Seminars and Conferences

AUGUST

28 August - Lunchtime Talk
Governing Uncertainty: An exploration of Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD) services and their implications for decision making about progresion and release
Abstract: This paper outlines a relatively new and controversial initiative in England and Wales; the Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD) Programme.  Set up in 1999, largely in response to the high profile murder of a mother and daughter by a man considered to have an “untreatable” personality disorder, the DSPD programme has set up 4 high security units for men in both the Prison Service and the mental health system. 
The development of these high secure services in both the criminal justice and mental health system reflects long standing debate, tension and uncertainty about the appropriate response to offenders diagnosed with a personality disorder.  The paper first seeks to outline this context, and then turns to consider some emerging findings about how this may affect the progression of participants and the decision making of Parole Board and Mental Health Review Tribunals.
Presented by Julie Trebilcock: Julie Trebilcock is a Criminology PhD student from Keele University, UK. Her current work centres around a relatively new and controversial initiative in England and Wales, the Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD) Programme.   Julie’s specific interest is to consider how patients and prisoners travel in and out of the DSPD services and how key decision makers from the Parole Board and the Mental Health Review Tribunal make sense of, and make decisions about those detained within DSPD services.
Julie also works closely with the Ministry of Justice, HMP Prison Service and Department of Health as a research assistant on two national evaluation studies of the DSPD programme.  One study, conducted by the University of Oxford is concerned with the assessment and treatment pathways of men referred to the high secure DSPD services; while the other, run by Imperial College, London, considers the organisation, management and staffing of 4 high security DSPD units.
Time & Location:1.00-2.00 pm. Room 519, Level 4, John Medley Building, Parkville Campus.
Dowload flier here.

JUNE

6-9 June - Conference
New Worlds, New Sovereignties
EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION CLOSES 11 April, 2008
A Cross-Community, Interdisciplinary International Conference
Please visit the conference website for more information and to register:  http://www.newsovereignties.org <http://www.newsovereignties.org/>
Registration Type   Early Bird (until 11 April)    AU$350   
Standard Rate (after 11 April)   Full Registration    AU$400   
Student Early Bird (until 11 April)*   AU$300;     Full Registration*   AU$350  
*A copy of student identification must be forwarded with the registration to be eligible for this rate
Registration for the conference is available via online registration or via a downloadable registration form via the Conference website http://www.newsovereignties.org/register <http://www.newsovereignties.org/register>
For further information on the Conference contact: Melbourne Conference Management, Union House, The University of Melbourne, Tel: 03 8344 6107, Email: nwns2008@union.unimelb.edu.au <mailto:nwns2008@union.unimelb.edu.au>
Website:  www.newsovereignties.org <http://www.newsovereignties.org/>
Time & Location:  12.00 noon on 6 June in the  Economics and Commerce Building

Monday 16th June: Seminar
Are Our Social Sciences as Relevant to Government as They Might Be?
Taking up a theme raised by Stuart Cunningham in a recent issue of AUR – that the innovations of Australia’s humanities, creative arts, and social sciences are not getting the recognition that they deserve from the nation’s government – this paper, dealing only with the social sciences, offers a cautionary note. If the social sciences are to hold the serious attention of the government of any modern Western nation, including Australia’s, they cannot continue to fall prey to the tendency, displayed by too many of their practitioners, to ceaselessly criticise such government, that is, to employ a style of criticism called here ‘unengaged critique’. This style of criticism targets modern Western governments because they do not seek perfection, because, that is, they seek only to do the best they can with the resources they have to hand. The paper offers an explanation of the basis of this tendency, an explanation focusing on one of two main understandings of ‘the social’ or ‘society’ available to the social sciences – the abundant reason-natural morality understanding – and it offers a means of avoiding it, by using the rival to this understanding – the politico-legal understanding.
Prof Gary Wickham: Associate Professor in Sociology at Murdoch University, Western Australia, where he has worked for 23 years. His books include Foucault and Law (Pluto, 1994, with Alan Hunt; translated into Japanese 2007), Using Foucault’s Methods (Sage, 1999, with Gavin Kendall; translated into Japanese 2007), and Cultural Studies: Culture, Order, Ordering (Sage, 2001, with Gavin Kendall). His recent journal articles have appeared in: Journal of Sociology; Journal of Classical Sociology; Current Sociology; Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung; Journal of Law and Society; Griffith Law Review; Cultural Studies Review; Social and Legal Studies; and Chicago-Kent Law Review.
Time & Location: 1.00-2.00pm in Room 519 (John Medley Building, West)

