Council member to chair prominent aged care association, Flinders experts cast fresh light on a cultural classic, grant win for midwifery student, Moon rights frame ethical space discussion, archaeologist appointed to museum board, and striking images in historic publication.

Council member to chair Helping Hand

SA Lieutenant Governor and Flinders University Council and Executive Council member Professor Brenda Wilson has been announced as the new board chair of aged care not-for-profit organisation Helping Hand, replacing retiring member Rosalie Pace.

“Aged care is going through a very challenging time but that’s a good opportunity for us because it means we’re doing everything possible to ensure we provide the highest-level care to the people we serve,” says Professor Wilson.

“It’s a great time to look at everything we’re doing, what we’re doing well and where we could be doing better.”

Professor Wilson began her career in nursing almost 40 years ago before moving into further study, clinical and managerial roles. The former Chief Executive of Cancer Council SA now serves on several boards and committees, including as SA Health Clinical Quality and Innovation Committee Chair, Women’s and Children’s Health Network Board Director and as a council member for the Adelaide Community Health Care Alliance.

Flinders experts cast fresh light on cultural classic

Associate Professor Julia Erhart and Professor Sarah Wendt were panellists at the sold-out event, ‘Liar, Liar, Rants of Fire: A History of Gaslighting’, hosted by the Artistic Director of State Theatre South Australia, Mitchell Butel and held at the University of South Australia last week. They participated on an interdisciplinary expert panel of four to re-interrogate the cultural work ‘Gaslight’ in the context of modern gender politics.

This production has been produced as both a play and an award-winning film (1944) and a new production opens at Her Majesty’s Theatre on the 4th of September. Watch the talk on YouTube.

Grant win for midwifery student

Flinders University midwifery student Gemma Brusnahan has been helped by one of the State Government’s Dame Roma Mitchell Grants provided for young people who are, or have been, in foster care.

The grant has enabled the 20-year-old to access specialist one-to-one mathematics tutoring and purchase a new computer that have helped her excel in class.

“I didn’t finish school and I had my babies young, so I never thought going to university was an option for me,” said Gemma, who is in her second year of the Bachelor of Midwifery.

More than 150 South Australians have shared in more than $105,000 from the first round of Dame Rome Mitchell grants this year, with round two grant applications now open. The grants are available to people aged under 30 with a state care experience, to help them achieve personal goals and contribute to their health and wellbeing.

Moon rights frame ethical discussion

Associate Professor Alice Gorman was part of a stellar line-up of experts exploring what it would mean for future lunar exploitation if the Moon was to be granted ‘legal personhood.’

Discussion revolved around what it would mean to the space industry if the Moon was a stakeholder in the decision-making process, including how nature could have a voice and implications for mining or inhabiting the Moon in a sustainable manner.

The panel, sponsored by Inspiring NSW, the Moon Village Association, and Catapult UK, was part of National Science Week. The video of the forum is available here: https://youtu.be/8SB_ZwVgGOs

Associate Professor Gorman has also secured a weekly position on ABC radio with Jules Schiller every Monday, around 4:20pm.

Archaeologist appointed to museum board

Congratulations to Dr Chris Wilson, who has been appointed to the Aboriginal Advisory Committee for the South Australian Museum.

Striking images in historic release

SA publisher Wakefield Press is set to re-release Professor Philip Payton’s enduring book Pictorial History of Australia’s Little Cornwall.

First published by Rigby in 1978, this handsome book contains a trove of photographs since the 1860s that detail the long-ago mines, miners, their families and buildings of Yorke Peninsula’s copper triangle, including the towns of Moonta, Kadina and Wallaroo.

Striking images include a group portrait of miners outside a mine shaft, with distinctive tallow candles atop the workers’ pressed-felt hats. Professor Payton describes this as being “typically Cornish”, while a more curious local adaptation by the miners was their use of goats to cart huge loads of wood about the district.