|
|
Professor Homer Le Grand will take up the position of dean of Monash's Faculty of Arts in July this year.
Professor Le Grand has been dean of Arts at the University of Melbourne since 1994, where he was also involved in the university's peak planning and budget, curriculum, information technology and equal opportunity bodies.
Monash vice-chancellor Professor David Robinson said Professor Le Grand's appointment would enhance the national and international stature of Monash's Arts faculty.
"I am absolutely delighted to have secured the services of such a distinguished academic who as Arts dean at Melbourne has been a decisive leader. Professor Le Grand is an ideal person to lead Monash's Faculty of Arts through the next phase of its transformation," Professor Robinson said.
"This appointment will further cement the relationship between Monash University and the University of Melbourne, which, since the Melbourne-Monash Protocol was signed in 1997, has been an outstanding example of cooperation between two leading institutions."
Professor Le Grand's current research projects involve the examination of twentieth-century scientific controversies. His work combines the disciplines of philosophy, history, chemistry and the earth sciences.
He believes this multi-disciplinary approach is a vital part of a university education.
"I certainly think that combined degrees and joint degrees are the way forward," he said. "It is essential for students to combine professional training with their education and to be able to choose from a range of subjects in the arts and sciences.
"There are outstanding staff and students at Monash and I have no doubt the future for the Arts faculty is bright. To be a good university, it is absolutely essential to have strong arts and science faculties. Monash clearly has strengths in both of these areas and I am very much looking forward to becoming part of that university."
An Indonesian theatre group is performing their new play at the Alexander Theatre at Clayton campus this week.
Gandrik is in Melbourne as guests of Monash to perform Brigade Maling, 'The Brigade of Thieves', from 24 to 27 March.
The play is being performed in the Indonesian language interspersed with English. Brigade Maling is set in a surreal fictional kingdom where the populace surrender their hearts to the state for the sake of peace and order and the benefit of a shadowy authority.
Gandrik managed to promote its message of social and political debate in Indonesia despite the restrictions of the Soeharto era.
The group will give its final performance this Saturday at 8 pm. For bookings, phone the Box Office on extn 51111.
Monash orchestra and choir in festival's biggest eventFrench music is one of the main themes of this year's Melbourne Autumn Music Festival, formerly known as the Melbourne International Festival of Organ and Harpsichord, now in its 29th year. Although known principally as Australia's premier early music festival, the program also offers concerts featuring 19th and 20th-century music, and this year, in St Patrick's Cathedral, it will present the largest-scale concert of its long history. An assembly of performers will come together under the direction of Monash conductor André de Quadros to perform two major works that epitomise the great French Romantic symphonic and choral repertoire - Saint-Saëns' monumental Organ Symphony and the serenely beautiful Requiem by Fauré. For the Organ Symphony, the New Monash Orchestra will be joined by special guest Michel Bouvard, organist at the Basilica of St Sernin, Toulouse, who comes to the festival for three performances to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of the great 19th-century French organ-builder, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. In order to fill the dramatic space of St Patrick's Cathedral with sound, the orchestra will be at full capacity, with up to 50 violins and more than 100 players. For the Fauré Requiem, the orchestra will combine with the Viva Voce Choir and soloists Tim Daly (baritone) and Jordina Howell (soprano). The concert is on 9 April at 8.15 pm, one of 22 events at the festival to be held over the week of 4 to 11 April. For a program brochure and booking details, contact (03) 9347 0447. |
The American Undersecretary for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Jill Long Thompson, will be keynote speaker at a technology conference at Gippsland campus on 30 March.
The conference, titled 'Uniting Our Rural Communities: The Technology and Leadership Project', will look at the social impacts of the technology age, women's role in regional development and globalisation, and the rise of small cooperatives.
The project is part of the pilot Technology and Leadership Project aimed at offering training in and raising awareness of information and communication technologies in the region.
Dr Long Thompson has been a lifelong advocate of the development and advancement of rural America and of the welfare of rural families, with broad experience in Congress. Outside politics, she has been a college business professor and co-manager of her family's farm.
