Issue 16. 18 October 2010.pdf - UWA Staff - The University of ...

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German connection lives on through the arts Dr Matthias Lorenz (second from left) is welcomed by Dr Alexandra Ludewig, W/Professor Philip Mead and Dean W/Professor Krishna Sen A visiting teaching fellow in German Studies is continuing a 70-year-old arts connection between Australia and Germany. Dr Matthias Lorenz is UWA’s first Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack fellow, his position named after a painter and colourist who came to Australia from Germany during the Second World War. Winthrop Professor Philip Mead, UWA’s Chair of Australian Literature, worked with Dr Alexandra Ludewig, convenor of German in the School of European Languages and Studies, to arrange Dr Lorenz’s fellowship for this semester. Professor Mead was the Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack Visiting Chair at the Free University in Berlin between October last year and March. He was funded by the German academic exchange program to teach Australian studies. “Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack was a fascinating figure,” Professor Mead said. “He was a founding member of the Weimar Bauhaus and strongly anti-Nazi, so he left Germany before the war and went to England. As someone with a German background, though, he was interred as an ‘enemy alien,’ even though he was a refugee from Nazism. Along with other German, Austrian and Jewish internees on the ship Dunera, he was sent to camps in Australia. He ended up in the La Trobe Valley in Victoria, where he was released through the intervention of the Headmaster of Geelong Grammar, who took him to the school to teach art,” he said. “He spent the rest of his life there, dying in 1965. An exhibition of his work was recently mounted at the Ian Potter Gallery in Melbourne, which holds a major collection of his works. Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack represents an important cultural connection between Australia and Germany.” While he was in Berlin, Professor Mead approached the German academic exchange program with his idea to mirror his position in Australia. “They were happy to fund Dr Lorenz’s position and we are putting in another application this month for an ongoing teaching fellow in German and European Studies at UWA,” he said. Dr Ludewig said Dr Lorenz was reviewing the entire German program at UWA. He has taken on co-supervision of some PhDs and given a talk to the Goethe Society, as well as examining the discipline’s curricular and extensive extra-curricular activities. Meanwhile Professor Mead is cosupervising a graduate student from the Free University in Berlin. “Gerrit Hass has a scholarship to spend a year here because he is working in an area of literary criticism that was developed by Australian academics,” he said. “It is ficto-criticism, a theoretical area of literary criticism informed by creative writing.” Gerrit will return to Berlin to complete his work. German exchange student Gerrit Hass 6 UWA NEWS 18 October 2010 The University of Western Australia
A celebration of successes and strengths The School of Indigenous Studies ‘came of age’ last month. The speech by the Chancellor, Dr Michael Chaney, at the celebrations, encapsulated the successes of its 21 years. “What a successful and amazing School this continues to be. Everyone associated with the School is to be commended for their role in its continuing positive impact on our community. “The School of Indigenous Studies (formerly the Centre for Aboriginal Programs) has seen more than 250 Indigenous students complete undergraduate and postgraduate studies. “Since the School’s initiation of the first Indigenous Pre-Law and Pre-Medicine/Pre-Dentistry programs in Australia, more than 64 students are working all over Australia in these professions. “More than 70 students have completed Arts degrees, many with Honours, and are employed as teachers, social workers and public servants with Federal, State and local government departments. Other Arts graduates work as curators in art galleries, university lecturers, and administrators and policy officers within Indigenous organisations. “One of the strengths of the School has been the dedication of its professional and academic staff, some of whom have been with the School since its inception. Through their efforts, the School has increased the number of students gaining University entry and provided them with support during their studies. “The School should be proud of the increases in the numbers of students and graduates in all faculties, including a growing number in Science, Engineering, Architecture and Commerce. Our University has a continuing commitment to encourage Indigenous people to aspire to study at a tertiary level. We continually strive to improve Universitywide initiatives in the area of diversity, equity and access. “While many people have the capacity to benefit from a university education, there remain barriers for many prospective students, particularly Indigenous students. Our University aims to remove the hurdles which face many of those who could easily thrive at university if given the encouragement and opportunity. We work with schools throughout the State via our Aspire UWA and Follow the Dream outreach programs to raise aspirations for higher education. The School of Indigenous Studies is key to these programs. “This School has a justifiably high reputation nationally for its success in recruiting Indigenous students to complete study here, and for its extensive program of camps and activities for prospective students. “Congratulations to you all.” A Vietnamese delegation visited in 2008 to learn how best to increase their minority ethnic groups in medical careers The School runs camps for Year 12 students every year Indigenous dental students David Plitcha (graduated 2009) and Chantel Thorn The University of Western Australia UWA NEWS 18 October 2010 7
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Page 9 and 10: The brilliant technology of the anc
Page 11 and 12: games for our students The men’s
Page 13 and 14: Light and efficient wins rice relay
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