In Australia, organised religion-based movements exert significant influence on politicians, the media, social institutions, and governments.  International politics is strongly influenced by religious influences.

The University of Newcastle has recently established a research program looking at ‘Religion in Political Life’. 

Program Leader Dr Tim Stanley will introduce the aims and background of the Religion in Political Life research program. 

His co-researcher Dr Kathleen McPhillips will discuss the way ‘religion’ has been influential in Gender issues, Human Rights and Anti-discrimination legislation.  She will also comment on the various religious influences on the current National and State Inquiries into child sexual abuse.

For an international perspective, Professor Terry Lovat will discuss ‘Islam and the West: A Precious but Fractured Relationship’.

These three different perspectives will lead into a broader discussion of how religion is influencing politics in Australia and Internationally – for good or bad.  

What?     Religion in Political Life – Newcastle Institute’s Public Forum

At the next Forum of The Newcastle Institute, much loved rugby enthusiast, classicist, and university identity Bernie Curran will present his thoughts about Champions of the Hunter.

Click the TV to watch video of this event.

“Champions” is a term commonly associated with sporting heroes, but includes those who have achieved for the community in a variety of fields including business and industry, the arts, social movements, healthcare, academia, and in other fields. 

These community champions need to be remembered for their achievements.  But more fundamentally, champions teach us how to change the world.  Bernie believes that the memory of our champions is a threat to those that would not wish a community like Newcastle to be empowered.  It is dangerous for a community if champions are forgotten.

It is dangerous for a community if champions are forgotten.

In classical times, damnatio memoriae was a way of erasing any memory of someone who was seen as a threat to the established order.  The idea has also been incorporated in George Orwell’s classic 1984, as well as in a number of other settings.  But even without active destruction the memory of champions can be lost.  That is why Bernie is so passionate to ensure that we do not lose the memory of these many champions for the Hunter. 

Bernie will present his own personal list of some champions of the Hunter and then discuss one particular champion: environmental campaigner Tom Farrell. He will be supported by others in their memories of this local champion.

The audience will then be invited to suggest other champions that need to be remembered, and explore ways to establish an ongoing modern memorial to the achievements of these champions.  It is envisaged that this will become a new activity for the Newcastle Institute.

THIS FORUM IS OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC 

VENUE:  Hunter Room, Newcastle City Hall 

DATE: Tuesday 9^th April 2013 

TIME: 7.00 till 8.30pm   ADMISSION: $5 Donation 

If you have queries about this event, or the Newcastle Institute, please use the Contact link to get in touch.

The Newcastle Institute has been cooking up some interesting treats for 2013 and will be posting more about this soon.

To kick off the year though, we’re delighted to be partnering with the Creating Spaces Conference by facilitating the opening evening event on Tuesday March 12 at City Hall.

The conference itself then revs up over the next two days with an exciting ‘Pecha Kucha’ night at the Newcastle Regional Museum on Wed 13th.  Pecha Kucha, or ‘chit chat’ is a presentation format of 6 minutes 40 seconds: dictated by the use of 20 slides which are preset to advance after 20 seconds. The focus is then on imagery and a narrative through thoughts, ideas and passion rather than a blanket of words.

Here’s some more information from the conference site

Creating Spaces Conference will bring together regional-based community leaders from across Australia who are passionate about renewal and creativity, and interested in reactivating spaces within their own communities.

 Whether you are an individual with drive to activate empty spaces in your home town or a local government employee charged with reinventing redundant spaces in your town centre, a member of a  main street organisation, in property development, or another enterprise involved in the activation of spaces, this conference is for you.

As an attendee you will sit down with people who have imagined, executed, and inspired others with their space activation projects, such as Renew Newcastle, Gap Filler (Christchurch, NZ) and Empty Shops Network (UK).

To check it all out, go to:

http://creatingspacesconference.floktu.com/

2012 has been another good year for the Newcastle Institute.

We started the year with a very special event to commemorate the fall of Singapore in 1942, with a special presentation in February, from Dr Peter Hendry who was able to provide a personal recollection on the events as a participant. 

Our year then gathered momentum in March with popular speaker, Michael Ondaatje, looking both back and forward at the scene in the US, heading toward a Presidential election year in Obama’s America: A Critique of the Critics.

In April, as part of some recurrent themes, it was a look at transport and infrastructure needs for Newcastle, followed by some feedback from the Hunter Development Corporation and information about the Infrastructure Investment Fund in our May event: Developing the Hunter.