The conference has been organised by Uniting Our Rural Communities Inc and Monash University and funded by Networking the Nation, the Federal Government's regional telecommunications infrastructure fund.
For more information, contact the Centre for Electronic Commerce on extn 26508.
Pooh and clan visit PeninsulaThe children's classic Winnie the Pooh is coming to the George Jenkins Theatre on the Peninsula campus for a strictly limited season. All the favourites will be there, including Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore and Christopher Robbins. This captivating musical first premiered live on stage at the Sydney Opera House in 1998 and has played to capacity audiences since. Two performances will be held on 8, 9 and 10 April at 10.30 am and 12.30 pm. Tickets are $13.90 and bookings can made on extn 44300. |
Education IT expert at MonashInternational expert on educational technologies Professor Joseph (Yossi) Bregman is currently visiting Monash to advise faculties on distance learning and teaching. The faculties of Business and Economics and Information Technology invited Professor Bregman to Monash to give advice on short and long-term strategies for developing and implementing technology needed for distance learning and teaching. Professor Bregman will be at Monash until August and wants to familiarise himself with relevant faculty and university activities which could be of assistance. Anyone who can assist Professor Bregman should contact extn 31501. |
All
the fun of the careers fair More than 42 companies were represented last week at the largest careers fair ever held at Monash.
The Economics, Commerce, Business, Arts and Law Careers Fair attracted more than 2000 students from all Monash campuses as well as distance education students.
Presented by Monash Unicomm and the Monash Student Employment and Careers Service (MONSEACS), the fair provides an opportunity for final-year students to register their interest with companies who want to recruit new graduates.
It also enables employers to provide students with information about their companies and to develop a profile within the university.
Acting deputy manager of MONSEACS Mr David Essex said he was delighted with the fair's success.
"We have had a lot of positive feed-back, both from the students and from the companies involved," he said. "The students were able to get an idea of what's available to them after they graduate, while the employers seemed very impressed with the quality of our students."
Those attending the fair included vice-chancellor Professor David Robinson, deputy vice-chancellor (Academic and Planning) Professor Alan Lindsay and the dean of Law, Professor Stephen Parker, as well as representatives from all the faculties.
May the force be with you. Among the scores of businesses and organisations at the careers fair was the New South Wales Police, whose representative, Senior Constable Darren Critchley, was kept busy answering students' inquiries about life in the force. Photo by Richard Crompton.
As many Monash staff would be aware by now, Mr Peter Wade has indicated his intention to retire as general manager of the university on or before 31 October this year.
Mr Wade has been at the university since 1986. Prior to coming to Monash, he held senior appointments in the Victorian public sector, including as deputy head of the Treasury and deputy head of the Department of Transport.
Mr Wade has established a reputation as the pre-eminent head of administration of Australian universities, and the indication of his intended retirement has been accepted with great regret by Monash vice-chancellor Professor David Robinson, the Vice-Chancellor's Group and the wider university community.
Mr Wade will be with the university for most of this year, and Professor Robinson intends to report to the May meeting of Council regarding the proposed selection process for a new general manager.
Subject to Council approval, Professor Robinson intends to commence the selection process mid-year, with a view to having the new general manager identified well before Mr Wade's departure.
Monash Sunway students - Four Monash University Sunway Campus computer science students in Malaysia have set up an electronic communication server for students.
The server, named 'YoYo', is modelled on a similar system used at other Monash campuses and provides students with general internet services such as email, storage space, relay chats and computer tutorials.
Group members Adrian Lo, Wong Kok Leong, Derrick Tan and Myles Milston, who are all in first year, hope that using the facilities that YoYo offers will encourage a sense of community among the students of the Sunway campus.
According to Mr Lo, the students formed the Monash Unix Group last October to put into practice the knowledge they have gained from their course so far.
"Monash University Malaysia encourages its students to be creative and pro-active. We are expected to have our own ideas and aspire to achieve them," he said.
He believed that opportunities like these would give the students an extra edge when they graduated. "It's been a good experience - one that complements what we do in lectures."
