Sydney Ideas

Carolyne Larrington, Professor of Medieval European Literature at the University of Oxford, talks about watching and writing about HBO’s Game of Thrones as a medieval scholar. She explains some of the medieval history and literature from which George R. R. Martin chiselled the building blocks for the construction of his imaginary world.

Game of Thrones has now become the most frequently streamed or downloaded show in TV history. Carolyne suggests some reasons for its enormous international success as the medieval fantasy epic for the twenty-first century, and undertakes a little speculation on how the show might end.

We've created a world where information technology permeates our economies, social interactions, and intimate selves. The combination of mobile, cloud computing, the Internet Things, persistent computing, and autonomy are resulting in something different. This World-Sized Web promises great benefits, but is also vulnerable to a host of new threats. Threats from users, criminals, corporations, and governments. Threats that can now result in physical damage and even death.

Security technologist Bruce Schneier looks back at what we've learned from past attempts to secure these systems, and forward at what technologies, laws, regulations, economic incentives, and social norms we need to secure them in the future.

Sydney Ideas event information: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/bruce_schneier.shtml

A public forum with Anson Chan and Martin Lee

In 1997 the People’s Republic of China assumed sovereignty over Hong Kong, subject to The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which guarantees Hong Kong’s civic freedoms and autonomies and the rule of law, for fifty years. The Declaration and Hong Kong’s constitution were written in expectation of universal suffrage and of accountable corruption-free Government. Nearly twenty years on, Hong Kong faces formidable challenges, including growing disaffection among citizens who feel disappointed by present-day trends that are seen to contradict the substance and spirit of the Declaration.

The University of Sydney was fortunate to host a public forum with two of Hong Kong’s best-known and internationally respected civic figures Anson Chan and Martin Lee, uniquely placed to talk about present-day realities and the future prospects for Hong Kong.

What has changed in recent years in Hong Kong, and what has not?

Are the two co-signatories of the Declaration honouring their promises?

Why are there signs of rising frustration among Hong Kong citizens?

Do the recent Hong Kong elections have long-term significance?

Should Hong Kong matter to the world, and why does it matter to Beijing?

How can you obtain the best decision from a group of so-called ‘experts’ about future events such as a natural disaster or a stock market crash?

Would you trust a family member’s opinion over a highly cited scientist, an economist, a successful entrepreneur, a military or political leader, or a High Court judge? Or would you trust them all equally? Or none at all?

The University of Cambridge’s Professor Herbert Huppert’s research has shown that whether an expert or not, some people are better at assessing the future than others.

Using considerable experience and historical data, Professor Huppert and his team have developed a technique known as ‘Expert Elicitation’.

The technique assesses the abilities and reliability of each individual expert using a formula and taking into account responses to questions about future events.

In this Sydney Ideas lecture, Professor Huppert discusses how this technique has been successfully used in predictions for volcanic eruptions, dam failures, monetary policy, military engagements, future sea level rise, and other issues that confront decision makers.

Hosted by Robyn Williams, science journalist and broadcaster.

Which infectious diseases pose the greatest danger to a child during pregnancy, in infancy and adolescence?

Most of us are aware of the dangers of whooping cough and influenza, but what about little-known and disabling micro-organisms such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) and old-nasties that re-emerge periodically like measles?

What does every parent need to know about these infectious diseases? What role do family members play in passing on infections to children? How can vaccines offer protection against childhood and adolescent infections?

Speaker:

Professor Cheryl Jones, Paediatrics and Child Health expert, University of Sydney, Paediatric Infectious Diseases Head, Sydney Childrens Hospital Network

What is happening in the US election campaign and where does the support for this ‘populist’ political movement come from?

On the day after the second Presidential debate, a diverse panel of academics, students and election observers discussed changes in new media platforms, youth politics and activism, and the impact they are all having on the traditional election campaign processes.

Is there a degree of suffering and degradation beyond which a man or a woman ceases to be a human being? A point beyond which our spirit dies and only pure physiology survives? And to what extent, if any, may literary culture be capable of preserving the integrity of our humanity?

These are some of the questions that this lecture proposes to consider with reference to two places where extreme suffering is inflicted – the fictional hell imagined by Dante in his Inferno, and the real hell experienced by Primo Levi at Auschwitz and described in If This Is A Man.

SPEAKER:

Professor Lino Pertile, Carl A. Pescosolido Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University

A panel of the University of Sydney experts and practitioners discuss the possible benefits and risks of mindfulness, and how it has been used in education and workplace to produce resilient students and healthy employees.

Speakers:

Professor Gwynnyth Llewellyn, Chair, Healthy Sydney University

Professor Nick Glozier, Brain and Mind Centre

Associate Professor Rae Cooper, Sydney Business School

Professor Jane Burns, Faculty of Health Sciences

Ms Jane Cox, consultant and leadership coach

Dr Benjamin Veness, medical registrar, Sydney alumnus and Churchill Fellow

Co-hosted by Sydney Ideas and Healthy Sydney University, a university-wide initiative that brings staff and students together to promote the health and wellbeing of our University community.

More event information http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2016/can_mindfulness_save_the_world_forum.shtml

Is mindfulness all about the individual practice? What is the role of community when it come to the issues of well-being? How could institutions such as universities enhance emotional well-being of its employees and students? Dr Benjamin Veness, the University of Sydney alumnus and Churchill Fellow offers some solutions.

Don Watson and fellow Quarterly Essayist James Brown discuss the strangest election campaign the US has ever seen.