In a wonderful example of the Newcastle Institute’s capacity to promote respectful debate and discourse, the Hunter Room at City Hall was packed in June to hear ideas and opinions about Reinventing Newcastle’s NIght Life, following a huge social media campaign within Newcastle in support of different perspectives on small bars and other entertainment options related to the Night Time Economy on Newcastle.

July saw a significant milestone for the Institute as we relaunched as the Newcastle Institute, and then, in August, partnered with Newcastle University and then the Newcastle Herald, for events featuring Cheryl Kernot, and then a major Mayoral Candidates’ Forum at Panthers.

In September, we took ‘Newy’ a personification of Newcastle, to visit a panel of Psychologists and Counsellors in Newcastle on the Couch. This look at the ‘psyche’ of Newcastle through characterisation was recorded and can be viewed on our website. Please feel free to leave your comments to keep the discourse going.

For October, Vice-Chancellor Professor Caroline McMillen, presented a look at the changing face of tertiary education against a rapidly changing global context and talked about the great, often unremarked upon, gains and achievements of our university in The Future of the University: the Future of Newcastle.  If you haven’t seen it yet, you should also take a few minutes to have a look at NeW Directions: 2013-2015, a speed drawing video outlining some of the context and achievements for our University. (available at the Engage site.)

A big year at the Newcastle Institute was rounded out in November with Institute patron and economist Ross Gittins with his presentation The Economics of Just About Everything.

2012 also saw a continued growth in our ‘reach’ via social media, with an additional 150 ‘Likes’ for our Facebook page and around 300 ‘Followers’ for our Twitter account. These are not huge numbers but demonstrate the growing number of ‘channels’ available for connecting and collaborating.

All in all it has been a busy year, with our team of volunteers working to continue to deliver a program of events which reflect some of the current issues and contextual themes for our city and region.  If you have feedback from the year, or ideas for events in 2013, please use the Contact Us link above to get in touch: we’d love to hear from you.

In the meantime, from all of us, have a great Christmas and festive season!

We look forward to your continued support in 2013.

‘The Economics of Just about Everything‘

Ross Gittins AM is one of Australia’s most respected economics commentators. He has received multiple awards and honours recognising his contribution to finance and economics journalism.  He has a unique ability to cut through all the obfuscation and artificial complexities, whilst simultaneously bringing a sharp wit and an iconoclasts ability to challenge the orthodoxies that others accept.

Ross is also one the Patrons of the Newcastle Institute.

At the next public forum of the Newcastle Institute, Ross returns to speak about a wide range of issues affecting Australia’s economy, and society more broadly. He will review the progress of the GFC, the state of the economy now and in the next year, the resources boom, carbon and mining taxes, refugees and even economists themselves.

There are few other economics gurus that write the column in a daily newspaper that people turn to first, or who can pack the auditorium at a literary festival. This is an event not to be missed!

NOVEMBER MONTHLY FORUM  – November 13th 7pm

Hunter Room, Level 2, City Hall.  

(Lift access is available by entering from the Wheeler Place entrance.)

Open to the general public;  Donation $5

Create and Innovate are pleased to announce the next workshop expo.

Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

We are excited to announce our second workshop for 2012:

“Think Times are Tough? – Think Differently”

Tuesday, October 23rd 2012

Crowne Plaza, Newcastle

This one-day, fast tracked workshop expo is ideal for those working in companies and organisations, for small business owners, and for individuals who are time poor yet want to be inspired into new ways of thinking. You will experience paradigm-shifting concepts from our passionate presenters who are actively involved in the world of innovation.

The Create Innovate Programs are developed within Hunter TAFE and focus on skills, ideas and energy for doing things differently in a rapidly changing environment.  For more information, use the ‘Ask us more‘ link on the website.

Professor Caroline McMillen, Vice-Chancellor 

Newcastle is undergoing a social and economic transformation. The City’s traditional base of labour-intensive factories being transformed as technology takes over, and now the major employers are the health, education, and information sectors, with a growing presence of ‘smart’ industries.

A central player in this transformation is the University of Newcastle.  The University itself has been undergoing its own transformation in recent years.  The University has dealt with well-publicised problems including issues of academic standards, management, financial stability, and strategic direction. After dramatic changes and consolidation, the University is now undergoing a new phase of change and development, with major plans for the future. The University’s leadership has a vision for the future that will continue the transformation of the University, but also Newcastle and the Hunter Region.

These issues will be discussed at the next Newcastle Institute public forum by the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Caroline McMillen.  The University’s plans include possible development of a new campus in the ‘old city’ area, strategic growth in a number of Faculties, and attracting more international students. The management of existing staff, particularly in areas facing generational change, is another challenge.

