'Creative destruction': knowledge economy policy and the future of arts and humanities in the academy

Policy conceptualizations of the global knowledge economy have led to the channelling of much Higher Education and Research and Development funding into the priority areas of science and technology. Among other things, this diversion of funding calls into question the future of traditional humanities and creative arts faculties. How these faculties, and the disciplines within them, might reconfigure themselves for the knowledge economy is, therefore, a question of great importance, although one that as yet has not been adequately answered. This paper explores some of the reasons for this by looking at how innovation in the knowledge economy is typically theorized. It takes one policy trajectory informing Australia's key innovation statement as an example. It argues that, insofar as the formation of this knowledge economy policy has been informed by a techno-economic paradigm, it works to preclude many humanities and creative arts disciplines. This paper, therefore, looks at how an alternative theorization of the knowledge economy might offer a more robust framework from within which to develop humanities and creative arts Higher Education and Research policy in the knowledge economy, both in Australia and internationally.
1 This article draws on the Australian Research Council project, Knowledge/economy/society: a sociological study of an education policy discourse in Australia in globalising circumstances, being conducted by Jane Kenway, Elizabeth Bullen and Simon Robb. This 3-year project looks at how understandings of the knowledge economy and knowledge society inform current education policy and, in turn, how this policy translates into educational practice. The methodology includes policy analysis, interviews with policy makers in government, and supranational organizations. It also includes cameo studies of innovative educational practice, two of which we draw on here.

The branding of arts and culture : an international comparison

This paper explores the approach of arts and cultural organisations towards branding in Italy and Australia. Data were collected through extended interviews with general managers and marketing managers of 18 arts and cultural organisations, including museums, galleries, theatres and festivals of both countries. Through the analysis of the data collected, five initial elements emerged when seeking to classify the branding paradigms of the organisations, viz., the orientation of the brand management, the type of brand management, the level of customers’ involvement in the brand “idea”, the degree of consistency in branding and attitudes toward risk in branding. For this article, we focus on two particular elements, the orientation of the brand management and the degree of consistency in branding, as these elements have an important influence on how an arts organisation will strategically manage its brand.

On the basis of the assumption that branding is driven by different factors in different countries, the paper identifies two main paradigms/models of branding characterised by specific drivers: marketing tools and strategies in Australian arts and cultural organisations; history and tradition of the cultural product/offer in the Italian ones. What emerges in this study is that the importance of brands in the arts and culture context should not be underrated by arts and cultural managers. Both models (the Italian and the Australian) represent valid examples for managers to look at in relation to the brand management process.

Phylogenetic relationships of the globally distributed freshwater prawn genus Macrobrachium (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palaemonidae): biogeography, taxonomy, and the convergent evolution of abbreviated larval development

There has hitherto been little research into evolutionary and taxonomic relationships amongst species of the freshwater prawn genus Macrobrachium Bate across its global distribution. Previous work by the authors demonstrated that the endemic Australian species did not evolve from a single ancestral lineage. To examine whether other regional Macrobrachium faunas also reflect this pattern of multiple origins, the phylogeny of 30 Macrobrachium species from Asia, Central/South America and Australia was inferred from mitochondrial 16S rRNA sequences. Phylogenetic relationships demonstrate that, despite some evidence for regional diversification, Australia, Asia and South America clearly contain Macrobrachium species that do not share a common ancestry, suggesting that large-scale dispersal has been a major feature of the evolutionary history of the genus. The evolution of abbreviated larval development (ALD), associated with the transition from an estuarine into a purely freshwater lifecycle, was also mapped onto the phylogeny and was shown to be a relatively homoplasious trait and not taxonomically informative. Other taxonomic issues, as well as the evolutionary origins of Macrobrachium, are also discussed.

Profile of a fully online unit in an Australian arts and education faculty

Australia's leading distance education provider, Deakin University, has a policy to ensure all graduates in most courses must successfully complete at least one wholly online unit. Historically, all distance education at Deakin University has been undertaken solely in print. Off-campus students normally receive a Set Text, a series of additional photocopied readings and a Study Guide providing assistance on how to navigate through each weekly topic. Some fully online units currently offered by the University replicate this approach, ever though a distinct pedagogy is needed to ensure wholly online units truly enhance student learning.

This paper outlines the approach we adopted in developing AIX 391 - Work Transitions in the 2Ist Century, a wholly online unit designed to improve the capacity of Arts and Education students to identify viable career paths after they have graduated, The paper outlines the unit's rationale and development over a two-year period in adopting a student-centred approach to enhance teaming outcomes, while exposing students to new and often challenging online technologies. The paper also highlights results from the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Learning surveys, which ranked the unit in the top 5% of all Arts and Education faculty units offered in Semester 2, 2008.

Pubertal stage and the prevalence of violence and social/relational aggression

OBJECTIVE We examined associations between pubertal stage and violent adolescent behavior and social/relational aggression.

METHODS The International Youth Development Study comprises statewide representative student samples in grades 5, 7, and 9 (N = 5769) in Washington State and Victoria, Australia, drawn as a 2-stage cluster sample in each state. We used a school-administered, self-report student survey to measure previous-year violent behavior (ie, attacking or beating up another person) and social/relational aggression (excluding peers from the group, threatening to spread lies or rumors), as well as risk and protective factors and pubertal development. Cross-sectional data were analyzed.

