Interview with Frederika Korain

Frederika Korain is an Indonesian who studied at the Australian National University in 2011-2013. She studied on an Australian Development Scholarship (ADS) and completed a Masters in Applied Anthropology. The interview was conducted in English on 27 July 2014 by Dr. Ahmad Suaedy of the Abdurrahman Wahid Centre for Inter-faith Dialogue and Peace at Universitas Indonesia. This set comprises: an interview recording, a timed summary, and a photograph.

Surrender to the market : thoughts on anthropology, the body shop, and intellectuals

The direction of anthropology over the last century is tied to the shifts from colonialism to postcolonialism and from modernism to postmodernism. These shifts have seen the thoroughgoing incorporation of the world population into the economic, political and juridical domain established through the last throes of colonialism and the transmutations of capitalism and the State. Anthropology, a discipline whose history shows close and regular links with colonial government, also transforms in association with the world it describes and partly creates. Two dominant trends in contemporary anthropology--applied consultancy and historicist self-reflexivity--are compared for the ways they represent the transmutation, which is characterised, following Fredric Jameson as 'the surrender to the market'. In this way it is asserted that just as the discipline had hitherto revealed its links to colonialism, it now reveals its links to globalisation through a form of commodified self-obsession. To illustrate this quality the paper considers the global chain of cosmetics stores, The Body Shop, as an example of 'late capitalism' and the moral juridical framework of globalisation. Finally, it treats these developments in anthropology as more generally affecting intellectuals and knowledge production through the promotion of intellectual 'silence'.

Digital ubiquity in the Anthropocene : the non-anthropocentric anthropology of Massimo Canevacci

The work of Massimo Canevacci is undoubtedly one of the most compelling examples of transdisciplinary thinking when applied to the interdisciplinary effort of expanding the boundaries of a discipline. His work engages with geography, art, technology, media, psychology, etc – a true kaleidoscope of perspectives. The synapses created by the transversal connections he makes across a multiplicity of epistemologies are catalytic. To follow the logical itinerary created by his scholarly inquiry is to be taken on a journey that leaves none of our pre-conceptions untouched.

Neutrosophic information fusion applied to the options market

In this paper we basically make two propositions - firstly a non-linear process that is primarily fuelled by mass cognitive dissonance could generate systematic deviations between the theoretical and market prices of long-term options, and secondly such deviations are best reconciled in terms of neutrosophic rather than ruled-based reasoning, especially in the context of the users of automated trading systems designed to generate trading signals based on analysis of information  from conflicting sources.

The relationship between national income and health : a new measure applied to Bangkok

The importance of good health of a population is crucial when determining social welfare. A new health-adjusted national income indicator that explores the relationships between economic growth, health and social welfare in Bangkok, Thailand from 1975 to 1999 is applied. This new approach to social welfare analysis is based on normative social choice theory, cost–benefit and systems analysis and is called (new)3 welfare economics. This paper argues that traditional measures of welfare, such as national income, fail to reflect accurately the impact of health on social welfare.

The reduction subset based on rough sets applied to texture classification

The rough set is a new mathematical approach to imprecision, vagueness and uncertainty. The concept of reduction of the decision table based on the rough sets is very useful for feature selection. The paper describes an application of rough sets method to feature selection and reduction in texture images recognition. The methods applied include continuous data discretization based on Fuzzy c-means and, and rough set method for feature selection and reduction. The trees extractions in the aerial images were applied. The experiments show that the methods presented in this paper are practical and effective.

Robust extended kalman filter applied to location tracking and trajectory prediction for PCS networks

Provisioning of real-time multimedia sessions over wireless cellular network poses unique challenges due to frequent handoff and rerouting of a connection. For this reason, the wireless networks with cellular architecture require efficient user mobility estimation and prediction. This paper proposes using robust extended Kalman filter (REKF) as a location heading altitude estimator of mobile user for next cell prediction in order to improve the connection reliability and bandwidth efficiency of the underlying system. Through analysis we demonstrate that our algorithm reduces the system complexity (compared to existing approach using pattern matching and Kalman filter) as it requires only two base station measurements or only the measurement from the closest base station. Further, the technique is robust against system uncertainties due to inherent deterministic nature in the mobility model and more effective in comparison with the standard Kalman filter.

