School of Arts & Social Sciences (SASS) Seminar Series

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Seminars 2010

SASS Seminar (No 2, 2010)

“Manang Nora”

 

Speaker’s Profile:

 

Dr Yeoh Seng Guan is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Monash University, Sunway campus, Malaysia. His research areas have basically revolved around examining the production, appropriation and deployment of space – material, symbolic and technological - by a range of social actors and institutions across time and cultures. In pursuit of these themes, he has conducted fieldwork in various “sites” in Kuala Lumpur and in Penang (both in Malaysia), and more recently in Baguio City (Philippines) and Yogyakarta (Indonesia).

 

Abstract:

In the mountain resort of Baguio City, Philippines, there are an estimated 3,000 street vendors in 2006.  Nora is one of them and has been vending for the last 20 years.  She sells snacks, cigarettes and toys on a passageway in front of a school. To the schoolchildren and passersby, she is called “Manang”, elder sister. This film offers a glimpse into the routine and life of Manang Nora”. Selected for screenings at ethnographic film festivals in Canada, Puerto Rico, England and Japan. Awarded “Honourable Mention” at the Kyoto University Academic Film Competition 2009.

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SASS Seminar (No 1, 2010)

Vietnam’s Labour Export

 

Speaker’s Profile:

Dr Thanyathip Sripana is a visiting API Research Fellow in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). She is also a researcher at the Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. Her research is on The Situation of Vietnamese Labour in Malaysia.

 

Abstract:

Vietnam, in the Mekong Sub-region, has been in the process of realizing its enormous economic potential since 1986. With its large population of 86 millions, Vietnam has been so far under pressure of unemployment. Vietnam has exported labour since the 1980’s to the socialist bloc such as Soviet Union and Eastern Europe countries, and from the 1990’s until now to non-socialist countries. Labour export is considered a national policy, and a part of Vietnam’s socio-economic development strategy. The objective of labour export is to alleviate the poverty especially for people living in rural and mountainous areas in the country, to ease domestic underemployment and unemployment. It also aims at developing human resources, technical skills, employment creation, raising income for workers, as well as increasing the inflow of hard currency, remittances and national revenues. So far, the Vietnamese workers have been approximately 500,000 abroad, involving in many kinds of job with different skill. Most of them are recognized by employers as hard-working people, ready to learn new things and to be trained. The biggest markets of the Vietnamese labour are in Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. Now Vietnamese government is trying to expand its labor exports to other countries in the Middle East, Africa, North Europe and North America. However, they need more professional training in order to meet high requirement.

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Seminars 2009

SASS Seminar (No 12, 2009)

Multiple Islam, Multiple Modernities: Art Cinema in between Nationhood and Everyday Islam in Bangladesh and Malaysia

 

Speaker’s Profile:

Dr Zakir Hossain Raju is Senior Lecturer of Communication and Cultural Studies at Monash University, Sunway campus, Malaysia. He obtained PhD in Cinema Studies from La Trobe University, Melbourne in 2005. Before moving to Monash University, Malaysia, he taught at La Trobe and Monash University in Australia as well as at Independent University and University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Raju served as a Visiting Scholar at Australian National University, Canberra in 1999 and at University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur in 2007. He is the author of Bangladesh Cinema and National Identity: In Search of the Modern? (Routledge, forthcoming 2010). He has published many articles on Islam, media and identity construction in Asia in journals including Third Text, Comparative Studies in South Asia, Africa and the Middle East (CSSAAME), Screening the Past, Journal of Chinese Cinemas, Cinemaya, and in anthologies including Media Consumption and Everyday Life in Asia (Routledge, 2008), Madrasas in South Asia: Teaching Terror? (Routledge, 2008), Contemporary Asian Cinema (Berg, 2006) and Being and Becoming: The Cinemas of Asia (Macmillan, 2002).

 

Abstract:

This paper attempts to understand the roles of the national film industries based in two major nation-spaces of the so-called Muslim Asia. It looks at the workings of the Bangladeshi and Malaysian art cinemas: how these nationally-defined but transnational/regional, cultural institutions interact with Islam and Muslim identity in these nation-spaces where Muslims are majority (above 80% in Bangladesh and around 60% in Malaysia). Here I assess the relationship among art cinema, Islam and nationhood in ‘Muslim’ Asia with two interconnected questions: what roles do Islam and Muslim identity play in shaping nationhood and identities in two different societal frames of South and Southeast Asia? And, how the discourses of art cinema participate with/in the identity debate in these two Asian nations? In order to answer these questions I focus on the works of some renowned film-authors from both the national contexts. I dissect the films of Tanvir Mokammel and Morshedul Islam from Bangladesh and the films of U-Wei Hajisaari and Yasmin Ahmad of Malaysia—all of whose films received national and international awards during the 1990s and 2000s. In this way this proposes to be an inter-Asia study: an attempt to comprise and compare analyses on South and Southeast Asian cinematic practices in a transnational frame.