RESULTS Compared with early puberty, the odds of violent behavior were approximately threefold higher in midpuberty (odds ratio [OR]: 2.87 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.81–4.55]) and late puberty (OR: 3.79 [95% CI: 2.25–6.39]) after adjustment for demographic factors. For social/relational aggression, there were weaker overall associations after adjustment, but these associations included an interaction between pubertal stage and age, and stronger associations with pubertal stage at younger age were shown (P = .003; midpuberty OR: 1.78 [95% CI: 1.20–2.63]; late puberty OR: 3.00 [95% CI: 1.95–4.63]). Associations between pubertal stage and violent behavior and social/relational aggression remained after the inclusion of social contextual mediators in the analyses.

CONCLUSIONS Pubertal stage was associated with higher rates of violent behavior and social/relational aggression, with the latter association seen only at younger ages. Puberty is an important phase at which to implement prevention programs to reduce adolescent violent and antisocial behaviors.

Mobility of people with retinitis pigmentosa as a function of vision and psychological variables

We investigated the mobility performance of subjects with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) as a function of clinical measures of residual vision and psychological variables. We found a highly significant correlation between clinical measures of residual vision and mobility. Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity and residual visual field together explained 64% of the variance in mobility performance in an indoor shopping mall. We suggest a simple new clinical method of scoring the visual field for predicting mobility performance, the RP Concentric Field Rating. The RP Concentric Field Rating alone explained 60% of the variance in mobility performance. In spite of expectations derived from reading the recent literature, we did not find a significant correlation between psychological variables and mobility performance in a group of subjects with RP.

Pubertal stage and deliberate self-harm in adolescents

Objective: To ascertain the association between pubertal stage and deliberate self-harm.

Method: Cross-sectional survey of 12- to 15-year-olds in 300 secondary schools in the U.S. state of Washington in February-April 2002 and the Australian state of Victoria in June-August 2002. A total of 3,332 students in grades 7 and 9 provided complete data on episodes of deliberate self-harm in the previous 12 months and pubertal stage. Pubertal stage was assessed with the Pubertal Development Scale.

Results: The prevalence of deliberate self-harm was 3.7% with a more than twofold higher rate in females. Late puberty was associated with a more than fourfold higher rate of self-harm (odds ratio 4.6, 95% confidence interval 1.5-14) after adjustment for age and school grade level. In contrast age had a protective association (odds ratio 0.7, confidence interval 0.4-1.0). The sharpest rises in prevalence across puberty were for self-laceration and self-poisoning in females. Higher rates of depressive symptoms, frequent alcohol use, and initiation of sexual activity largely accounted for the association between self-harm and pubertal stage in multivariate models.

Conclusions: Puberty is associated with changes in the form and frequency of self-harm. For adolescents with a gap between puberty and brain development, risk factors such as early sexual activity and substance abuse may be particularly potent.

Preliminary results of the application of a silk fibroin scaffold to otology

The surgical treatment to repair chronic tympanic membrane perforations is myringoplasty. Although multiple autologous grafts, allografts, and synthetic graft materials have been used over the years, no single graft material is superior for repairing all perforation types. Recently, the remarkable properties of silk fibroin protein have been studied, with biomedical and tissue engineering applications in mind, across a number of medical and surgical disciplines. The present study examines the use of silk fibroin for its potential suitability as an alternative graft in myringoplasty surgery by investigating the growth and proliferation of human tympanic membrane keratinocytes on a silk fibroin scaffold in vitro. Light microscopy, immunofluorescent staining, and confocal imaging all reveal promising preliminary results. The biocompatibility, transparency, stability, high tensile strength, and biodegradability of fibroin make this biomaterial an attractive option to study for this utility.

The experience of Singapore in raising awareness of natural and cultural resources

The city-state of Singapore has a major role in the urban development. Majority of the innovative projects are initiated by the government agencies. For this paper, I would like to highlight the two distinct themes of innovation that, I believe preoccupied the authority for its urban issues, they are innovation which concern nature and culture. Land in Singapore is scarce. Natural resources are strictly protected. At the same time they are challenged to return the maximum benefit to their own population. The water catchment area and the prime forest on the whole island is the most valuable natural resources to be preserved. The paper will demonstrate how Singapore challenges with its own resources (water and greenery) in which the holistic planning around these themes become more than just spaces of protection but integrated with the public space system and turned into more valuable spaces for the well being of its population. The second theme is the issue related to culture. Singapore's economy is the most advance compare to other Southeast Asian countries, however when it comes to culture and identity, the city state struggles with the over constructed image of branding Singapore's culture. The paper will discuss several examples around the theme of arts and culture, how the city state bench-mark itself with the world class cities. It is one of the most challenging topic in urban planning and policy making. It is worth discussing on its success and failure. We can learn form Singapore that innovation at the level of policy maker can be achieved in some urban aspects such as the management of natural resources and urban design projects related to it. However when it comes to the issue related to art and culture, the top down policy alone cannot assure the achievement of city's identity as it aspired. Tracing the historical development of the environmental and cultural policies of Singapore the paper intends to study and analyze various case studies reflecting these attempts of natural and cultural instillation. In the process of comparison of these two drastically contrasting actors and approaches, the paper will argue that it has mostly been driven by economic aims, and careful thought. The results have been limited and restrictive. Further arguing that 'creativity' is the essential factor of arts and culture, it evaluates the authenticity and the ultimate implications on cultural spirit.