Tuesday 24 June: School Research Symposium

MAY

1 May, 2008: Confirmation Seminar
Kosovo and the Goal of Multi-Ethnicity
Anita McKinna
The model that has emerged from the almost nine-year period of Kosovo’s international administration will not provide the basis for a multi-ethnic entity, as is the expressed goal of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo. Policies such as decentralisation and the creation of new, mono-ethnic municipalities, education only in the mother tongue, and the failure to create an effective judicial system that brings accountability for ethnically motivated crimes, have the effect of exacerbating inter-ethnic isolation. Now that Kosovo is entering a new phase that will presumably be characterised by some form of independence, there is little hope that the legacy of international administration will enable the people of Kosovo to create a new, collective identity that transcends ethnicity.
Time & Location: 1.00-2.00pm in Room 519 (John Medley Building, West)

Tuesday 6 May: Seminar
Historicising Asylum: France and its refugees between idealism and pragmatism
Greg Burgess: Lecturer in European and World History and Historiography at Deakin University, Geelong
Joint Seminar of the Contemporary Europe Research Centre, the School of Political Science, Criminology and Sociology and the School of Historical Studies
Chair: A/Prof Philo Murray
Time & Location:1:00 to 2:00pm in Room 212, 2nd Floor, 234 Queensberry St

Tuesday 6 May, 1-2pm  - Lunchtime Seminar
The University of Melbourne Human Rights Forum:
Reflections on the Commission of the Status of Women 
Susan Brennan, President of the World YWCA will discuss her recent visit to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
In July 2007, Susan Brennan was elected President of the World YWCA, a global movement of 25 million women and girls working for justice, peace, health, human dignity, freedom and the environment in 125 countries.  She attended the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 as a young woman delegate for the YWCA of Australia and represented the YWCA in drafting the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.  Susan has organised human rights hearings on peace with justice, violence against women, economic development and HIV/AIDS at the YWCA International Women’s Summit in 2003.  Between 2004 and 2007, she was instrumental in redrafting the World YWCA’s Constitution, including its basis and purpose.  She has served on the boards of the International Women's Development Agency, Reprieve Australia and the Women's Rights Action Network of Australia.  A graduate of Melbourne University Law School and a former Jessup mooter, Susan is a barrister practising in town planning and environment law.
Time & Location:  1.00-2.00 pm inRoom 316, Alice Hoy Building

8 May: BSL Lunchtime Seminar Series
Social policy and Building a Culture of Applied Human Rights
Professor Rob Watts: Global Studies, Social Science & Planning, RMIT
Time & Location: 12:00noon to 1.00pm: in Father Tucker's Room, Brotherhood of St Laurence, 67 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
RSVP or to join the seminar mailing list, contact Kristine Philipp: kphilipp@bsl.org.au

8 May 2008: Conversion to PhD seminar
What are the implications of containerisation for the security of nations?
Lance Hoovestall
Global trade has proliferated at an unprecedented rate with approximately 90 percent of contemporary trade coming via the sea.  The movement of international sea freight has been revolutionised by profound technological innovations, however, most significantly has been the dynamic employment of the “freight container.”
This surge in trade has created tremendous congestion and engendered formidable global dilemmas.  Perhaps, most considerable is the comprehensive lack of freight container surveillance.  Paradoxically, however, processes to inspect containers and avert catastrophe may devastate the global economy as trade is inhibited.
The dissertation will examine the tremendous strain placed on the delicate balance between national security and economic interests
Time & Location: 1pm, in Rm 519 John Medley West

15 May: BSL Lunchtime Seminar Series
(title to be confirmed)
Bruce Thompson: Business Program Coordinator, Moreland Energy Foundation Ltd
Climate Change
Time & Location: 12:00noon to 1.00pm: in Father Tucker's Room, Brotherhood of St Laurence, 67 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
RSVP or to join the seminar mailing list, contact Kristine Philipp: kphilipp@bsl.org.au

22 May: BSL Lunchtime Seminar Series
(title to be confirmed)
Dr Yin Paradies: School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne
Racism and Indigenous Health
Time & Location: 12:00noon to 1.00pm: in Father Tucker's Room, Brotherhood of St Laurence, 67 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
RSVP or to join the seminar mailing list, contact Kristine Philipp: kphilipp@bsl.org.au

