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MAI Seminars, Conferences, Visitors and Events 2002

Jointly hosted by Monash Asia Institute, the Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements (Monash University) and the Productivity Commission

"Globalisation and Mass Poverty"

by Professor Lord Meghnad Desai (London School of Economics)

Tuesday, 10 December 2002

In his public lecture, Professor Lord Desai will be talking about why the free movement of labour is needed to match the free movement of capital, as well as the need to liberalise immigration rules. People interested in reading about Lord Desai's thoughts about Globalisation and capitalism are invited to read his most recent book, Marx's Revenge: The Resurgence of Capitalism and the Death of Statist Socialism , Verso, London/New York, 2002.

About the speaker

Professor Lord Meghnad Desai, Director, Centre for the Study of Global Governance, London School of Economics is one of the world's leading thinkers about economic development and critic of conventional development paradigms.

Professor Lord Desai's curriculum vitae is available for downloading here. A flyer about this seminar is also available for downloading.

Acknowledgment

The Monash Asia Institute is grateful to the Australia South Asia Research Centre for arranging Professor Lord Desai's visit to Australia.

Canberra Event

Prior to his visit to Melbourne, Professor Lord Desai will be delivering a seminar in the 2002 Narayanan Lecture hosted by the Australia South Asia Research Centre, in association with the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, and the National Institute for Asia and the Pacific, at the Australian National University on 5 December 2002.

Seminar

Monash Asia Institute and
Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements

Steven A Hess
Moody's Investors Service, New York, will be talking on

China vs southeast Asia: competitors or complements?

Wednesday 16 October 2002, 1.00 pm to 3.00 pm (please arrive by 12.45)
Canberra Room, The Windsor Hotel 103 Spring Street, CDB Melbourne

About the speaker

Steven Hess is Vice President and Senior Analyst in the Sovereign Risk Unit at Moody's Investors Service in New York. He is responsible for analyzing political, economic, and financial factors that affect the creditworthiness of sovereign bond issuers, with a focus on East Asia. He is the lead analyst for Asia and Australasia. His analysis is used by rating committees at Moody's to assign ratings to countries in the region. Mr. Hess graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C., and received his graduate education in economics at Claremont Graduate School in California. Prior to joining Moody's, he had extensive experience as an international economist in the banking industry. In addition, he was an adviser to the Economic Planning Board of the Republic of Korea in Seoul.

Commentator

After Mr Hess's presentation, we will have comments by Bernard Shuttleworth. Mr Shuttleworth has been with the ANZ Bank since 1988. He is currently Senior Economist (International) in ANZ's Group Economics department at the bank's head office in Melbourne. Bernard works in a small team which monitors a range of developing countries, particularly those in the Asia-Pacific region, where the bank and its customers are represented.

Special Seminar

Thursday 22 August 2002

Guest Speaker: Mr Wei Jingsheng

Mr Wei Jingsheng our distinguished visitor from Washington, one of China's most prominent dissidents, and a commentator on world affairs, is talking at the Monash Asia Institute on: China-US Relations

About the speaker

Wei Jingsheng was born in Beijing, China in 1950. His given name is very common and is an indication of the pride of his parents; a pride shared by many in the days immediately following the creation of the People's Republic. It is instantly recognizable to a Chinese: "Jing" means "capital" and "Sheng" means "birth". He is the eldest of four children. His parents were longtime Chinese Communist Party cadres. He was brought up in the Party schools, but also was exposed to the internal dramas of the Beijing Party elite.

At the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, the sixteen-year-old Wei left Beijing to explore the country for himself. He traveled throughout north and northwest China, seeing firsthand the true effects that communism had on the Chinese people. It was during this time that he first began to formulate his opinions on the Chinese Communist Party and the future of the Chinese people. By the time the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, Wei had been "sent down" to the countryside in his ancestral hometown in Anhui Province and also served in the People's Liberation Army. The ten formative years he spent gaining a better understanding of the Chinese people's situation left an indelible mark on his thinking.

After moving back to Beijing, Wei took a job as an electrician at the Beijing Zoo. In 1978, a series of workers, intellectuals, and artists posted their thoughts and expression on a piece of wall in Beijing. The place, and the period, became known as The Democracy Wall. At this time, Wei wrote an essay entitled "The Fifth Modernization" which stated that without democracy, China could not truly modernize. His essay caused a sensation-not only because it openly assaulted the "people's democratic dictatorship" propaganda of the Communists, but also because the author dared to sign the essay with both his name and address. Wei joined a few friends in publishing an underground magazine called Exploration". In its last edition, Wei wrote another article,"Democracy or a New Dictatorship?" which identified Deng Xiaoping as the new dictator. Within months, Wei Jingsheng was arrested.