 

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SASS Seminar (No 11, 2009)

Indigenous Studies in Australia: theories, identities and approaches

 

Abstract:

The Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies at Monash University in Melbourne Australia runs a highly successful academic teaching and research programme. The staff routinely are awarded the highest teaching evaluations and frequently receive  teaching awards and the Centre regularly takes out the largest number of nationally competitive research grants of any Indigenous Studies unit in any university in the country. The Centre is made up of research and teaching staff with a wide range of intellectual interests and expertise, as well as a range of identity positions.  This paper will discuss the ways that the Centre has engaged with and integrated with non-Indigenous academic programmes across the university and will explore the challenges that these have presented.

Speakers' Profile:

Prof Lynette is the Deputy Dean of Faculty of Arts and the Director of Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies (CAIS). She was trained as an archaeologist before turning to historical and Indigenous studies and the application of post-colonial theory. Consequently she has published widely in the areas of Archaeological theory, Aboriginal History, post-colonialism and representation of race. Savage Imaginings explored authorised historical and contemporary constructions of Australian Indigeneity however A Little Bird Told Me presented a more personal account of Aboriginality based on the life of a Wotjabaluk woman imprisoned in a series of mental institutions in the early part of the 20th century. She has also edited Colonial Frontiers: Indigenous-European Interactions in Settler Colonies and co-edited Constructions of Colonialism: Perspectives on Eliza Fraser's Shipwreck and recently completed a book with Dr Ian McNiven on the colonial underpinnings of archaeology as practiced in settler societies entitled Appropriated Pasts: Indigenous Peoples and the Colonial Culture of Archaeology (AltaMira Press). In 2005 Boundary Writing: An Exploration of Race, Culture, and Gender Binaries in Contemporary Australia,(University of Hawaii Press) was published. She is currently working on a new book on Indigenous workers in the early sealing industry.

Dr Stephen Pritchard is a lecturer at the Faculty of Arts and a research staff at CAIS. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts (Sculpture), Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy and Literary Studies) and Bachelor of Arts Honours (American Studies) at Canterbury University, before writing by doctoral thesis at Monash in the Centre for Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature on Law, cultural difference and Indigenous cultural politics in Aotearoa and Australia. He currently teaches in the areas of legal issues, native title and, more generally, cultural and postcolonial theory. His current research further develops these concerns and focuses on the relationship between representations of Indigenous property and identity and their implications for debates concerning the protection of Indigenous intellectual and cultural property, land claims and the legal and political representation of indigeneity in general. He also has research interests in intersections between Indigenous issues and postcolonial theory, cultural studies.

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SASS Seminar (No 10, 2009)

Tactility, and the Literalness of the Feeling of Emotions

 

Speaker’s Profile:

Leo Couacaud is a Visiting Research Fellow in the Gender Studies Programme, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya. He has just recently submitted his PhD dissertation for submission at the University of Melbourne in Australia. His thesis is an exploration of the effects of class formation on working class male socialization practices and the creativity of urban youth subculture in Jamaica.

 

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SASS Seminar (No 9, 2009)

Transitional justice – the ECCC as a case study

 

Abstract:

In 2003, the Cambodian government and the UN established the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) to try those responsible for international crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge regime. Apart from standard criminal justice objectives such as retribution and deterrence, the ECCC has been designed to take on a variety of other objectives such as the empowerment of victims, the disbursement of reparations and the facilitation of societal reconciliation. To achieve these objectives, the ECCC has adopted a number of institutional and policy innovations significantly differentiating it from earlier international criminal courts. Drawing on the speaker’s recent fieldwork and research in Cambodia, this talk critically evaluates the ECCC’s various objectives in light of other transitional justice processes implemented by the UN in recent years.

Speaker’s Profile:

CHEAH Wui Ling is currently an Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Law. She holds a LLB and LLM from the National University of Singapore and a LLM from Harvard. For her Harvard studies, she was recipient of a NUS scholarship and the Kathryn Aguirre Worth Memorial Scholarship. Prior to joining us, Wui Ling served as a legal officer at Interpol's General Secretariat (Lyon, France) where she specialized in international criminal law, human rights law and cross-border police cooperation. She has also worked as a legal trainee at the Serious Crimes Unit of Timor Leste and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (the Hague). Wui Ling has taught courses on post-conflict justice and public international law as a visiting professor and adjunct lecturer at the University of Lyon III (LLM program & SELF program).

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SASS Seminar (No 8, 2009)

How can we turn adversity into opportunity?

 

Abstract:

This presentation discusses about young women who encounter challenges every day. Most young professional women have encountered adversity of one sort or another in the workplace. Many systematically face discrimination simply by virtue of being female. This includes having had to struggle for equal pay, equal perks and equal opportunities.

Yet young women around the world possess the collective power to change the world we live in. Just as we face daily challenges, young professional women are continually developing innovative, effective ways to improve our professional life. By bringing together wisdom and creativity, young women are leading change. The speaker's advice to young ladies out there is to have the confidence to shape your own paradigms for your life.

