Sydney Ideas

Sydney Ideas co-presented with the Institute of Open Adoption Studies, School of Education and Social Work Join us for a panel discussion to explore the complex issue of contact in the context of open adoption. Adoption is one of the pathways for those children and requires individuals with capacity, sensitivity, and commitment to raise children through open adoption. Part of this openness is realised through adoption related conversation and exchange of information between adoptees, their adoptive parents and their birth families, to enable a child to understand their biological/familial history and the circumstances of their adoption. International research demonstrates that access to knowledge about their history and the circumstances of their adoption is important for children's ability to form a healthy and positive identity – including their identity as an adopted person. Supporting contact that is in the best interest of children is a pressing consideration for contemporary adoption practices in NSW. Chaired by Associate Professor Amy Conley Wright, Director of the Institute of Open Adoption Studies at the University of Sydney SPEAKERS: - Professor Elsbeth Neil, Professor of Social Work, University of East Anglia - Helmut Uhlmann - Lynne Moggach, Executive Specialist Adoption, Barnardos Australia - Philippa Welman, Director Child Safety & Permanency, Department of Family & Community Services Held as part of Sydney Ideas on 31 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/ESW_deans_lecture_series.shtml

When does evidence obscure the truth? Join us for a forum on the avoidable causes of wrongful conviction. Wrongful convictions can and do happen – it's a sad fact of the Australian legal system. This panel looks at how evidence in legal proceedings can inadvertently support false conclusions if handled by non-experts (as is usually the case). Panel members are associate lecturer in psychology Celine van Golde, barrister and senior lecturer in law Miiko Kumar, both of the ‘Not Guilty’ project at the University of Sydney, and professional linguist Helen Fraser, of Forensic Phonetics Australia. They present real-life cases in which errors, by eyewitnesses, police, prosecutors, and other experts led to people spent years in jail following unfair trials. With reference to their ongoing research on human perception and memory they then ask: what can we do to prevent future miscarriages of justice? Held as part of the Sydney Ideas' Post Truth Initiative Series on 29 August, 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/post_truth_initiative_series_2017.shtml

Forget what you think you know about fake news. Our neighbours in Asia have been dealing with fake news, lies and propaganda for years. More recently, the same technology and social media platforms that have enabled political participation and social change have become a battleground for 'weaponised' internet warriors to spread misinformation. And sometimes the perpetrators are governments themselves. In this Sydney Ideas podcast, our global panel discusses how citizens, journalists and publishers are fighting back with fact-checking, verification, data-driven reporting and collaborations across borders. SPEAKERS: - Maria Ressa, CEO, Rappler (Philippines) - Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor, The Wire (India) - Matt Davis, videojournalist, ABC TV Foreign Correspondent - Dr Aim Sinpeng (panel chair), Department of Government and International Relations, the University of Sydney This panel was held as part of the Sydney Ideas on 28 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/storyology_2017_forum.shtml

It’s the 21st century, 100 years since Australian women were lucky enough to get the vote, and we’ve arrived at the age of Pussyriot and Pussyhats. How did women get here? What does this augur for the future of feminism as a world-wide phenomenon, now drawing a new generation of activists, in some cases connecting them with earlier feminist waves? What is the impact of events in the US in particular for a standard of feminist politics everywhere? In an age when all social movements have a global scope, a panel of feminist academics with specific areas of geopolitical expertise on the US, UK, Russia, and Australia, come together to discuss these questions. Speakers: - Professor Glenda Sluga, P, ARC Laureate Fellow, Professor of International History, FAHA, the University of Sydney - Dr Philippa Hetherington, University College London (UCL) - Associate Professor Laura J Shepherd, , UNSW Sydney - Anna Hush, University of Sydney student Held as part of Sydney Ideas, The Thinker's Guide to the 21st century series on 23 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/thinkers_guide_21st_century_2017.shtml

This forum examines developments in Hong Kong in the 20 years since it became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and prospects for Hong Kong's future under Chinese rule. Presentation #1: Twenty Years of Interpretation of the Basic Law by Beijing: a troubled story 

Presented by: Professor Bing Ling,Professor of Chinese Law and Associate Dean (International), Sydney Law School and Associate Director (China) of the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law. 
 Presentation #2: A Destabilising Stability: Hong Kong 20 years after 1997

 Presented by: Dr Kevin Carrico, Lecturer in Chinese Studies at Macquarie University and the author of The Great Han: Race, Nationalism and Tradition in China Today (2017). 
 Presentation #3: Dissenting Media: post-1997 Hong Kong 

Presented by: Joyce Nip, Senior Lecturer in Chinese media studies at the University of Sydney. This forum was originally held as part of the Sydney Ideas on 22 August, 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/hong_kong_twenty_years.shtml

Journalist Glenn Greenwald discusses his favourite subjects: power and accountability, surveillance and privacy, Trump and fake news, threats to democracy, courage, and the role of journalism in giving a voice to perspectives and events that are ignored and silenced by large media outlets. He is in discussion with former WA Greens Senator Scott Ludlam, and University of Sydney academics Benedetta Brevini and John Keane. A Sydney Ideas, Sydney Democracy Network, and Post Truth Initiative event held on 20 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/glenn_greenwald.shtml

Karl Widerquist discusses an idea which is increasingly viewed as the only viable way of reconciling poverty relief and full employment. A Sydney Ideas event on 16 August 2017 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/associate_professor_karl_widerquist.shtml

The World Economic Forum estimates that young people can expect to change careers at least seven times over the course of their lives, and 35 percent of the skills required today will be different in five years. The complexity and uncertainty of the future of work means today’s graduates will have to adapt to new jobs and work environments. In this panel discussion the University of Sydney academics and the CEO of StartupAUS discuss the future challenges and opportunities and how the education is already reshaping to prepare our students for the future. Speakers: - Sandra Peter, Director, Sydney Business Insights, University of Sydney Business School - Martin Tomitsch, Chair of Design at the University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning and Director of the Design Lab - Nicky Ringland, a Computing Education Specialist at the Australian Computing Academy, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology - Alex McCauley, CEO of StartupAUS They are in conversation with Richard Miles, leader of the University’s educational engagement with the community and industry sector. Held as part of the Sydney Ideas on 15 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/future_of_work_forum.shtml

Alice P Albright, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Partnership for Education speaks about global education crises and how the Global Partnership for Education partnership is innovating to address the funding challenges and offer quality education at some of the poorest countries of the world. She outlines why should businesses pay attention at education circumstances and support education, and speaks about new models of donation that will empower local governments to manage the funds and take charge of their education system. A Sydney Ideas and University of Sydney Business School event on 10 August 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/alice_albright.shtml

An exclusive Sydney Science Festival presentation by acclaimed science writer Dava Sobel. In conversation with Jessica Bloom, a young University of Sydney astrophysics PhD student, Dava speaks of her love for science and what it took for a women to break through. Presented as part of the Sydney Ideas program on 9 August, 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/sydney_science_festival_2017_dava_sobel.shtml?cid=em_si-news