In 1979, Wei was tired, convicted of "counter-revolution" and sentenced to 15 years. He spoke in his own defense, and a copy of his statement was smuggled out of the courtroom and distributed in China and to the foreign press. He was first on death row for eight month, and then in solitary confinement for nearly five years. He was kept in two other forced labor camps, under strict supervision from both guards and prison handlers, until 1993 when he was released, and within six months arrested a second time. He was tried again, convicted of "counter-revolution" and sentenced to another 14 years. In 1997, after a total of 18 years in prison, Wei was taken from his cell and placed on a plane bound for the United States. He maintains that he was not freed, but that his exile is further punishment.

The prison letters to his family and the Communist leaders were published prior to his release in the spring of 1997 in a book bearing the title "The Courage to Stand Alone". During his imprisonment, he was awarded the Olof Palme Memorial Prize in 1994, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Human Rights Award in 1996, and the National Endowment for Democracy Award for 1997. He has been nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Currently a fellow at Columbia University; Wei Jingsheng has not been silenced by his forced exile. Today he serves as President of The Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition, keeping a dialogue open with world leaders in order to forward the cause of democracy in China.

Workshop on Different Cultural Expressions of Indian Art and Culture

Monash Asia Institute
Friday 15 March 2002

The purpose of the workshop is to encourage Australian scholars to discuss their research and exchange ideas. The workshop will take the form of a roundtable discussion with most participants being asked to provide brief descriptions of their current research. The question is whether we can identify any common themes in our work with a view to publishing a monograph on these topics.

Presentations

Other participants and discussants: Dr Rashmi Desai, Dr John Dupuche, Assoc Prof Ian Copland, Dr Kate Brittlebank

Abstracts

Religious symbols associated with the medieval reed instrument madvarî: iconographic and textual links inside and outside India

Dr Reis Flora

Data for reedpipes in Indian antiquity exists in iconographic and textual sources. The most extensive early data for a reedpipe is the descriptive account of a wind instrument named madvarî, which appears in the Sanskrit treatise Abhinavabharatasârasangraha, a compilation by Chikkabhûpâla (c. 1650 AD), where it is attributed to Matanga (c. 700 AD). Originally this passage may have been part of Matanga's well known treatise Brhaddesi. One sloka clearly notes the length of the instrument and another the existence of seven fingerholes. Other identifying characteristics, however, such as the overall shape of the madvarî and the vibrating mechanism needed to produce sound, are problematic. Several Hindu deities are associated with different parts of the instrument. This information may encapsulate broader symbolic meanings and suggest certain morphological details. This paper will discuss these issues in an attempt to bring further clarification to our understanding of the early Indian madvarî. An instance of iconographic data from Egypt dating from the twelfth century AD, which illustrates the shape of the hand positions noted in the Sanskrit text for playing the madvarî, also will be discussed.

Lajjàgaurã or the Unclothed Mother

Dr Jayant Bapat

For the last 4-5 months, I have been translating a remarkable book from Marathi into English on the worship of the primordial mother goddess in India since ancient times; a worship that is still prevalent today. The book is called Lajjàgaurã, a word which translates roughly as bashful Gaurã or Pàrvatã. Pàrvatã, øiva's wife, is of course the mother of the world in Hindu mythology. The author of the book is Dr. R.C.Dhere who has written prolifically on folk culture. Author of over a hundred books, Dhere has been a recipient of numerous awards including Sahitya Academy Award from the Indian government and Maharashtra Gaurav Award from the Maharashtra government. In archeological excavations all over India, unusual images were found which consist only of a headless female torso. The breasts and vagina are shown prominently and this has been achieved by folding both the hands and feet and placing them sideways. Occasionally a lotus replaces the head. Dhere argues that the word Lajjà is derived from Lanjà, meaning naked. Lajjàgaurã would thus mean ß naked mother û. He identifies Lajjàgaurã with mother earth whose main functions are procreation and sustenance of the universe. To Dhere, this is the reason why she is depicted by showing only those organs responsible for the two functions. Dhere also shows that other folk goddesses such as Joguëàmbà, Reõukà, Màtangã, Ellammà and Kottavvà are representations of the female generative principle and gods such as Jyotibà and Subramaõyam represent the equivalent male principle. Lajjàgaurã was awarded Maharashtra Government Puraskar (Prize) in 1980.

