spoke at Sydney Ideas, the University of Sydney's international public lecture series.

(Running time 96:58)

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Mr Peter Garrett MP, Shadow Minister for the Arts

Brandis and Garrett launch Australian Arts: Where the Bloody Hell Are You?
Senator George Brandis, Minister for Arts and Sport, and Peter Garrett MP, Shadow Minister for the Arts discussed their parties' arts policies as we move towards this year's federal election. The pair also engaged in a colourful debate of the Australian arts in response to questions posed by an informed panel consisting of Robyn Nevin, Artistic Director, Sydney Theatre Company; Miriam Cosic, Arts Editor, The Australian; and Peter McCallum, The University of Sydney.

(Running time 68:47)
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Ed Blakely Rebuilding New Orleans
The head of the New Orleans reconstruction team, Professor Ed Blakely, revealed his bold new plan for New Orleans post-hurricane "Katrina" when he spoke at Sydney Ideas. (Running time 91:31)
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Helen Irving A Nation Built on Words: The Constitution and Cultural Identity in the United States and Australia
The Constitution of the United States of America, written at the end of the eighteenth century, was a breathtaking experiment in the power of the written word, says Professor Helen Irving in the inaugural lecture for the returning holder of the Harvard Chair of Australian Studies. (Running time 58:13)
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Legrain Why we need more immigrants
If Australia's current immigration rules were in place in the 1950s, Frank Lowy, co-founder of The Westfield Group, may not have been admitted into the country, suggested Philippe Legrain when he delivered the first Sydney Ideas lecture of 2007. (Running time 77:09)
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Blogger The truth about cats and blogs
Blogs have replaced home pages as the favoured online format, visiting Internet culture expert Geert Lovink told an audience at the University of Sydney. (Running time 123:52)
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Cooling tower Nuclear not the solution to global warming
A panel of five leading experts at the Sydney Ideas forum, co-presented with the University of Sydney's Science Foundation for Physics, question whether or not the nuclear debate should be combined with the demand to act on climate change and also call for an objective assessment of all available energy options. (Running time 81:55)
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