APRIL

Tuesday 1st April: Seminar .
Prospects for the 2008 Presidential Elections
Dr Roger Davidson: Professor Emeritus of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park and Visiting Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
From 1980 to 1988 he held the post of Senior Specialist in American National Government and Public Administration with the Congressional Research Service, U.S. Library of Congress.  He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.
Dr. Davidson attended the University of Colorado and received his Ph.D from Columbia University.  He began his teaching career at Dartmouth College, moving to the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he served as chairman of the political science department and associate dean of Letters and Science.  He has been a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, American, and George Washington universities, and has lectured or conducted seminars on U.S. politics and policy making throughout this country and in Europe, South America, Africa, India, and Japan.  In 1991 he was awarded an Elliot/Winant Lecture Fellowship by the British-American-Canadian Associates for a series of lectures in the United Kingdom.  In 2002 he was John Marshall Professor at the University of Debrecen, Hungary, awarded by the Hungarian Fulbright Commission.
Dr. Davidson served as professional staff member for a study of the House committee system in 1973-1974 (the Bolling Committee) and in 1976-1977 served in a similar capacity for a successful revision of the Senate's committee system (the Stevenson Committee).  He has been a consultant to the White House, national study commissions, and the Center for Civic Education.  He serves on the boards of several research organizations, including the Governance Institute, the American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, and Indiana University’s Center on Congress.  Dr. Davidson is author or coauthor of numerous books, monographs and articles dealing with politics and policy making.  Among his books are Congress and Its Members (11th ed., 2008), the leading textbook on the subject; Congress Against Itself (1977); The Role of the Congressman (1969); The Politics of Comprehensive Manpower Legislation (1972); and A More Perfect Union (4th ed., 1989).  Edited volumes include The U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag (1990); First Among Equals: Senate Leaders of the Twentieth Century (1991); The Postreform Congress (1992); Remaking Congress (1995); Masters of the House: Congressional Leaders over Two Centuries (1998); Understanding the Presidency (5th ed., 2008); and Workways of Governance (2003). 
His essays on U.S. Government and Congress have appeared in The World Book Encyclopedia and Microsoft Encarta. Co-editor of the four-volume Encyclopedia of the United States Congress, a multi-year project sponsored by the U.S. Constitution Bicentennial Commission and published in 1995 by Macmillan Library Reference. 
He is listed in Who’s Who in America and other reference volumes.  Dr. Davidson was named Visiting Distinguished Political Scientist at Santa Barbara City College for the 2005-2006 academic year. He serves on the Boards of the UCSB Affiliates and the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara, and is a docent for both the Architectural Foundation and the Santa Barbara Historical Society.
Chair: A/Prof David Tucker
Time & Location:14.30-16.30pm in Rm 519 (John Medley West)

3 April 2008: PhD Completion Seminar
Local Governance, Social Capital and Sustainability: A study of Committees of Management of Crown Land Reserves in Victoria
Arnaud Gallois
This study asks: "What impact do Committees of Management of Crown Land Reserves have on local governance, social capital, and sustainability in Victorian rural communities?" The research included 22 interviews and a survey of 494 Committee members. The Reserves are public spaces where local communities gather, participate in recreational pursuits, and manage a public resource collectively. The Committees are facilitators of civic engagement, collective decision-making and mutually-beneficial social interactions. They contribute in varying degrees to community empowerment, well-being and sustainability
Time & Location: 1.00-2.00pm in Rm 519 (John Medley West)

7 April, 2008: Symposium
The Future of the Multilateral Trade System
This symposium will reflect on the key challenges facing the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and discuss the findings and recommendations of the Warwick Commission report on the Future of the Multilateral Trade System, which can be downloaded from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/research/warwickcommission/.Among the issues that the symposium will explore are:

• how to address the growing opposition to multilateral trade liberalization in many industrialized countries;
• how to manage the shift from a trade regime dominated by the US and the EU to one that includes China, India and Brazil;
• how to make WTO negotiations and rule-making more efficient and more fair in an organization of 151 members with diverse needs and interests;
• how to ensure that the WTO works in the interests of all its members, including the poorest and weakest; and
• how to reconcile the proliferation of preferential trade agreements with the multilateral trade system.

Speakers will reflect on these challenges and on the recommendations of the Warwick Commission report that proposes constructive yet pragmatic ways to move the system of global trade governance forward, and tries to get beyond the problems that have plagued the Doha Development Round. The symposium will feature presentations from international trade experts drawn from a range of disciplines including economics, political science, law and philosophy.  Confirmed speakers include: 

• Dr Patrick Low World Trade Organisation
• Professor Peter LloydUniversity of Melbourne
• Professor Andrew Stoler University of Adelaide
• Professor Simon Evenett University of St Gallen, Switzerland
• Professor Richard Higgott Warwick University, UK
• Professor Cecilia Albin University of Uppsala, Sweden
• Professor Ann Capling University of Melbourne
• Dr Heribert Dieter German Institute for International and Security Affairs
• Dr Andrew Mitchell University of Melbourne
• Dr Tania Voon University of Melbourne
• Peter Gallagher Inquit Pty Ltd

Registration for this day-long event is $275 (inc GST). More information (including registration forms) is available for download from: http://www.public-policy.unimelb.edu.au/events/trade_symposium.html
Location: Melbourne Budinsess School.