Contemporary Ink Painting in China: Continuity, Innovation and Dynamic Pluralism

Speakers: Professor John Berninghausen and Professor Alice Berninghausen

Seminar hosted by the School of Languages, Cultures & Linguistics, Monash University

Wednesday 20 March 2002

Synopsis

An upsurge of artistically compelling and revitalized inkpainting ["guo hua" or "shuimo hua"] has been taking place in China for almost two decades. This presentation, illustrated with slides, will be based upon extensive interviews conducted in the fall of 2001 with more than 25 leading artists in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chengdu. Contemporary trends and an emerging pluralism of themes and aesthetic principles will be discussed. Of special interest is the enduring strength of Chinese traditional concepts, aesthetic principles and techniques in the visual arts. Despite excessive politicization of the arts from the early 1950s through the early 1980s in the PRC, contemporary ink painters are reinvigorating their tradition by reconnecting with the past and exploring new sources of inspiration.

Biographical Information

Currently an honorary research associate in the School of Languages, Cultures & Linguistics at Monash University, John Berninghausen , Charles A. Dana Professor of Chinese at Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota, BA double major in Spanish and Chinese, two minors in political science and art history, 1965. Overseas study in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Graduate studies in the late 1960s at Stanford University where he took his MA and Ph. D. degrees in Chinese language and literature with a focus on 1920s and 1930s Chinese fiction. Founder and chairman of Middlebury's Chinese Department for the past twenty five years, also served as Dean of the Chinese School, Chair of the Foreign Languages Division and Chair of the East Asian Studies inter-disciplinary major. Professor and Senior Consultant at the Johns Hopkins Univ.-Nanjing Univ.Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing, 1987-88.

Alice Berninghausen, undergraduate degree from University of Vermont and Masters Degree from Boston University, in recent years worked in the Middlebury College administration. The Berninghausens have been collecting contemporary ink painting in China during the past 13 years; they are collaborating in researching and writing a manuscript on this topic.

Seminar

Monash Asia Institute in conjunction with the Monash University Alumni Relations Program invites you and a guest to attend Leading Ideas Forum 14 on Tuesday 19 March 2002

"Why welcoming migrants and refugees should be Australia's highest priority"
Speaker: Neville Roach AO

Abstract

This forum is devoted to a discussion of a little understood topic: the urgency of developing an active and positive program of welcoming migrants and refugees to Australia. Do migrants bring benefits to Australia? What kind of benefits? Should Australia's migration policy aim to increase the annual intake? How many people should we welcome each year? Can we afford it? Why are so many Australians opposed to continued and increased migration? What is Australia's optimum population size? Human Resource (HR) development is at the cutting edge of the New Economics and innovative approaches to economic growth and development. Migration and HR development are intimately linked. Our speaker has been actively engaged in these debates for many years in his capacity as a business leader and Chair of numerous government committees and councils.

About the speaker

Neville Roach AO is Chairman of Fujitsu Australia Limited and has had a distinguished career in business and as an advisor to government. He was educated at the University of Bombay, India, where he majored in Economics and Political Science. In Australia, he worked first with IBM (1965-1980) and then as Managing Director, Director and Chairman of Fujitsu (1980 to the present). His business expertise ranges from Information Technology to Trade Policy. Mr Roach has served as Chairman of some ten Councils and Associations including the Council for Multicultural Australia (CMA) and the Business (Migration) Advisory Panel (BAP). He resigned from the CMA and BAP earlier this year, because of his concern regarding the impact on Australian Multiculturalism of the extreme inflexibility of government policy in relation to asylum seekers, immigration and reconciliation.

Transcript and Audio File

A transcript and audio file of the address delivered by Dr Neville Roache can be found at the Monash Alumni Leading Ideas Forum.

About the Leading Ideas Forum

The Monash University Leading Ideas Forum aims to bring together leading thinkers, researchers and experts from the Monash community. The forums are not restricted to any discipline, reflecting instead the wide scope of intellectual endeavours undertaken at Monash.

Forums are publicised through the monthly Monash Alumni e-newsletter At Monash. Subscribe online at www.monash.edu.au/alumni/news/at_monash/

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