 

Speaker’s Profile:

Ng Yeen Seen is the Deputy Director General of the Socio-Economic Development and Research Institute (SEDAR Institute) SEDAR Institute is a not-for-profit and independent organisation seeking to develop ideas and strategies to help building a united, democratic, just, egalitarian, liberal and progressive nation for all Malaysians, transcending the barriers of race and religion. Yeen Seen is also the National Women Committee at Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, and she heads the Publicity and Information Bureau at the National Women’s Wing. She studied Accountancy and later in Education in Cardiff University and the University of Warwick (UK) and was actively involved in student politics when she was a student. She was the Vice President of the Malaysian Students’ Society in Cardiff University, and an Auditor to the United Kingdom and Eire Students’ Council (UKEC).Yeen Seen is actively involved in various social organisations, and also in politics. She moderates conferences and facilitates in seminars and workshops in Malaysia, and overseas. Her current research interests include education, foreign labour, sustainability development, political communication, and strategic planning.

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SASS Seminar (No 7, 2009)

The University in An Age of Terror: Rethinking Heidegger Self-Assertion of the German University

 

Abstract:

This presentation seeks to examine the state of education in an age of terror in the context of Heidegger’s philosophy. Although much have been written about Heidegger’s involvement with the National Socialist movement in the 1930s, relatively little have been devoted to an investigation of Heidegger’s philosophy of education. One result of this is that contemporary debates have been distracted from his insights into higher education and drawn into the abysmal question of whether he was a Nazi or an apolitical philosopher who was merely interested in ontological questioning. This presentation seeks to address some of these short-comings in contemporary Heidegger scholarship, as well as to offer some reflections on the state of university education today, and some possible responses to the state of terror that pervades society and higher education today.

 

Speaker’s Profile:

Dr Tony see is a lecturer in International Studies at Monash University. His current research interest is on Political Philosophy, Social Theory, Media Studies. He focuses on studying the development of “bio-politics” in the history of western political paradigm and examines conceptions of “sovereignty,” “nationalism,” “globalization,” “community” and “identity” and relate them to contemporary international political economy. Please refer to  http://www.sass.monash.edu.my/Staff/Tony%20See.html for further details about him.

 

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SASS Seminar (No 6, 2009)

Cinema Apparatus and Experimental Cinema

 

Abstract:

A movie camera takes a series of still images from reality and a film projector produces such reality on the screen. This is essential to create a narrative cinema, and the viewer's mind is easily dragged into the narrative. By screening his film works, Nishikawa will talk about his interest in cinema as a real time event. He will also screen one video work and talk about alternative visual manipulation during shooting process, and one documentation of his installation work to talk about his interest in Expanded Cinema.

 

Speaker’s Profile:

Nishikawa started filmmaking in 2001. His film and video works have been shown at major film festivals, including New York Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, San Francisco International Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, and Berlinale. Over the past years, Nishikawa made several film installation works using pinhole techniques, and one of such works “Building 945” received 2008 Museum of Contemporary Cinema grant. He currently serves as a member of Board of Directors for Canyon Cinema, a distribution company of experimental films, and he works as a guest advisor of Yebisu International Festival for Arts and Alternative Visions. Nishikawa resides in Kuala Lumpur, as a recipient of Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship from The Nippon Foundation, researching about experimental cinema in Southeast Asia.

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SASS Seminar (No 5, 2009)

 An Introduction to Cybercrime

 

Abstract:

The proliferation of digital technology and the Internet have had a profound effect upon the way in which society operates. It has also created new opportunities for the commission and facilitation of crime. It is the global reach of the Internet which presents arguably the greatest challenge to law enforcement, as never before have criminals been able to operate in multiple-jurisdictions with such ease and relative anonymity. However, the challenges of what may broadly be described as ‘cybercrime’ are not peculiar to any one jurisdiction. Although cultural differences may necessitate different responses; there is much to be learned from the experience of other jurisdictions. This is particularly so given the multi-jurisdictional nature of cybercrimes which require increasing cooperation between law enforcement agencies in different countries.

The purpose of this seminar is to provide an overview of the way in which digital technologies are used to facilitate the commission of crime. Specific issues to be discussed include ‘hacking’ offences, fraud, child pornography and stalking. It is hoped that participants will gain both an understanding of some recent developments in the area of cybercrime, as well as a broader understanding of the context in which digital technologies are used in the commission of crime. 

Speaker’s Profile:

Dr. Jonathan Clough is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. He teaches and has published widely in the areas of criminal law and evidence, with a particular focus on commercial and electronic crime. He has recently complete Principles of Cybercrime, to be published by Cambridge University Press.

 

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SASS Seminar (No 4, 2009)

 Is Japan “Normalizing” ?

 

Abstract:

The perception of Japan as a peaceful country in the postwar period, in large measures, rests on Japan’s self-imposed constraints on the use of force. Article IX of the constitution strictly forbids Japan to use force as a tool of foreign policy. In fact, for most of the postwar period, Japanese defence forces were limited to operational boundaries within its territorial waters.  Critics have decried Japan’s strategic self-restrain as “abnormal” and chastised Japan’s reluctance to fully rearm  as a form of free-riding. On the other hand, there are signs that Japan is moving towards normalization, as evident by its high profile involvement in supporting American operations in Afghanistan and the deployment of the Self-Defence Force in Iraq. Are these the signs that Japan is normalizing?  Is a militarily resurgent Japan a treat to regional security?  Is Japan heading towards a “revival of militarism?”  In addition to addressing these issues, this paper analyzes the impact of Japan’s purported “normalization” on regional and international security.

