Between 1500 and 1866, slave traders forced 12.5 million Africans aboard transatlantic slave vessels. Before 1820, four enslaved Africans crossed the Atlantic for every European, making Africa the demographic wellspring for the repopulation of the Americas after Columbus’ voyages. More...22 avril 2019
Are Australian universities “seldom excellent”? The experts respond
Australia’s universities, like its wine, are decent and dependable, but seldom excellent. More...
International students impaled on (illusory) population spike
If you’re in politics, population matters. Rival studies on what constitutes a sustainable Australian population project wildly different statistics. But behind the figures are real people whose lives are affected. Some of the most vulnerable victims are international students. More...
A digital archive of slave voyages details the largest forced migration in history
Between 1500 and 1866, slave traders forced 12.5 million Africans aboard transatlantic slave vessels. Before 1820, four enslaved Africans crossed the Atlantic for every European, making Africa the demographic wellspring for the repopulation of the Americas after Columbus’ voyages. More...Classical music training and abuse cultures – we need to act now
News that the Victorian auditor-general will investigate allegations of an endemic cultural of sexual harassment in that state’s hospital system is to be welcomed. Recent comments by a (female) senior surgeon that women were better off to comply with inappropriate requests than report them suggests that there is a serious and embedded culture of complacency and cover-up within the senior ranks of the medical profession. More...Why the Rosetta mission is this generation’s moon landing
The thing everyone seems to talk about with the moon landings is the idea of the whole world stopping to watch. It was a mission that overcame nationalism, it wasn’t “America” putting a man on the moon, it was “Us” – humankind. With Rosetta, the whole world not only watched but they were part of a real-time conversation with mission control. More...Without a humanistic inquiry, we will lose our creativity
In the 1930s Harry Hopkins, the head of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), oversaw the Federal Art Project (FAP), one of the New Deal cultural programs. More...21 avril 2019
Why the Renaissance man – and woman – is making a comeback
As anyone who has visited the London Science Museum’s current exhibition will know, Leonardo da Vinci is famed as an artist, mathematician, inventor, writer … the list goes on. He was a figure who did not see disciplines as a chequerboard of independent black and white tiles, but a vibrant palette of colour ready to be combined harmoniously and gracefully. More...This little-known pioneering educator put coding in the classroom
A man who was arguably the most influential educator of the last 50 years – though he was not widely known to the American public – died on July 31. A respected mathematician and early pioneer of artificial intelligence, Seymour Papert was 88. His career presaged much of today’s focus on education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and helped shape the classroom of today and of the future. More...Interview: Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder and inventor of the home computer
If you haven’t heard of Steve Wozniak, it is because he has been overshadowed by his fellow co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs. This is despite the fact that he was the sole person behind the invention and building of the Apple 1, the first home computer that used a keyboard and normal TV screen as a display. More...Seven academic books that helped to shape modern Britain
To celebrate the diversity, innovation and influence of academic books over the course of modern history, seven specialists share the book they believe has been most influential on modern British culture and society, as part of Academic Book Week. More...
