Upcoming Events

November

Real animals and ocean processes - Krill, whales and ecosystem productivity

Seminar
none
Tuesday November 24 2009, 1.00pm–2.00pm
Evolution, Ecology & Genetics Seminar Room, Building 116, Daley Rd

Dr Steve Nicol

A number of recent papers have indicated that the role of larger animals in ocean processes has been underestimated. Animals have been shown to significantly affect turbulent mixing, carbonate chemistry and nutrient transfer. Additionally, there are suggestions that animals such as whales and krill can be key players in the cycling of limiting nutrients, particularly iron, in the surface layer.

Thus, removal of most of the larger animals from marine ecosystems can have far reaching effects on productivity at all trophic levels. In this talk Dr Nicol will concentrate on research into the role of krill and whales on the cycling of iron in the Southern Ocean and the effects that the removal of most of the great whales may have had on the productivity of the system.

Enquiries

The Protection of Human Rights in Australia - A Way Forward, The Alice Tay Lecture on Law & Human Ri

Public Lecture
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Tuesday November 24 2009, 5.30pm–6.30pm
The Finkel Theatre, JCSMR, Building 131, Garran Road

Mary Kostakidis, Member of the National Human Rights Consultation Committee

Mary Kostakidis was a member of the Human Rights Consultation Committee that inquired into the adequacy of the protection of human rights in Australia. The Committee reported to the federal Attorney General on September 30 after an extensive period of nationwide community consultation. In this lecture Ms Kostakidis will discuss the themes that emerged from the 40,000 responses that were received during this consultation and outline the suite of measures which the committee saw as the way forward to better protect and promote human rights and responsibilities.

For almost three decades Mary was involved in public broadcasting. She was a member of the management team that set up and developed SBS television in 1980 and presented its flagship World News for 20 years. She is currently Chair of the Sydney Peace Foundation, and a member of the Boards of the Fred Hollows Foundation, the Sydney Theatre Company and the ResMed Foundation.

Former appointments include the Advertising Standards Board, the Republican Advisory Committee, the Constitutional Centenary Foundation, the Order of Australia Honours Committee and the James Joyce Foundation Board. Mary's work reflects her commitment to social justice and interest in governance, and a recognition of the importance of active citizenship and the integral role of the media in democracy and the arts in civilisation.

This is the Alice Tay Lecture on Law & Human Rights 2009, presented by the Freilich Foundation and is part of the ANU Public Lecture Series for 2009.

This lecture is free and open to the public, reservations are not required.

Enquiries E: T: 02 6125 5527

Freilich Foundation Eminent Lecturer Series: Women and War - Lecture 4 - Professor Penelope Andrews

Public Lecture
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Wednesday November 25 2009, 12.30pm–1.30pm
Hedley Bull Lecture Theatre HB1

Professor Penelope Andrews

Cultural Terrorism: The War Against Women in South Africa and the Law's Limitations
Presented by: Professor Penelope Andrews
School of Law, LaTrobe University

The alarming statistics of violence against women in South Africa today have resulted in many women advocates referring to the situation in the country as "a war against women" or "a state of terrorism". My paper will examine the context of the violence, its persistence, levels and forms, and its ubiquity, to evaluate how a society with comprehensive formal legal protections against violence, including a constitutional mandate to eliminate all forms of violence against women, evinces such widespread and seemingly inevitable violence. My enquiry focuses on the cultural and institutional patterns [both historical and contemporary] that generate the violence, and law's constraints in the face of such cultural and institutional factors.

In addition, my paper will examine the failure of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to deal with the systemic violence against women under apartheid - and how that omission may have contributed to the continuing culture of violence against women in South Africa.

Enquiries