 

Speaker’s Profile:

Dr. Tang Siew-Mun is Senior Lecturer at the National Defence University of Malaysia, where he chairs the Department of Strategic Studies.  He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Malaysian Japanese Studies Association. Dr. Tang has published on East Asian affairs and security studies, including, ““The Many Faces and Facets  of  Warfare:  Redrawing  the  Boundaries  and Focus of Warfare in Contemporary International Relations,” ““No Community Sans Concert? The Role of Great Powers in Institutionalising an Asian Security Community.” “Japanese Postwar Diplomacy in Southeast Asia: The Pursuit of Security by Other Means,” “Japan’s Security Renaissance: Evolution or Revolution?” “The East Asian Community: A Community of Nations or A Concert of Nations?” “Japan's Grand Strategic Shift from Yoshida to Koizumi: Reflections on Japan's Strategic Focus in the 21st Century” and “Japan’s Vision of an East Asian Community: A Malaysian Perspective.” He is currently researching on “Leading the East Asian Community: A Comparative Study of Malaysian and Indonesian Elite Perspectives on ASEAN’s Leadership Capacity and Aspirations.” Dr. Tang holds a B.A (Hons.) (1993) from the National University of Malaysia, a MA (1995) in War Studies from King’s College London, a MA (1998) in International Studies from the Claremont Graduate University and a Ph.D. (2004) from Arizona State University in Political Science.

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SASS Seminar (No 3, 2009)

Disaster reporting by the news media – The need of ethics & guidelines

 

Abstract:

Dr Sony will explain on the need of ethics & guidelines among journalist when reporting a disaster by the news media. The discussion is on the powerful mediated textual messages and visual images of damages, destructions, despair, survival and hopes that makes negative images and create deeper psychological problems among the news consumers. Dr Sony further discusses on whether it’s ethical to give the absolute reality or a self censored versions of the media and how the media representation of a disaster can be rationalized.

 

Speaker’s Profile:

Dr Sony Jalarajan is lecturer in Journalism Studies at Monash University. His research interest is on the Mass Media and Audience analysis. on civil society movements in Malaysia. His current research focus is on studying the democratization process in the Asian continent and the role of the News Media in raising a responsible citizenry. He's a trained and experienced as a journalist and was previously employed both in the electronic and print news media. Please refer to http://www.sass.monash.edu.my/Staff/Sony.html for further details about him.

 

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SASS Seminar (No 2, 2009)

Partnering with Communities to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse

Speaker:	Nooreen Preusser, Training & Education Director of PS The Children
Date:	21st April 2009 (Tuesday)
Time:	12.00pm to 1.00p.m.
Venue:	Communication Lab 9508, Level 5, Building 9, Monash University, Sunway Campus

 

Abstract:

The safety of our children is entrenched in our laws and within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Moreover. It explains that it is the responsibility of all adults to protect all children and ensure that their lives are free from sexual abuse and exploitation. However, the reality is that child sexual abuse (CSA) continues to be a blight in our society.

 

Speaker’s Profile:

Protect and Save The Children Association of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur (P.S. The Children) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on the prevention, intervention and treatment of child sexual abuse by offering a professional service profile.

Nooreen Preusser joined P.S. The Children in May 2008 in the capacity of Training & Education Director. She brings a multidisciplinary background and diverse skills to this position. Her academic achievements include degrees in science, theatre arts and recently culminated with an MSc degree in Public Health. Her professional background includes experience in founding a theatre, adult education, scientific research, client-based support, program management and extensive interactive training of young people.

 

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SASS Seminar (No 1, 2009)

Are we Not Malaysians First?

Speaker:	Dr K J John, Director of MIDAS, UCSI University
Date:	10th March 2009 (Tuesday)
Time:	12.00pm to 1.00p.m.
Venue:	Communication Lab 9508, Level 5, Building 9, Monash University, Sunway Campus

 

Abstract:

His paper deals with most of the issues and questions that plague every Anak Bangsa Malaysian; i.e. those born after 1963.  Through his presentation, he tries to develop and then peel off the five layers of being a Malaysian based on my Onion Model of our nationality and identity.  He then questions the need for us to uphold the current mainstream worldview where we define every consideration in terms of ethnicity rather than nationality. He also argues that we need to think Malaysian First and evolve a new worldview and mindset to fully and peacefully integrate with integrity in Malaysia.

 

Speaker’s Profile:
Dr John KJ began his career with the Public Services of Malaysia in 1972 working in the Prime Minister’s Department as a Research Officer. In 1975 he moved to the National Institute of Public Administration as a trainer for newly recruited Administrative and Diplomatic Officers, and then as Registrar in 1980 and as Coordinator responsible for training related to the Productivity Measurement Programme until 1987 when he left to undertake his PhD at the George Washington University.

He joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and was the Director, Industrial Policy Division He developed the Second Industrial Master Plan based on the cluster methodology in 1995. In 1996, he was seconded to the National IT Council Secretariat at Mimos Berhad where he developed the National IT Agenda. He served as the Executive Director of the National IT Agenda and was responsible for initial development of the Knowledge Economy idea and ideal. Dr John KJ retired from public service in July 2004. Since then he manages a Civil Society Organization committed to transparency, good governance and integrity. He also consults on e-strategy matters. He is Director of MiDAS and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Malaya, and Associate Professor with the Southern Cross Doctoral Programme. He writes a weekly column in Malaysiakini, the internet newspaper.

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Seminars - 2008

 

Speaker:          Hishamuddin Rais                         Activist, Filmmaker and Writer   Title:                Student Politics in Malaysia: Then and Now   Date:                07 October 2008 (Tuesday)       Time:               4.00pm to 5.00pm   Venue:             Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9             Monash University, Sunway Campus

 

Abstract

Recently, the Malaysian government announced that it would be reviewing what many view as an overly restrictive University and University Colleges Act 1971, to allow for more space for  students politics. It is a move that some might suggest has been long overdue, while others may react more guardedly, concerned  that doing so would only add fuel to an already overheated political climate. Should Malaysian students be more politically engaged or should they steer clear of politics altogether, at least until they graduate? If students are to play a role in Malaysian politics, what role should it be? Hishammuddin comes to this topic from the unique vantage point of having been a former student leader who fled Malaysia in 1974 after the government clamped down on widespread student protests that erupted that year (known as the Baling demonstration).

 

Speakers Profile

Hishamuddin Rais is a writer and filmmaker, who spent  a large part of his early adult life in the United Kingdom living in ‘exile’ after the 1974 Baling student demonstration of which he was one of the principal organisers. He returned to Malaysia in the 1990s after having lived abroad for more than 20 years. His passion for activism remains unabated, despite having been detained under the Internal Security Act for 2 years in 2001. He continues to be involved in various causes that seek to advance democracy and assist the underprivileged in Malaysia. 

 

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Speaker:          Prof Mohammad A. Quayum   Title:                Imagining “One World”: Rabindranath Tagore’s Critique of Nationalism   Date:                14 October 2008 (Tuesday)   Time:               12.00 noon to 1.00pm   Venue:             Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9             Monash University, Sunway Campus

Abstract 

Despite its “mythical” quality, and the difficulty of defining it adequately, nationalism, a product of the European Enlightenment, is often deemed, in the words of Benedict Anderson, “the most universally legitimate value in the political life of our time.” Bill Ashcroft et al are of the view that nationalism is “the most implacably powerful force in twentieth century politics,” while Dipesh Chakrabarty contends that nation-state is “the most desirable form of political community” in contemporary society. Notwithstanding such widespread emotional and political legitimacy of the concept, India’s myriad-minded poet and Asia’s first Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) – whom Ezra Pound described as a “flawless” poet, “greater than any of us,” and Bertrand Russell considered “worthy of the highest honour” – was fiercely critical of the ideology, considering it a “hideously profane cult” and a “cult of Devil worship.” In a diatribe on nationalism, in his poem “The Sunset of the Century,” Tagore, for example, described it as a viciously divisive and destructive doctrine that “has made the world its food/ And licking it, crunching it and swallowing it in big morsels.” In his essay “Nationalism in the West,” he spurned the principle as “a cruel epidemic of evil that is sweeping over the human world of the present age and eating into its moral fibre.” This presentation will investigate Tagore’s poems, songs, novels, short stories, letters, lectures, essays, and travel writings to show why and how he was opposed to the idea of nationalism, and how he responded to Gandhi’s swaraj and satyagraha movements in the early decades of the twentieth century. Moreover, it will examine how his critique of nationalism was received both in the East and the West, and how his anti-nationilatarian ideas compare with those of such post-colonial critics/thinkers as Frantz Fanon, Edward Said and Noam Chomsky. Finally, the paper will evaluate the alternative vision of globalisation offered by the writer in his works – or what Albert Einstein described as Tagore’s “ideal to bring nations together”– and the necessity of appropriating that vision against the backdrop of a world that is ridden with “moral cannibalism,” “logic of egoism,” and nationalist “jihadism,” and in which violence is spreading like a pandemic virus.

Speakers Profile 

Mohammad A. Quayum is Professor of English at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). He was Visiting Professor of English and Asian Studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University) in 2003-04. His previous affiliations include University Putra Malaysia (1996-2003), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (1993-96), University of Dhaka, Bangladesh (1991-93) and University of Chittagong, Bangladesh (1979-89).

