Flinders people are inspiring others to record their family history, define creative writing and put shark ecology in the spotlight, while a law graduate prepares to lead local law society and a palliative care graduate lands a major US corporate role.
Inspiring others to embrace history
The Make History at Home initiative is being co-produced and presented by Sandra Kearney (secretary of the History Council of South Australia, and working towards a PhD in history at Flinders University) and Dr Susan Marsden, South Australia’s first State Historian who has written more than 40 books and shared her love of history on TV, radio and the internet, as well as producing oral histories for the National Library.
The project comprises a series of YouTube videos, offering guidance and inspiration for people to record their family history by preserving and sharing photographs and other family keepsakes. The videos are also supported by posts on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #mszfMakeHistoryAtHome.
Working in the role of Historian Intern, made possible by The Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation, Ms Kearney is collaborating with people in the community, speaking with other historians and meeting with organisations such as the National Trust and the History Trust.
Dr Marsden says the idea for the YouTube videos was conceived during South Australia’s COVID-19 lockdown when many people were housebound and had extra time on their hands.
“You don’t have to do the full-blown family history,” she says. “You can just take one object that you love and write about it. Probably the first priority is just get your head around what you’ve got and even just putting it into decent storage boxes.”
Dr Marsden suggests working with an older family member who may hold most of the information in their memory. “Do it together. We all want to feel that what we’ve valued in our lives, our children will too,” she says.
US success for nursing and palliative care graduate
Maite Uribe, a Flinders graduate and former SA Health Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner, is the new Vice President of Palliative Education for Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care, one of the United States’ leading end-of-life care providers.
As Vice President of Palliative Education, Ms Uribe will oversee the development, implementation and support of palliative care and hospice educational programs across 11 Crossroads locations in seven US states.
“We are fortunate to have Maite join Crossroads,” said Dr Timothy Ihrig, Crossroads’ Chief Medical Officer. “Her wealth of experience, coupled with the highest level of clinical acumen is invaluable in supporting Crossroads’ mission.”
During her time at SA Health, Ms Uribe expanded the health network’s palliative care capabilities with hospital-wide educational workshops and helped develop the network’s Last Days of Life Pathway, a systematic framework for clinicians to improve the end-of-life care experience for patients and their loved ones.
Ms Uribe is also a member of the boards of the Laurel Hospice Foundation and Australasia Palliative Link International, and serves as an Executive Clinical Advisor to the General Practitioner Shared Care Program of South Australia.
Graduate leads Law Society
Alumna Rebecca Sandford of HWL Ebsworth has been elected President of the Law Society of SA for 2021. She is presently the Vice-President of the Society and chairs its Legal Technology Committee.
Ms Sandford graduated from Flinders University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours). She has built an impressive career in a relatively short time and shares her skills on a number of advisory boards and committees.
She was included in the 12th Edition of Best Lawyers Australia for Litigation, was a finalist for the Law Society of South Australia’s Gray Young Lawyer of the Year Award in 2016 and 2017, and was nominated for the Australian Young Lawyer of the Year Award in 2017.
Defining the craft of creative writing
Professor Jeri Kroll has co-edited a new book focused on both the theory and practice of Creative Writing, published by Macmillan International Higher Education (Red Globe Press). Within the book – Creative Writing: Drafting, Revising and Editing – Professor Kroll has also written one chapter and co-wrote two others.
The book has earned high praise by international creative writing experts. Timothy Mayers, author of (Re)Writing Craft: Composition, Creative Writing, and the Future of English Studies, from Millersville University, USA, says: “This book brings together both practical and theoretical perspectives on drafting, revising and editing in creative writing: it should be widely read by teachers, writers, and students – and people who play all of those roles.”
Michael Theune, from Illinois Wesleyan University, USA, applauded the book for “honouring the multifaceted nature of creative writing by investigating its constituent parts in a variety of subfields. The result is a book that is as dynamic and demanding, as provocative and pragmatic, as the acts, the arts, it describes.” Creative Writing: Drafting, Revising and Editing is available in paperback and e-book.
Podcast enquires about shark ecology
Associate Professor Charlie Huveneers recently did a podcast about the Southern Shark Ecology Group research. The program – Self Torque with Lucky Roland – is available via Apple Podcasts.