It is hoped that the YoYo server will soon be extended to include newsgroups, Internet chat lines and telephony.
Sunway campus computer science students, clockwise from left at rear, Adrian Lo, Wong Kok Leong, Derrick Tan and Myles Milston.
Crossing culturesInternational exchange students with a Monash connection were treated to a welcome dinner last month. The dinner was organised by the Exchange Club, formed last year as a network for students who have either studied abroad, are on exchange to Monash or just interested in talking to those who have been part of the Monash Abroad program. Club president Chris Horan said the club was also actively involved in the activities of Monash Abroad, which supported more than 400 Monash students in studying overseas last year. "Not only are we providing a forum for students eager to share their international adventures, but we are also hoping to pass on our first-hand knowledge and experience to those who might be interested," he said. For more information, contact Monash Abroad on extn 32605 or email Chris Horan at chris.horan@au.chh.com |
Lunch celebrates International Women's DayComedian and radio co-host Tracy Bartram gave a stimulating and insightful perspective on being a woman in the 1990s at a lunch celebrating International Women's Day last week. The lunch, held at the Caulfield Racecourse, was organised for Monash staff by the Caulfield Campus Committee for International Women's Day. Tracy, who co-hosts Melbourne's top-rated FM breakfast radio show on FOX, challenged all women to take control of their lives and celebrate the diversity of being women. "If I can do what I am doing and be successful, anyone can," she said. Tracy said the pivotal point in her life came at the age of 27, when, after a broken marriage, she felt totally worthless and unloved. "I started reading and discovered that we can all create our own reality - if you believe you can you will; if you believe you can't you won't," she said. Her message was simple, yet powerful: "If there is something in your life that you are unhappy with, change it." |
Monash Briefs
Mr Stephen Dee has been appointed executive director of Public Affairs for Monash following changed reporting arrangements for the functions under the control of Professor John Maloney, the deputy vice-chancellor (International and Public Affairs). Mr Dee, executive director of Performing and Visual Arts, will assume the duties currently held by the executive director of University Marketing & Development, Ms Jenni Chandler, who is leaving Monash at the end of this month. The combined division will be known as Public Affairs. In other changes, the internal communications function, previously within UM&D, will become the responsibility of the Personnel Services division. The Publishing & Design unit will transfer to the Facilities and Services division.
Dr Richard Cullen has been appointed professor and head of the Department of Business Law and Taxation. An expert in tax and Asian business law, Dr Cullen has held lecturing positions at the Monash Law School and spent seven years in Hong Kong as an associate professor in the Law School of City University. More recently, Dr Cullen has been an associate professor at Deakin Law School and a visiting fellow at City University. He will take up his position on 1 June.
An innovative multimedia training package for those who work with animals will be launched at the University of Melbourne on 31 March. The package, Careful How You Hold Me, has been developed by Dr Lyn Scott of the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Melbourne in collaboration with Monash University staff. Monash staff involved in the project include Dr Paula Jablonski and Dr Brian Howden, from the Department of Surgery at Monash Medical Centre, Monash animal welfare officer/clinical veterinarian Dr Denise Noonan and manager of Monash Central Animal Services Mr Stephen Marshall. The package provides interactive training for postgraduate students, animal researchers, animal technicians and others new to the field of animal science and animal welfare. For more details, contact Ms Rose O'Shea on (03) 9344 6313.
A new course in emergency asthma management in the workplace will be offered at Monash University's Clayton campus this year. The three-hour course will be offered three times: 21 April, 15 June and 18 October. It is aimed at staff working with asthmatics, especially in environments known to trigger asthma - for example, around animals, dust, pollens and odorous gases - or in situations where exertion may produce an attack. On completion of the course, participants receive a certificate, valid for three years, allowing them to administer bronchodilators to those suffering an acute asthma attack. For more details, contact Ms Dinah Boswell on extn 51015. |
 |
Contact
|
Return to
|
| Copyright © Monash University - All rights reserved - Disclaimer |
Maintained by publishing@adm
|
|