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Speaker:          Dr Julian C. H. Lee

 

Title:                Mak Bedah  in the 2008 Elections & a Phenomenological Existential Anthropology…for Dummies

 

Date:                16 October 2008 (Thursday)

 

Time:               5.30pm to 6.30pm

 

Venue:             Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9

            Monash University, Sunway Campus

  

Abstract 

This presentation will examine a women’s initiative during Malaysia’s general elections in 2008. In these elections, the Women’s Candidacy Initiative sought to raise awareness amongst both voters and candidates of issues contributing to the low participation of women in parliament in Malaysia. This initiative’s innovative campaign will be described in order to demonstrate the place that phenomenology and existentialism has in helping us to understand social and political phenomena. Although a phenomenological existential anthropology may seem like a mouthful, this perspective will be described in simple terms. This perspective will finally be briefly used to shed light on other political issues in Malaysia relating to Islam and the Constitution to demonstrate its utility.

 

Speakers Profile 

Julian C. H. Lee is lecturer in International Studies at Monash University. He conducts research on civil society movements in Malaysia. His current project examines moral policing and women’s rights advocacy in Malaysia. He is also editor of the column, Ini Budaya Kita, in the magazine Off The Edge.

 

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Speaker:         Prof Hope Cynthia Sadza   Title:               Problems Women Encounter in Attaining Decision-Making Positions in Africa.   Date:              30 September 2008 (Tuesday)       Time:             12.00noon - 1.00pm    Venue:            Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9            Monash University, Sunway Campus

 

Abstract         

Gender equity and equal opportunities in tertiary education enable women to acquire skills and participate in national development programs. In Africa, poverty for women, early marriages, cultural norms militate against girls accessing university education giving preference for boys. The Women’s University in Africa endeavors to enhance women’s capacity and confidence to enable them to fulfill leadership, social, political and economic roles and also make informed decisions about themselves in relation to human rights. 

 

Speakers Profile

Prof Sadza is an educationist and the founder of the Women's University in Africa (WUA), Zimbabwe. In 2007 she won 4 major international and national awards for opening the only women's university in Africa. These includes the award by the International Foreign Investment Networks (FIN) in Nigeria, the award as the "Director of the Year 2007" in Zimbabwe in the category of parastatals; and the 2 "Manager of the Year 2007" awards won, as the runner up in the Zimbabwe Institute of Management Awards 2007. She has also served, as the Parastatal Commissioner in the Ministry of Public Service, Zimbabwe for 10 years.

 

Sadza is a motivational speaker with interests in gender issues and leadership training and has presented over 30 major keynote papers at national and international workshops. She has published 6 major books on economic issues and reforms as they pertain to women, power and society. Her recent publication was in British/Zimbabwe Magazine on women's sustainable development. She has traveled extensively in Europe, Africa and Malaysia. She is currently a visiting professor at the School of Arts and Social Sciences, Monash University Sunway Campus.

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Speaker:          Dr Patricia Sloane White

                        Fulbright Senior Scholar and Assistant Professor, University of Delaware

 

Title:                A Modern History of Malay Girlhood: From 'Sisters' to 'Sinners' in One Generation

 

Date:                23 September 2008 (Tuesday)             

 

Time:               12.00noon to 1.00pm

 

Venue:             Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9

            Monash University, Sunway Campus 

 

Abstract

 

This talk will address social perceptions of young middle-class Malay females and their mothers between the period of Independence and the present day.

 

Speakers Profile

 

Patricia Sloane-White, an assistant professor at UD since 2006, is an anthropologist specializing in Southeast and East Asian culture and social change. She holds a doctorate from Oxford University. She has spent a total of nearly five years researching Islam, economy, and social change in Malaysia, and has published a book, Islam, Modernity, and Entrepreneurship among the Malays (Palgrave/Macmillan 1999), as well as journal articles and book chapters on women in Islam, the Malay Muslim middle class, Islam and business, and Islamic politics. Her current research, sponsored by the Fulbright Commission, is on "Corporate Islam" in Malaysia. She is the winner of the University of Delaware's 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award.

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Speaker:          Chan Wan Lee of Female Magazine

 

Title:                Advertorials in Malaysian Women’s Magazines

 

Date:                20 September 2008 (Saturday)             

 

Time:               4.00 pm to 5.00 pm

 

Venue:             Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9

            Monash University, Sunway Campus 

 

Abstract

 

The marriage of advertisement and editorial has become an effective marketing strategy for many companies and industries in reaching their targeted consumers. Following this mode, numerous fashion and beauty advertorials have recently graced the pages of our very own women’s magazines. Chan Wan Lee of Female will provide an overview of the magazine’s special projects and the basics of advertorial publication. She will also touch on the conceptualization and full production of beauty advertorials as well as the important process of selecting clients. Possible obstacles and solutions of advertorial-making will also be addressed.    

 

Speakers Profile

Chan Wan Lee is a Senior Special Projects Writer of Female and a Senior Writer of Female Bride. A graduate of Institute of Advertising Communication Training, Chan began her writing career as a copywriter before moving into magazine journalism. Apart from Blu Inc.’s publications, her writings have also appeared in Campus Plus and Hot.   

