News and events

New Masters Program in International Law and International Relations

Between 29 Feb-2 Mar, classes for the first intake of the new intensive Masters program in International Law and International Relations were held at Flinders. The program is a joint initiative of the School of Political and International Studies and the School of Law. The photo shows students with Professor Andrew Goldsmith from Law (far left) and Dr Andrew ONeil from SPIS (far right). Further information on the program is available at: http://www.flinders.edu.au/courses/postgrad/laws.htm

School events and activity—January 2008

Mr Benjamin Habib--a PhD candidate in the School of Political and International Studies was recently awarded first prize in the 2007 Australian Defence Business Review Magazine's Strategic Essay Competition for an essay entitled: “Another Perfect Storm? Predictors of Radical Change in North Korea”. Ben is pictured here receiving his prize from the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, and Trevor Thomas, editor-in-chief of the ADBR. The essay competition is held annually to find the best articles on forward-looking strategic issues written by Australians under the age of 35. Ben's essay will be published as an article in the fully refereed journal Security Challenges.

 
School events and activity—September 2007

Flinders Institute of Public Policy and Management presented two short courses on Public Administration Reform, a four-day course to nine Chinese public sector officials from Shanghai Putou and a ten-day course to seventeen officials from Shandong. This group included several Vice Mayors, Vice Magistrates and Departmental Directors.

Professor Robert Ball, visiting fellow in FIPPM, presented a seminar on 31 August titled ‘Climate Change: The Stern Review’ as part of the School’s seminar program.

Richard DeAngelis represented Flinders University, one of the six members of the Innovative Universities European Union Consortium, at a meeting in Canberra at the ANU's National Europe Centre, August 21-22. The IUEU consortium is one of four Europe centres in the Australia-New Zealand area (the other Europe Centres are Canterbury, Monash, and ANU). [The other members of the IUEU are Griffith, La Trobe, Macquarie, Newcastle, and Murdoch.] The Meeting of Centres' academics and administrators was augmented by Bruno Jullien, Ambassador of the European Commission Delegation to Australia, as well as a dozen of the Ambassadors of member states of the EU, stationed in Canberra. There was also a meeting of the academics who lectured and tutored in a joint on-line topic on the European Union, which was offered for the first time this year at all six members of the IUEU, with lecturing based in La Trobe, in order to refine the topic for next year. This year the EU topic was a success in both qualitative and quantitative terms, attracting nearly 300 student enrolments at the six sites, virtually unprecedented numbers. [The Flinders enrolment was almost fifty, tutored by Richard DeAngelis, a previously unheard of number for a specialized upper year topic on a foreign entity]. Flinders will also sponsor a major conference in December (3-5) as part of its activities for the IUEU on “Moving Cultures, Shifting Identities; Migration, connection, heritage and cultural memory”.

Justin De Rosa visited Bali and Jakarta from 30 July to 2 August participating in information sessions to Australian Development Scholarships (ADS) awardees. There was a significant level of interest in Flinders degrees from the Indonesian scholarship awardees.

Andry Indrady, PhD candidate in Public Policy, attended the ‘Development of Bilateral Relations between Indonesia and Australia’ conference, held by the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA), at the Queensland Parliament House, Brisbane on 27 June 2007. He was financial supported by the School through the HDR student conference attendance program. The conference was a valuable experience for Andry which illuminated some ideas to the development of his thesis regarding the bilateral immigration cooperation between Indonesia and Australia in migration management and border control management. It was attended by the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia and the former Australian Ambassador for Indonesia Mr David Ritchie, and also by a number of prominent Australian and Indonesian scholars in this field.

Aaron Jackson, PhD candidate in International Relations, was recently awarded Second Prize in the 2007 Annual Bruce S. Oland Essay Competition, administered by the journal Canadian Naval Review. The essay, titled 'Defending the "Empty North": Comparing Canadian and Australian Challenges and Strategies', will be published in an upcoming edition of Canadian Naval Review.

James Manicom and Vlado Vivoda, both PhD candidates in International Relations, were invited to give papers at a symposium on ‘Energy Security in North East Asia’ at the University of Adelaide on 31 August.

Dr Andrew O'Neil spent two weeks at Hiroshima University from 31 July to 11 August as part of his appointment as visiting professor at that institution. He participated in the International Network of Universities (INU)-sponsored conference on Global Citizenship which was held at Hiroshima University campus and involved sixty students drawn from twelve universities worldwide, including two students from Flinders.

Dr Priyambudi Sulistiyanto was invited to present a paper at the Conference on Reconciliation in Indonesia and East Timor organised by the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 17-19 July 2007. In addition, he was invited to give a talk at the Indonesian Teachers’ Association Conference (INTAN) in Adelaide, 4 August. Dr Sulistiyanto was also invited to give a talk at a Forum on Indonesia's Independence Day organized by the Indonesian Students’ Association of South Australia (PPIA-SA) at Flinders University , Adelaide, 10 August 2007.

Geoff Anderson was appointed By the Federal Leader of the Opposition Kevin Rudd to an Advisory Group on the Reform of Federal State Relations. The group is chaired by Michael Keating, the former head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Other members are professor George Williams from the University of Sydney and Meredith Edwards, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Canberra. A discussion paper on Specific Purpose Payments (pdf 116kg) prepared by the Advisory Group was recently released by the Shadow Minister for Federal State Relations Mr Bob McMullan. A copy of the paper is available here

Forum on East Java Mud Flow—1 June

On 1 June the Flinders Asia Centre & Flinders Institute Asia Pacific will present an open forum on the East Java Mud Flow at the Flinders University Function centre from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm.

One year ago a drilling operation in East Java (18% owned by the Australian company Santos) tapped into a pocket of hot mud more than three kilometres below the earth’s surface. Hot mud flowed from the drill site at 5,000 cubic metres a day, and increased to more than 175,000 cubic metres by October 2006. One year on, the mud has buried several villages, housing estates, farm lands, and nearly 100 factories, schools, mosques, shops, and offices. More than 50,000 people have lost their homes and many more have lost their livelihoods.

The Forum will examine the causes, consequences and implications of the mud flow disaster and the response to that disaster. The forum and an expert workshop to follow will consider what can be learned and what steps we can take to avoid disasters or improve the long term capacity to assist victims. Speakers from Indonesia will include experts on the mudflow and its consequences, NGO leaders and journalists as well as Adelaide based experts on environmental issues and Flinders Asia Centre researchers on Indonesian environmental and political issues.

For more details, the list of speakers and the full program for the day.

2006  |  2007