Dancing with inter-disciplinarity: strategies and practices in higher education dance drama and music

The rise of inter-disciplinarity has not occurred without debate and controversy. Often responding to government agendas, it is not uncommon for university research strategies to include inter-disciplinarity by default, by supporting multidisciplinary collaborations across the institution, nationally and internationally – industry and business being a particular focus. Beginning from the premise that Inter-disciplinary is where students/staff from more than one discipline learn with, from and about one another through a common activity, usually in the context of practice, this report documents the findings of a recent research project aimed to document ways in which inter-disciplinary approaches were active in universities, how they were resourced, what made them effective, and in what ways they are limited.

Education about diverse religions and worldviews, social inclusion and countering extremism: lessons for the Australian curriculum

Since the turn of the twenty-first century, the so-called ‘religion in schools debate’ has generated a significant amount of controversy in Australia and arguably impeded progress in both research and education about diverse religions and non-religious worldviews (ERW). This article focuses on the recently released Review of the Australian Curriculum – Final Report and examines why there has been such strong resistance to learning from international best practices in implementing ERW programmes in Australia. It presents an analysis of the Review’s findings, in light of these advances, notably the recently released Signposts: Policy and Practice for Teaching about Religions and Non-religious Worldviews in Intercultural Education document published by the Council of Europe. Finally, this article argues that for the Australian Curriculum to be genuinely ‘world class’, and for it to promote an appreciation of religious diversity, it needs to include ERW as a separate subject or across the national Curriculum, drawing on Australian and international research and policies in this field to develop curricula and resources that are appropriate for the Australian context.

Australia-Malaysia security cooperation as a pivotal component for more stable bilateral relations

In the 1980s and 1990s, Australian-Malaysian relations reached a critical juncture due to a series of crises, such as the 1986 capital punishment of convicted drug smugglers Barlow and Chambers, and the 1993 "recalcitrant" jibe by Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating. Following the election of the Howard government in 1996, relations continued to be on a roller coaster with the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad leading anti-Australia protests over the "Howard Doctrine," the Australian leadership of the 1999 intervention in East Timor, and the "Deputy Sheriff" controversy. Despite this, defense relations between the two remained strong. The success of this cooperation rests on shared political commitment to the security of the region. This article examines the impact that positive cooperation in "high politics" has had in mitigating the negative aspects of crises in "low politics." It argues that close bilateral defense relations have worked to prevent the emergence of further critical junctures in 2012 following the collapse of the Australian-Malaysian refugee swap deal and statements by Australian politicians about Malaysia's poor treatment of asylum seekers, and in 2013 over the overt support by many Australian politicians of the opposition, especially Anwar Ibrahim, during the Malaysian general elections.

Freud and critical theory

Freudian psychoanalysis is at once an integral part of modern culture and a regular source of controversy. This chapter outlines Freud’s theory and then looks at the contribution of Freudian psychoanalysis to cultural commentary, social theory and feminist critique.

Vitamin C and E supplementation prevents some of the cellular adaptations to endurance-training in humans

BACKGROUND: It is clear that reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced during skeletal muscle contraction have a regulatory role in skeletal muscle adaptation to endurance exercise. However, there is much controversy in the literature regarding whether attenuation of ROS by antioxidant supplementation can prevent these cellular adaptations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether vitamin C and E supplementation attenuates performance and cellular adaptations following acute endurance exercise and endurance training. METHODS: A double-blinded, placebo-controlled randomized control trial was conducted in eleven healthy young males. Participants were matched for peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) and randomly allocated to placebo or antioxidant (vitamin C (2×500mg/day) and E (400IU/day)) groups. Following a four-week supplement loading period, participants completed acute exercise (10×4min cycling at 90% VO2peak, 2min active recovery). Vastus lateralis muscle samples were collected pre-, immediately-post- and 3h-post-exercise. Participants then completed four weeks of training (3 days/week) using the aforementioned exercise protocol while continuing supplementation. Following exercise training, participants again completed an acute exercise bout with muscle biopsies. RESULTS: Acute exercise tended to increase skeletal muscle oxidative stress as measured by oxidized glutathione (GSSG) (P=0.058) and F2-isoprostanes (P=0.056), with no significant effect of supplementation. Acute exercise significantly increased mRNA levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1α (PGC-1α), mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) and PGC related coactivator (PRC), with no effect of supplementation. Following endurance training, supplementation did not prevent significantly increased VO2peak, skeletal muscle levels of citrate synthase activity or mRNA or protein abundance of cytochrome oxidase subunit 4 (COX IV) (P<0.05). However, following training, vitamin C and E supplementation significantly attenuated increased skeletal muscle superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and protein abundance of SOD2 and TFAM. CONCLUSION: Following acute exercise, supplementation with vitamin C and E did not attenuate skeletal muscle oxidative stress or increased gene expression of mitochondrial biogenesis markers. However, supplementation attenuated some (SOD, TFAM) of the increased skeletal muscle adaptations following training in healthy young men.

The intoxication defence: toward a better understanding of current doctrine and reform

This article deals with the contentious issue of the extent to which an intoxicated person, particularly one who has become inebriated of his or her own volition, should be permitted to escape liability on the basis that the degree of inebriation was sufficient to preclude the fact-finder from finding a volitional act or omission on the part of the accused and/or that he or she acted with the required mens rea, if any, as defined by the common law or statutory definition of the offence. In addressing this issue, the article embarks upon a thorough analysis of the House of Lords seminal decision in Director of Public Prosecutions v Majewski (1977) AC 443 which, despite some very harsh criticism of late, continues to be the leading authority on the question in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia. As part of this analysis, the article examines and ultimately attempts to resolve the longstanding controversy over what has proved to be the elusive distinction between crimes of basic or general intent and those of specific intent. The article concludes by rejecting the Majewski principles in favour of those enunciated by the High Court of Australia in R v O'Connor (1980) 146 CLR 64; 54 ALJR. In reaching this conclusion, the article notes various legislative and academic proposals for reform as well as statutory reforms in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Australia.