Monday 7 April: Special seminar
Kate Green, Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, UK
The changing face of welfare and the impact on child poverty
There is considerable political interest in the UK, US, New Zealand and Australia in models of welfare reform. All seek to reduce "worklessness" as a means to reduce family poverty, and increasingly focus on those for whom barriers to the labour market are higher, imposing ever more onerous requirements for participation in return for benefits to bring this about. This seminar will examine questions such as, how have these countries approached the problem and learnt from each other - what are the similarities and differences, and what appears to have worked best? What has been the impact on child poverty? How have public attitudes to welfare support been affected and influenced?
Kate Green is Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, the leading charity campaigning for the eradication of child poverty in the UK. She is a trustee of the Campaign to End Child Poverty, and Vice Chair of the London Child Poverty Commission, and a longstanding advocate for the rights of families and children in the UK. She gave the Brotherhood of St Laurence Sambell Oration in Melbourne in December 2005.
Time & Location: 12:00noon to 1.00pm: in Father Tucker's Room, Brotherhood of St Laurence, 67 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
RSVP’s or to join the seminar mailing list, contact Kristine Philipp: kphilipp@bsl.org.au

Thursday 10 April: Seminar
Explaining Compliance with Global Financial Standards
The international financial community blamed the Asian crisis of 1997-1998 on deep failures of domestic financial governance. To avoid similar crises in the future, this community adopted and promoted a set of international “best practice” standards of financial governance. The G7 countries, led by the US and UK, asked specialized public and private sector bodies to set international standards, and tasked the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank with their global dissemination and adoption. Non-Western countries were strongly encouraged to emulate Western practices in banking and securities supervision, corporate governance, financial disclosure, and policy transparency. The results of this reform project have been decidedly mixed, with compliance outcomes varying widely across different international standards and across countries. This suggests that policymakers, international organizations, and many academics have often overestimated the ability of international institutions and market forces to promote compliance and real institutional convergence. Instead, I argue that domestic political economy factors best explain the variation of compliance outcomes and the very modest successes of the international standards project. Enduring aspects of Asian capitalism, including the substantial links between corporate and political power, and the family ownership of firms, made substantive compliance with international standards very costly for the private sector and hence politically difficult for governments to achieve.
Dr Andrew Walter: Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the London School of Economics, specializing in the political economy of international money and finance. He is also Academic Director of the TRIUM Global Executive MBA program, a joint degree partnership of the LSE, NYU Stern School of Business and HEC School of Management (Paris). His latest book is Governing Finance: East Asia’s Adoption of Global Standards (Cornell University Press, 2008). Another, Analyzing the Global Political Economy (with Gautam Sen), is forthcoming 2008/9 with Princeton University Press. His current research is on the US-China relationship in the global economy and on the interaction between financial market beliefs and economic policy.
Chair: Prof Robyn Eckersley
Time & Location: 1.00-2.00 pm in Room 519, John Medley Building West

17 April: BSL Lunchtime Seminar Series
The Parameters of Social Inclusion in Australia: On social exclusion, social justice, homelessness, family violence and sexual assault
Dr Zoë Morrison: Coordinator, Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, Australian Institute of Family Studies
This seminar will look at the way we conceptualize and define social inclusion in Australia. It will present a theoretical argument about the components of social exclusion and social injustice, arguing that social exclusion is not 'just economics'. It will discuss two 'hidden contributors' to social exclusion - family violence and sexual assault - and the role they play in the creation and experience of social exclusion. I will argue that while these issues are relevant to a whole range of aspects of social exclusion, including homelessness and mental ill-health, violence response and prevention is not yet part of the social inclusion agenda. The seminar will discuss the ways these issues should be framed and understood within a social inclusion policy agenda.
Time & Location: 12:00noon to 1.00pm: in Father Tucker's Room, Brotherhood of St Laurence, 67 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
RSVP or to join the seminar mailing list, contact Kristine Philipp: kphilipp@bsl.org.au Wednesday 9th April: SKT Workshop
Adapting to Knowledge Transfer Requirements
Lauren Rosewarne, Jo Barrraket, Stuart Ross and Philomena Murray
Time & Location: 1.00-2.00 pm in Room 519, John Medley Building West