2009 News Archive
Newcastle student lands inaugural PM's Award
University of Newcastle speech pathology student Rebecca Amery will next year swap the leafy surrounds of the Callaghan campus for Vietnam's Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy under a unique new scholarship program.
Ms Amery has been awarded a Prime Minister's Australia Asia Endeavour Award - a new scholarship providing opportunities for students to gain international experience and build professional networks in Asia.
She will be one of just 20 Australian undergraduate students to spend up to 12 months studying in Asia as part of their degree program, followed by at least three months in an internship or work placement.
Click here for more information.
Promotions and Awards
Congratulations to the following staff on their promotion to Senior Lecturer (Level C):
* Dr Jane Bellemore
* Dr Marguerite Johnson
* Dr Alan Libert
In addition we have some further good news with the following staff receiving University Awards:
* VC's Award for Research Excellence (2009) - Dr Kim Cheng Boey
* VC's Award for Supervision Excellence (2009) - Professor Mel Gray
New partnership opens theological education in Australia
The University of Newcastle and the Broken Bay Institute (BBI) have formed a new partnership to offer the richest suite of theological degree programs in Australia.BBI is a specialist theological provider and the largest Catholic distance theological education provider in Australia.
Under the new partnership, BBI students will be able to obtain undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications from the University. "This partnership provides an essential boost to theological education, which has sadly not been a recognised part of the regular higher education sector," Professor Terry Lovat, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Education and Arts, said.
Click here for more information
FEDUA Awards for Teaching Excellence
Congratulations to the following academic staff on receiving a 2009 FEDUA Award for Teaching Excellence:
* Dr Nancy Cushing
* Dr Michael Ondaatje
Click here to view other staff awards
Congratulations to Lou Johnston for being voted the most Well-Regarded HASS Lecturer of 2009
The following Lecturers deserve special mention for the high number of votes they received.
* Alex Beveridge
* Michael Ondaatje
* Peter Khoury
* Sharon Walsh
Click here to view a list of lecturers who the students of Newcastle University took time to nominate for an award.
Vice-Chancellor’s Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning for 2009
Congratulations to Dr Sally Hewat for receiving the above award for development of a research-led work-integrated learning program for Speech Pathology students.
Click here to go to Awards page
3 staff receive Australian College of Educators Teacher Recognition Awards
Nominees for these awards are student driven with each nominee requiring at least 3 students to indicate why the person nominated is supporting students ‘above and beyond the call of duty’. Congratulations to:
Hugh Lindsay
Josephine May
Sharon Walsh
2009 School RHD Publication Awards
Prizes are awarded to candidates for high quality publications and consists of a certificate and a $300 prize. Congratulations to all the following recipients:
- Alexis Antonia (with Ellen Jordan as second author) ‘Who wrote the Women’s Movement articles in the Saturday Review’, Nineteenth Century Gender Studies, Issue 4.3, Winter 2008.
- Scott Brewer '"A peculiar aesthetic": Julia Leigh's The Hunter and Sublime Loss', Journal for the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, Vol. 9, 2009
- Patrick Bryson 'The Urge to Write and the Urge to Kill: Creativity, Violence and the Manipulation of Madness in the Work of Peter Kocan', In Configuring Madness: Representation, Context and Meaning, ed. K. White, 2009, Rodopi Press.
- Dominiek Coates 'Post-involvement Difficulties Experienced by Former members of Charismatic Groups', Journal of Religion and Health, published as Online First 24 April 2009.
- Patrick Cullen What Came Between. Melbourne: Scribe.
- Nevill Drury 'The Modern Magical Revival', In Handbook of Contemporary Paganism, eds. M. Pizza, J.R. Lewis, 2009, pp. 13-80, Leiden: Brill.
- Therese Dryden Bachelor Dad on her Doorstep. 2009, Harlequin & The Aristocrat and the Single Mum. 2009, Harlequin/Mills & Boon
- Danuta Raine 'Essaying the Self: Ethnicity, Identity and the Fictocritical Essay', Text, Special Issue Website Series, 'The Art of the Real' no. 5, April 2009, eds K Glastonbury and R. Smith.
- Michael Sala 'Old World Charm', Heat, no. 20, new series, ed. I. Indyk, pp. 83-140, Writing and Society Research Group, University of Western Sydney. & 'Like my Father, My Brother', Brothers and Sisters, ed. C. Wood, Sydney: Allen & Unwin 2009, pp. 67-86.
- Steven Threadgold 'Reflexivity of Contemporary Youth, Risk and Cultural Capital', Current Sociology, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 47-68, 2009.
- Jessica Walton 'More Than a Korean Adoptee: making Sense of Identity and Adoption in South Korea and Adoptive Countries', In Other People's Children: Adoption in Australia, eds C. Spark and D. Cuthbert 2009, Chapter 13. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Press.
UoN Dean of Arts elected to peak body
A/Professor John Germov, Dean of Arts and Head of the School of Humanities and Social Science, has been elected to the Board of the prestigious Australasian Council of Deans of Arts, Social Science and Humanities.
DASSH is the representative body of Deans in Australia and New Zealand that promotes the arts, social sciences, and humanities nationally and internationally in the higher education sector. Specifically, DASSH aims to disseminate best practice between member institutions, foster research, contribute to the development of higher education policy, and take a lead role in advancing the arts, social sciences and humanities in Australasia.