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Speaker:          Mr Mesh Nair & Mr Junior

 

Title:                Radio and Blog

 

Date:                20 September 2008 (Saturday)             

 

Time:               2.30 pm to 3.30 pm

 

Venue:             Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9

            Monash University, Sunway Campus 

 

Abstract:

Radio, being one of the oldest media of communication, is taking on an evolutionary role in this new and interactive era. The radio industry has come to realize that it cannot remain status quo to be competitive and gain steady interest of a new generation of listeners who are exposed to other media such as the TV, print, and specifically the Internet. In this evolutionary journey, the radio industry has found the Internet to be a useful complementary tool to boost its presence. Besides providing online streaming and such, radio stations are taking the blog space seriously as a value-add or marketing tool. One of the country's most popular radio stations, hitz.fm, is latching on firmly to this phenomenon, and has opened up space for its announcers to blog. Being already a broadcast medium which "shouts out loud", why is it necessary for a radio station to create that space for blogs? What kinds of benefits do the new rage of blogging bring to a traditional medium like radio? Is it just a fad? Our friends from hitz.fm will bring us more fascinating insights into the industry, technology and this trend.

   

Speakers Profile:

 

Mr Mesh Nair (hitz.fm’s Programme Manager)

Mesh has been an integral part of AMP Radio Networks, joining the company 12 years ago. As a pioneer of AMP, he started off as an announcer on hitz.fm, then moving on to working behind-the-scenes as the Program Manager for both hitz.fm and MIX.fm.

 

 Mr Junior (AMP Interactive Manager)

Junior kicked started his career in radio as an intern with Xfresh seven years ago. Followed by becoming a producer-in-training, part-time announcer, a part of the hitz Cruiser team, then he was promoted to become the producer for hitz.fm Morning crew and assistant Programme Manager for the station. His passion for all things techie has now lead him to managing AMP’s Interactive department.

 

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Speaker:         Meera Samanther                        Member, Women’s Candidacy Initiative (WCI)   Title:               Shopping for A Real Candidate in the 2008 Malaysian General Elections   Date:               2 September 2008 (Tuesday)   Time:              12.00noon to 1.00pm   Venue:            Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9            Monash University, Sunway Campus

Abstract

In the weeks leading up to the recent general elections in Malaysia, the Women’s Candidacy Initiative (WCI) used the figure of Mak Bedah to raise awareness amongst the public of the difficulties women face in participating in politics. The campaign’s positioning and methods of advocacy were unique and it attracted a good deal of attention throughout Malaysia and even in the international media.

Meera Samanther, a member of WCI and one of several people to play Mak Bedah, will in this seminar discuss the work of the WCI and its innovative and ground-breaking campaign during 2008 general elections.

 
Speaker’s Profile

Meera Samanther is a practicing lawyer and president of the Women’s Aid Organization (WAO). She is an ongoing advocate for legal reform on gender issues, at one point being the co-chair for the Law and Policy Sub-committee of the Malaysian government's Steering Committee on Violence Against Women. She is also a committee member of Association of Women's Lawyers (AWL) and the Task Force Member on Violence Against Women, representing Malaysia, of the Asia Pacific Women Law & Development (APWLD) , which is a regional coalition. She is also a member of WCI, and was one of several people to play Mak Bedah.

 

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Speaker:          Chu Chu Yuan & Jay Koh                         Title:                Censorship and Resistance in the Arts: The Case of the Burmese Artists   Date:                August 12 2008                 Time:               12.00 to 1.00 p.m.   Venue:             Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9             Monash University, Sunway Campus

Abstract

The speaker(s) shares with us their fascinating experience working with artists living in Myanmar, who work under the ever watchful eye of the authoritarian state. How Burmese artists have persevered with their art despite the heavy weight of censorship bearing down upon them, the various strategies they employ to survive and in some cases even thrive in what only can be described as challenging environment, will form the substance of her talk. Chu Yuan will also relate the genesis and development of contemporary art in Myanmar which will be accompanied by plenty of visuals captured during the time that she was living there.

 

Speakers Profile

 

Chu Chu Yuan:

Chu Yuan is a visual artist, writer and cultural worker. A graduate of University Malay where she received her B.A. in English, her wide-ranging resume includes feature writing, book editing, teaching, and art administration (fundraising, publicity and programming) all done largely in Singapore where she has been based for more than decade.

 

Chu Yuan whose own artistic work is a combination of mixed-media drawings, installation, soft sculpture, performance, poetry and text has long had an interest in art that actively engages local communities. Her involvement in the setting up of NICA (Networking and Initiatives for Culture and the Arts), an arts and cultural resource development initiative based in Yangon, Myanmar is a reflection of that. NICA works to develop informal learning and training programmes for youths and adults, as well as intercultural resource-sharing programmes. 

 

Jay Koh:

Jay Koh originates from Southeast Asia and since 1999 has become an EU citizen. He is an artist who takes on multifaceted roles in order to negotiate with social-political structures on site and conceives of appropriate actions in response to local needs and contexts where he works. These actions can range from creating art works, curating and organising exhibitions, seminars, workshops and learning programmes; community capacity-building, advocacy, writing, publishing, to other necessary activities. Presently he is running projects in Ireland, Vietnam, Mongolia, in addition to Myanmar, where his activities are now sustained for over 10 years.