These plans are not just about the future of the University – It is the future of Newcastle.  This evening is an opportunity for the public to hear direct from the Vice-Chancellor, to question and discuss what this means for the city.

OCTOBER MONTHLY FORUM  – October 9th 7pm

“The Future of The University – The Future of Newcastle”

Hunter Room – Level 2 – Newcastle City Hall

(Lift access via Wheeler Place entry)

Open to the general public;  Donation $5

FURTHER DETAILS:  www.newinstitute.org.au  or Angie at 0422401129

If you’d like to add comments, please the link below which shows number of comments so far.

It was a full house at Panthers on Tuesday 4th September for the Lord Mayoral Candidates’ Forum run in partnership with the Newcastle Herald. The Herald carries video of candidate statements and the opportunity for online feedback in the Sept 5th edition

Many thanks to all of the people who contributed to the evening and to those who came along.

Thank you, too, to the people who interacted online with this event: by retweeting notices, commenting on blogs or online articles and submitting questions online.  It’s great to see positive examples of the ways in which we can harness our ability to connect.

And now, coming up NEXT week, 11th September.

Newcastle on the couch 

- the city goes to the Psychologist.

Many words and phrases are used to describe Newcastle – some of them positive, some negative.  We often hear the City described as if it were a person – a person with a personality, and personal issues.  ”Newcastle has an identity crisis”; “The city has delusions of grandeur”; “There is a buzz of excitement”; ‘The town has become more mature, sophisticated and cultured’ Newcastle faces the future with a mixture of uncertainty and insecurity’ ‘The City has gone through a long period of depression’.  ‘It’s a big-hearted city without a heart’, ‘Problems with anger management and conflict resolution’, ‘Tendency to hoarding behaviour, difficulties dealing with change’

If Newcastle was an individual, and went to the Doctor, a number of physical illnesses could be diagnosed. “Parts of Newcastle are dying or wasting away”; “The arteries are becoming congested”; “Some difficulties with breathing”.  But what about Newcastle’s psychological health issues?

At the next public forum of the Newcastle Institute, we take a flight of fancy, put the city on the couch, and submit to the care of some local mental health experts. This is partly serious and part fun, as we explore the psychopathology of this complex ‘patient’ – Our Town.

Our expert consultants will include prominent Newcastle clinical psychologist Tarnya Davis, plus former Chancellor of Newcastle University, (and one of the Newcastle Institute’s Patrons) Professor Trevor Waring AM.

Together this team shall examine the patient, diagnose the various major and minor illnesses and psychological strengths the city has.  They will then suggest various psychotherapeutic strategies the city could use to build on its strengths and address its weaknesses. They may even have some advice for the individuals that live in the city………

SEPTEMBER MONTHLY FORUM  – September 11th 7pm

“Newcastle on the Couch” – The City goes to the Psychologist

City Hall – Check room listings on arrival.

Open to the general public;  Donation $5

FURTHER DETAILS:  www.newinstitute.org.au  or Angie at 0422401129

The NSW Local Government Elections will be held on September 8^th. Newcastle will be getting a new Lord Mayor, as a result of the retirement of John Tate after three terms of office.  Seven candidates have nominated for the position. The circumstances of the election, the wide field of candidates, the controversy that has involved Council in recent years, and the complexities of the optional preferential voting system make it difficult to pick who will be likely to win this important position, at a time of great change in the city.

As was done at previous State and Local Government Elections, the Newcastle Institute is conducting a Public Forum allowing the public to meet all the candidates together, and compare their policies, promises and performance under questioning.  All candidates have agreed to take part.  The MC for the evening will be Bernie Curran, a patron of the Institute.

This forum is being run in partnership with the Newcastle Herald.

Candidates will each be given the opportunity to give a policy statement stating why they should be elected.  They will then be interviewed individually by journalist Felicity Biggins, who will ask the tough questions, tailored to each candidate.  Candidates will also be asked to respond to questions for all, and will be given an opportunity for a short ‘wrap-up’ at the end of the evening.

Questions shall be selected by a diversely representative panel from those submitted by the public through the Newcastle Institute website, or through the evening’s co-host, the Newcastle Herald.

As at previous events, all candidates shall be treated equally, fairly and respectfully.  The Newcastle Institute takes no position, other than wanting the best possible leadership for the city.

THIS FORUM IS OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC 

VENUE:  Panthers Club Newcastle (formerly Newcastle Workers Club)

DATE: Tuesday 4th September 2012

TIME: 7.00 till 9.00pm   ADMISSION: Free

FURTHER DETAILS:  www.newinstitute.org.au  or Angie at 0422401129

 Submit your questions here.