Acclaimed director returns to old stomping ground
Last week David Berthold - University of Newcastle graduate and leading Australian theatre director - visited the University to provide first-hand guidance to current students hoping to make it big in the theatrical arts industry. David, who is the Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of La Boite Theatre Company, completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree at the University of Newcastle in 1985.
During his visit to Newcastle, David ran a workshop with drama students on one of Australia's most widely performed plays - Nick Enright's Blackrock. David directed the premiere production for Sydney Theatre Company in 1995. David also spoke with students studying a Bachelor of Arts degree and delivered a special presentation for the Careers Service discussing the value of a liberal arts education for those keen to work in creative industries.
Getting to the bottom of French detective fiction
The University's Dr Alistair Rolls' latest publication presents a collection of essays by Australian academics on French detective fiction. Dr Rolls said Mostly French: French (in) Detective Fiction touched on a rapidly growing research area in French studies internationally.
Click here for more information
Grant News
Researcher awarded national Fellowship
A hearty congratulations to Victoria Haskins on being awarded a highly prestigious ARC Future Fellowship, for the project:
'In Her Place: state intervention and Indigenous domestic service in Australia and the United States, 1880-1945'.
The project involves a transnational history of Indigenous domestic labour and government intervention, and positions Australian scholarship at the forefront of major research initiatives in gender, race and colonialism studies, promoting Australian research among the international community of scholars. More importantly, by increasing public awareness of the complexity of race relations history in our society, and taking understanding beyond the confines of a purely national outlook, this project contributes to ongoing efforts to address, come to terms with, and indeed learn from the more traumatic aspects of our history, in positive and constructive new ways.
Total project funding: $686 400 (2009-2013)
This is a major achievement for Victoria and a wonderful reflection of the quality of scholarship and support produced by the School.
Click here for news story
Grant success
Congratulations to A/Prof Pam Nilan, Dr Alex Broom & A/Prof John Germov on their Australian Development Research Award for the research project: Masculinities and Violence in Indonesia and India ($116 526).
Click here to view more information on this research
ARC Discover Grant funding
Congratulations to the following staff who have successfully obtained ARC Discovery Grant funding in the current round of funding: Harold Tarrant, Mel Gray, Debbie Plath and Stephen Webb. Click on the following titles to learn more about the respective grants.
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Academies under Stress: the Reinvention and Survival of Platonist Schools, 360BC-AD565 Prof HA Tarrant; Dr DC Baltzly; A/Prof EE Benitez; Prof F Renaud; Dr JS Rocca: $211 514 (2009-11)
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Changing modes: A study of the knowledge economy of human service research in Australia Prof M Gray; Prof SA Webb; Dr N Kavanagh: $140 000 (2009-11)
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Implementing Evidence-Based Practice: Factors that Influence the Use of Research Evidence by Human Service Professionals Prof SA Webb; Prof M Gray; Dr DA Plath: $240 000 (2009-11)
$450 000 NHMRC Grant Awarded
Congratulations to Dr Alex Broom and colleagues on receiving a major grant to investigate complementary and alternative medicine among mid-age women.
Past News Items
SWAMP launches 4th issue
The postgraduate run publication, SWAMP, is proud to launch their 4th issue. It includes work from postgraduate Creative Writers from around the world centred around the theme of "post".
Click here to go to the issue, along with submission details for the 5th issue, "City/Country"
Promotion news
Congratulations to Dr Philip Dwyer on his promotion to Associate Professor.
Residency in India
Dr Keri Glastonbury is off to India on an Asialink Literature Residency, supported by The Australia India Council and The Australia Council. The Asialink Literature Residency Program, which began in 1997, has involved primarily Australian writers of fiction, poetry, history, essays, playwriting, screenplays, young adult fiction and travel.
Click here for more information
No longer on speaking terms? Spotlight on family rifts
A University of Newcastle researcher will develop a better understanding of the impact of family rifts and subsequent estrangement on individuals and families in a first-of-its-kind study.
Faculty of Education and Arts Associate Lecturer in Social Work Kylie Agllias's research aims to explore the experiences of older people affected by family breakdown. She is calling for volunteers aged 65 years and over, who are estranged from an adult child, for the study.
Click here for more information
Students head to ancient ruins for archaeological expeditions
Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University, Dr Jane Bellemore, said it was a coup for students to be part of such major digs. While both are gifted artists and have completed undergraduate studies in ancient history at the University, neither has any formal archaeological training and both are still enrolled at honours levels.
"Attending a major overseas dig is an opportunity of a lifetime and will provide an invaluable kickstart to their careers in archaeology," Dr Bellemore said.
Turning Points Initiative
Turning points is an initiative organised by Dr Michael Ondaatje of the University of Newcastle and The Herald, to engage readers on significant events in international and Australian history. The first article, written by Dr Michael Ondaatje discusses the recent inauguration of American President Barak Obama.
Visit the Turning Points page to read articles
Judging for Dr Kim Cheng Boey
Dr Kim Cheng Boey has been invited to be a judge for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for 2009, a prestigious global prize for fiction. This prize was established in 1987 and covers all 53 countries of the Commonwealth.
Click here for more information
Dr Kim Cheng Boey has been appointed as a judge for the Kenneth Slessor (poetry) Prize in the 2009 NSW Premier's Literary Awards.