Additionally, Jay also lectures and writes. He has taken on short teaching assignments in MFA classes in Tempere Polytechnic, Tempere and Academy of Fine Art, Helsinki in Finland; National College of Art and Design, Dublin and Galway Media Institute of Technology, Galway, West Ireland, and conducted workshops in Sweden, Singapore, Vietnam and elsewhere.

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Speaker:          Julian Hopkins

            PhD Candidate, School of Arts and Social Sciences

            Monash University, Bandar Sunway

 

Title:                Blogwars – Authenticity and Value in the Blogosphere

 

Date:                29 July 2008              

 

Time:               12.00noon to 1.00pm

 

Venue:            Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9

                       Monash University, Sunway Campus

 

 

 

Abstract

A case study of a ‘blogwar’ centered around a short-lived ‘hateblog’ that occurred mostly in the Singaporean blogosphere, with some input from Malaysia. In this case, the renown of the protagonists, and the viciousness of the attack, combined to make the hateblog a ‘productive’ temporary locus of online discursive activity.

 

Theoretically, the approach taken shall draw upon Bourdieu’s concepts of social capital and practice; Bakhtin’s concept of dialogics, prosaics and social change; Appadurai’s concept of “commodity candidacy” as well as discussions of value and authenticity. Miller & Slater are important in shaping the ethnographic approach to the internet, rooting online practices in offline contexts.

 

It is argued that through the posts and comments of those who condemn, support, or merely wish to be entertained by, the blogwar, it is possible to explore the underlying practices and norms of blogging.

 

Speakers Profile

Julian Hopkins studied Sociology in Glasgow and Anthropology in SOAS before coming to Malaysia. His interest has always been in the areas of technology and development, and he is currently doing a PhD with Monash University Sunway.

Through participant observation by blogging, as well as joining with bloggers in offline events, his research hopes to shed light on the process of change in the Malaysian blogosphere by examining the increasing commercialisation of blogs. You can visit his blog at http://www.julianhopkins.net.

 

 

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Speaker:          Prof Simon Adams, Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor (Int) & Head of School of Arts, Monash South Africa.

 

Title:                The Challenge of Africa

 

Date:                22 July 2008              

 

Time:               12.00noon to 1.00pm

 

Venue:            Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9

            Monash University, Sunway Campus

 

 

Bio: Professor Simon Adams is the Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor (International) and Head of School of Arts in Monash University, South Africa. He will discuss on the challenges facing the continent and Southern Africa in particular.

 

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Speaker:           Professor Clive Kessler Title:                 50 Years of Merdeka Politics: Some Personal Reflections on Studying The Last 40 of Them Date:                  20 May 2008 Time:                 12.00noon to 1.00pm Venue:              Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9, Monash University, Sunway Campus Abstract: What is proposed is not an amplification of the proposition  or claim "I told you so!" Rather, the presentation begins with some concerns that I expressed while studying Kelantanese local politics while living in rural Kelantan in the weeks immediately preceding the 1969 elections. The account then elaborates those themes further as they evolved in my thinking about Malaysian politics from the 1980s and especially from the late 1990s to the present. The account offered will suggest that some of the perhaps 'surprising' developments signaled in the recent 2008 national elections "did not come from nowhere" but are the product of deep-seated changes "long in the making". Bio: Clive Kessler is Professor Emeritus of Sociology & Anthropology, the University of New South Wales, Australia.

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  Speaker:       Malik Imtiaz Sawar

  Title:               Where Do We Go >From Here? The Way Forward for Malaysia 

  Date:               9 May 2008  

  Time:              12.00noon to 1.00pm

  Venue:            Communication Lab Room 9508, Level 5, Building 9, Monash University, Sunway Campus

 

Abstract: Of late there has been much talk of reform by the Barisan Nasional government. So much so that the words transparency, fairness and accountability have now become the catchwords of the day. But are these all just empty promises? Malik Imtiaz Sawar argues that if Malaysia is really to move forward then the more fundamental issues of race politics, the social contract and the deliberate weakening of key state organs such as the judiciary will need to be addressed. 

Bio: Malik Imtiaz Sarwar is a leading Malaysian human rights lawyer and activist and the current president of the National Human Rights Society (HAKAM). He has been actively involved in efforts to promote the rule of law and constitutionalism. 

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Speaker:         Ms Jacqueline Ann Surin  Title:                “Why Journalism”               Date:               29 April 2008 Abstract: The guest lecture is part of the course for JRN1902 Newsroom Practice and Theory but all are welcome to listen to the interesting first-hand account of a fine journalist. You may also get yourself an autographed copy of her new book “Shape of a Pocket” (RM25), a collection of 59 columns and news commentaries. Bio: Jacqueline Ann Surin has been a journalist since 1994. She gained an M.A. in Media Studies at Sussex University in England as a Chevening scholar, and studied journalism in the United States under the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship. In 2007, she received the Excellence in Opinion Writing Award from the Society of Publishers in Asia for her Shape of a Pocket column. She was also named by London-based Article 19 as the Pioneering Women’s Voices Candidate for Malaysia in commemoration of International Women’s Day in 2007. In 2008, she co-founded independent news site MalaysiaVotes.com to report on the general election in Malaysia.

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