Robust control applied to metal spraying for rapid tooling

The spray forming process is a novel method of rapidly manufacturing tools and dies for stamping and injection operations. The process sprays molten tool steel from a set of arc spray guns onto a ceramic former to build up a thick steel shell. The volumetric contraction that occurs as the steel cools is offset by a volumetric expansion taking place within the sprayed steel, which allows the dimensional accurate tools to be produced. To ensure that the required phase transformation takes place, the temperature of the steel is regulated during spraying. The sprayed metal acts both as a source of mass and a source of heat and by adjusting the rate at which metal is sprayed; the surface temperature profile over the surface of the steel can be controlled. The temperature profile is measured using a thermal imaging camera and regulated by adjusting the rate at which the guns spray the steel. Because the temperature is regulated by adjusting the feed rate to an actuator that is moving over the surface, this is an example of mobile control, which is a class of distributed parameter control. The dynamic system has been controlled using a PI controller before. The paper describes the application of H∞ tracking type controller as the desire was for the average temperature to follow a desired profile. A study on the controllability of the underlying system was aimed at.

A technology of study applied in marketing education and supported by self-determination theory

The aim of this study is to assess whether universities are meeting the needs of marketing students in their specific university function of providing knowledge and knowledge processes. This viewpoint is not meant to overlook the university role as a civilizing agent in a constant search for truth (McKenna 2001), but the focus for this study (based as it is in a Faculty of Business and Law) is toward graduates entering the corporate world. Therefore, graduates with suitable discipline knowledge and reasoning skills, in this context, must be able to meet the needs of the corporate marketing sector. Extending this backward to the role of the university, this study is by default seeking to establish if universities are meeting the needs of the corporate sector. A comparison is made between marketing classes using a specific technology of study called an autarchic system, and those classes not using this method. As part of this analysis the study investigates the application of self-determination theory and psychological needs satisfaction. The basic needs scale, comprising of two constructs; Control and Caring was adapted and used to evaluate students' perception of subjects using autarchic study system and those not utilising this methodology.

Re-engaging young people through applied learning pedagogy

The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) was developed as an innovative response to the changing context post-compulsory schooling in Australia. By combining ‘hands-on’ learning approaches with the traditions of adult learning, the VCAL seeks to cater for the learning temperaments and employment pathways of post-compulsory students who are less likely to remain at school to complete a more traditional Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). This paper draws on my doctoral research into the schooling experience of VCAL students to explore the irony in using adult and work-based learning principles that underpin applied learning pedagogy as a strategy to reengage students frequently considered by schools to be ‘at risk’. It argues that traditional contentdriven and transmissive approaches result in some students being defined ‘at risk’ because of their failure to accept as legitimate traditional school-based modes of learning. It is proposed that teachers in secondary schools require a deeper understanding of applied learning principles and teaching strategies in order to cater for the increasing numbers of applied learning students in the post-compulsory years of secondary schools. It is argued that such an understanding is also critical to avoid many of such students being incorrectly labelled ‘at risk’.

Exploring the challenge of applied learning reform

Post compulsory education in Australia has changed significantly since the early 1990s. For many young people in their later years of schooling, learning now involves a blending of experiences derived from education and training institutions once historically separated and defined by distinctly different approaches to pedagogy and assessment. It is also increasingly common for students to include formalised workbased learning arrangements in their learning program, adding further to the students’ experiences of learning and exposure to different learning contexts. Added to this new mosaic of learning experiences, increased participation rates in schooling have contributed to greater diversity in post compulsory students’ learning temperaments. This paper draws on five case studies to explore the new pedagogical challenges presented by these students’ exposure to different systems of learning and examines the emergence of applied learning in Victoria as a pedagogical response to these challenges. It proposes that effective pedagogical change aiming to address these challenges must overcome the tendency to be marginalised in schools and labelled as an alternative approach to learning. The paper concludes by exploring the possible future of applied learning emerging from the current context of pedagogical change.