April 2008 in RSSS
2008 Federation Fellowship
The ARC has released the results for the 2008 Federation Fellowship. Professor John Dryzek Political Science RSSS is amongst the winning researchers. Only 14 Fellowships were awarded (instead of the standard 25), two successful candidates came from the Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences assessment panel.
The Biographies of successful candidates in the 2008 round can be found here:
http://www.arc.gov.au/pdf/FedFellows_bios08.pdf
The College of Arts and Social Sciences submitted 4 applications in this round.
2020 Summit report
Andrew Leigh, Economics Program, RSSS attended the 2020 Summit. This extract is from an article published in the Australian Financial Review.
Some Nuggets in the Dross , Australian Financial Review, 22 April 2008
Was it the Bold and the Beautiful, or the Young and the Restless? Big Brother, or the New Inventors? By any measure, the weekend’s 2020 summit was an unusual event. Whether it was Philip Adams embracing Barry Jones, Hugh Jackman singing a duet with Ted Wilkes, or glimpses of Cate (‘I did but see her passing by’) Blanchett, there always seemed to be something to surprise. And by Sunday afternoon, even the more sceptical summiteers seemed happy to play Tenzing Norgay to Rudd’s Edmund Hillary.
From my own perspective, the greatest insights came from chatting with indigenous leader Tania Major about her experiences in improving educational outcomes for children in Cape York. The sessions themselves had policy wonks clashing with practitioners, sometimes producing light, sometimes heat. The group discussing labour market reform was, in the words of one participant, ‘simulating a failed state’'. Yet the final communiqué was surprisingly coherent, proposing a major tax review, a rethink of early childhood intervention, and a new federalism.
Some of the outcomes might have been predicted from the outset. The foreign affairs and defence stream proposed the creation of five institutes, a forum and an advisory council. The journalist-heavy governance stream proposed a reform of Freedom of Information laws. And the culture stream proposed as one of their ‘low-cost’ ideas that an additional 1% of the federal budget ($2.5 billion) be devoted to the arts.
But other ideas were not so predictable. In particular, three small ideas caught my fancy.
Link to full article
http://econrsss.anu.edu.au/~aleigh/opinion_fulltext3.htm#2020
ANU Poll
The ANU poll, spearheaded by Ian McAllister, and launched
at Parliament House last week is quarterly survey of Australian public opinion. The topic of each survey is an issue of national importance.
The ANU Poll differs from other opinion polls by placing public opinion in a broad policy context, and by benchmarking Australia against international opinion. By drawing on the wide range of academic public opinion polls conducted at ANU since the 1960s, the ANU Poll is also able to follow trends in opinions over many decades.
http://www.anu.edu.au/anupoll/
Women in Economics
With the recent appointment of Professor Meng Xin to the Economics Program of the Research School of Social Sciences, the program now has 3 female full professors out of a total of seven full professors. The percentage female, at 43%, is thus substantially higher than in any other economics department in the country. Indeed, some large economics departments - including in the Go8 universities - have no female professors. This is a particularly startling statistic when you consider that the proportion of PhD students who are female in the US and in Europe is around 30% and has been for some time (see CSWEP for the US and the Royal Economic Society biennial reports). As a benchmark comparison, the percentage female full professors in the top 10 PhD-granting departments in the US is 8%.
The high proportion female also applies to the adjunct professoriat in the Economics Program: 50% of our Adjunct Professors are women. They are Professor Patricia Apps (Sydney University) - a recent President of the European Society of Population Economics - and Professor Barbara Wolfe (Madison-Wisconsin), who was last week awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship.
There are also two other female full professors in other departments at the Australian National University - Professors Heather Anderson (School of Economics) and Jenny Corbett (Crawford School). Clearly the ANU is doing something right in being able to attract and retain high-achieving women in economics.
Economics & Democracy
Second Annual Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Conference
Call for panels, workshops and papers (pdf)
Hosted by the Research School of
Social Sciences, ANU, Canberra
8-10 December 2008
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Events
ANZSOG presents
ANU PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES 2008
DIFFERENT STROKES: A Perspective
on Leadership & Policy Management
in Business & Government
Dr Phil Burgess
Group Managing Director for Public Policy and Communications, Telstra
Wednesday 30 April 2008, 5.30–7pm
The Shine Dome, Gordon Street, Acton
This lecture is free and open to the public.
Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
RSVP and Enquiries E: h.taylor@anu.edu.au or T: 02 6125 2359
Seminar details pdf
RSSS Theme Workshop - May
Friday 9 May 2008
9:00 - 5:00
The Drawing Room, University House
Free - but numbers are limited
The Australian National Party: Re-thinking rurality in a post-agrarian society
The National Party is undertaking an internal review of its role and its position in Australian society and politics; the implications of current political, financial, demographic, and media trends; and future options for the Party, including an analysis of current and alternative strategies, roles and Party structures.
More details
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
The Australian Centre for Indigenous History, the Australian National University, wishes to invite
applications for the Inaugural Minoru Hokari Memorial Scholarship.
The $5,000 scholarship is intended to support historical fieldwork in any Australian Indigenous community. Postgraduate students and scholars recently awarded PhDs are invited to apply. Full information at http://histrsss.anu.edu.au
PLEASE NOTE: Closing Date for Applications is 1 May 2008
For further enquiries, please contact The Administrator
History Program
Research School of Social Sciences
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Australian National University
ACT 0200
Telephone 02 61252354.
RSSS Themes
Last Monday Seminar
Mon 30 June 2008
4-6pm, Seminar Room A, Coombs Bldg 9, ANU
Workshop on Housing Affordabilty
Brian Howe
(Public Policy, University of Melbourne)
Former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister for Health, Housing & Community Services
Stephen King
(ACC & Economics, University of Melbourne)
Author of Finishing the Job: Real-world Policy Solution sin Health, Housing, Education & Transport (with Joshua Gans)
Rob Tauntan
(NATSEM, University of Canberra)
Author of Wherever I lay my debt, that's my home, accessible at http://www.canberra.edu.au/centres/natsem/
All welcome, no booking required
Enquiries to:
Mary Hapel, tel. 6125 2257
or
Bob Goodin, tel. 6125 2156
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