Associate Professor Maree Meredith wins an inaugural scholarship, while other successes include Dr Jeffrey Gil writing on the rise and fall of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms, Dr Space Junk (aka Associate Professor Alice Gorman) adding her voice to a space anthology, a lifetime achievement award for a mental health expert and Flinders alumni named in the new Federal Cabinet.
Another opportunity for growth for Flinders researcher
Associate Professor Maree Meredith, Director of the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, has been awarded one of three inaugural Melbourne Business School Foundation Indigenous Leadership Scholarships. Associate Professor Meredith received the scholarship in person at a presentation ceremony on Sunday, which also marked the start of NAIDOC Week 2022.
Designed to empower First Nations business leaders, the scholarships will cover full tuition for recipients to take part in any of Melbourne Business School’s MBA programs.
As a researcher, Associate Professor Meredith undertook her PhD on the health promotion benefits of art centres in the remote APY communities of north-west South Australia.
In her scholarship application, Associate Professor Meredith said the challenges she faced along the way included “most of life’s major turning points”.
“Each challenge,” she wrote, “represented an opportunity for growth. I have taken that idea as a personal philosophy throughout my career. It has sustained me physically, mentally and spiritually.”
Associate Professor Meredith will join the Executive MBA program later this year.
Dr Space Junk adds her voice to space anthology
Associate Professor Alice Gorman, from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, has had her work included in a striking new volume – Outer Space: 100 Poems (edited by Midge Goldberg) – which will be published by Cambridge University Press in December 2022. The wide-ranging anthology includes writings from an international cast of poets, astronomers and scientists, from the 12th century BCE to today, to address the eternal celestial questions of: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going? Associate Professor Gorman – commonly known by her Twitter handle Dr Space Junk – features in the volume with her article on the first woman in space. More information about the coming book can be found here.
The rise and fall of Confucious Institutes
A new article from Dr Jeffrey Gil, from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, has examined the data on the recent closure of Confucius Institutes (CIs) and Confucius Classrooms (CCs) around the world, coming after a rapid rise in the number of institutions in the early 2000s. Published in the Melbourne Asia Review, The fall of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms? An analysis of closures and future directions maps out the scope and scale of closures, explains the reasons behind them, outlines China’s reaction to closures and finally speculates about the future of CIs and CCs.
Lifetime Achievement Award for mental health expert
Congratulations to Emeritus Professor Eimear Muir-Cochrane, who was recently awarded the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Lifetime Achievement Award for 2020. Emeritus Professor Muir-Cochrane was recognised with the award on 9 June 2022, after a lengthy delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Flinders alumni in new Federal Cabinet
This year’s Federal Election saw the Albanese Labor Government into power, and two Flinders University alumni have been announced as the newest members of Federal Cabinet. The Hon Amanda Rishworth MP (BPsych(Hons) ‘01) was appointed Minister for Social Services, while the Hon Emma McBride MP (GCertPubSecMgmt ‘15) was named Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. Flinders alumni also make an appearance in the Shadow Ministry, with the Hon Kevin Hogan MP (BEc ‘85) announced as Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism, and Tony Pasin MP (BEc/LLB ‘00) appointed Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.