9-15 September 2024

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Making a Difference: How Does Social Change Happen?

Recorded session

Academy of Social Sciences in Australia

Recorded session - available on demand Policymakers confront growing challenges in areas as diverse—and often interrelated—as climate change, social inequality, artificial intelligence, work, migration, declining biodiversity, and new threats to public health. Responses require changes or modifications to deeply entrenched social and economic structures. Consequently, reform attempts often generate conflict and resistance from those with a real or perceived interest in those structures. How can such conflict be managed to deliver urgently needed reforms? This question is central to social scientists, whose work is vital to both the implementation of effective policy, and to understanding the societal implications of policy choices. A panel of six leading social scientists analysed foundations and strategies of policy change in their areas of expertise—including some of the biggest, most difficult and pressing global and national challenges. This panel highlighted the breadth, diversity, and interrelationships within and between, social scientific and other disciplines, and their central importance to addressing these challenges. Each panellist addressed three thematic questions: What is the central conflict or problem inherent to their research topic? How can this be managed or overcome? What skills or insights enable social science to make a difference to public policy—and debate thereof—in their research field? […]

Harmful care, careful harm: relational entanglements in migration

Virtual , Australia

University of Sydney

Hosted by the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, this timely event will bring together experts from the diverse corners of the field of migration studies to consider the complex and dynamic relationship between care and harm in international migration. Scholars of migration have documented the multivarious forms of harm that arise from the systems, institutions and interactions surrounding the movements of people across borders. Researchers have also explored the many forms of local and transnational care that are created by, or persist despite, international migration. In this event, we explore the ways care and harm are interwoven, interdependent and mutually constitutive in diverse migration contexts. Relationships of care (for example, between migrants or between migrants and ‘allies’ in civil society) may arise in response or resistance to the harms imposed by exploitative policies and practices. Equally, policies and practices that appear to be ‘caring’ may reproduce, obscure or naturalise harm, at times perpetuating the very inequalities and injustices they purport to address. Grounded in diverse settings including immigration detention, aged care, temporary labour migration schemes, the family home, and media platforms, the speakers will present brief talks drawing on their specialist research. The speakers will then come together for a panel discussion of harmful care, careful harm, and the […]

Free

Doctors with a difference? Social science insights on widening participation in medicine: Australian, Canadian and UK perspectives

Virtual , Australia

University of Newcastle

Medical schools have historically been prestigious and exclusive institutions, filled with students who come from much wealthier families than average. Elaborate and competitive selection processes and the costs involved in applying to medicine are barriers to students from low-income backgrounds, as well as the perception that medicine is out of reach. For over two decades, widening participation initiatives have focused on encouraging underrepresented groups to apply to medical school, including low-income and ‘first-in-family’ students whose parents are not university-educated, based on the assumption that a more diverse medical profession will lead to better care and health outcomes for patients. The success of these initiatives has largely been measured by statistics showing increased application and admission rates of low-income/first-in-family students. Much less attention has been paid to the experience of these students once they enter medical school, and even less is known about their experiences, aspirations and trajectories as doctors. Are there residual forms of inequity that persist within medical schools, and beyond? How do low-income/first-in-family students see themselves relating to the medical profession and to patients? This webinar presents findings from three countries on the experiences of medical students and doctors who are the first in their family to attend […]

An introduction to Computational Social Science

Virtual , Australia

University of Melbourne

Computational social science (CSS) frequently uses Agent-based models (ABMs) to model social phenomena. ABMs are ‘bottom-up’ representations of individuals (computational agents) who exist within a society of other agents and who interact on a local scale based on sets of rules that govern their behaviour. When used like this, ABMs are attempts to create ‘Artificial Societies’ that we can study. The advantage of creating artificial societies is that imagined policies or interventions can then be made within these representations and the outcomes of those policies can be observed prior to implementation in the real world. The models can be anywhere between instructive or predictive, with the sophistication and detail of models often geared toward their purpose in this regard. In general, the most interesting models are those that try to replicate the generation of a large-scale social phenomenon when the mechanisms that create that phenomenon are currently unknown or contested (e.g., crowd behaviour, social behaviour, health behaviour, political behaviour, etc.). This session will introduce the audience to example agent-based models used in Computational Social Science and show how they can be used to augment existing research agendas, test theory, and trial simulated policies. We'll provide some very brief introductory 'how […]

Free

Wilderness Therapy and the Dissociative Mechanism of Change: Protecting Youth from Systemic Harm

Virtual , Australia

Charles Sturt University

This presentation explores the use of cognitive or adaptive dissonance and involuntary treatment foin Wilderness and adventure therapy (WT, AT) for youth. Past WT participants have protested that involuntary, inescapable and harsh conditions harmed them through PTSD and dissociation. In this presentation, we compare dissonance and dissociation using a critical realist and argumentative research process using publicly available data. We argue that dissociation is a response, recorded both in the design of some WT practices and in participant statements and is often mistaken for dissonance. Deliberate use of forced cognitive dissonance during involuntary treatments align with the conditions that may cause dissociation. Therefore, planning to enforce cognitive dissonance during coercive WT or AT is likely to be harmful and, knowing of this potential, may be regarded as malpractice.

Free
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Gender equality and women’s empowerment

Virtual , Australia

RMIT

This event brings together academics from across a range of disciplines to engage in meaningful discussions and collaborative efforts towards a more just and secure society for women. Join RMIT academic experts as they share knowledge, best practices, and innovative solutions to help promote and protect the rights and wellbeing of women: Dr Leila Afshari (Management) Associate Professor Brianna Chesser (Criminology and Justice) Dr Bronwyn Coate (Economics) Dr Rojan Afrouz (Social Work) Moderated by Professor Lisa French. Tuesday 10 September Time: 10.30-11.30am Online via Teams

Enhancing Metadata for Inclusive Research on Entrenched Disadvantage

Virtual , Australia

ARDC

Join us during Social Science Week for a webinar on some exciting new developments from the ARDC. Learn about the ARDC’s HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons and the collaborative project: Enhancing Metadata for Inclusive Research on Entrenched Disadvantage, and improvements to metadata for an important dataset for social science researchers. Learn about developments in integrated administrative social science data (IASSD); of the Higher Education (HE) administrative data within the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA) (formerly known as Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP) data) with a view to increasing the ongoing utility of this data for researchers and analysts. The project was led by researchers at the Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR) at the University of Queensland, in collaboration with the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the Australian Department of Education, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families Over the Life Course (Life Course Centre). Speakers * Professor Wojtek Tomaszewski, Deputy Director (Research) and a Research Group Leader at the Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland * Dr Matthew Curry, Research Fellow, Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland * Jenny Fewster, Director, HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons, ARDC Who Should Attend? * social […]

Free

How organisations thrive in a fast-changing global society: Challenges and opportunities

Virtual , Australia

RMIT

In an era marked by rapid technological advancements, evolving market dynamics, and unprecedented global interconnectedness, organisations are constantly navigating a landscape of both challenges and opportunities. This event will delve into the strategies and insights that enable organisations to not only survive but thrive in such a fast-changing global society. Join the following innovative academic thinkers as they explore the key factors that contribute to organisational success amidst volatility and complexity. Professor David Fan (Human Resource Management) Dr My Nguyen (Finance) Dr Marian Makkar (Marketing) Dr. June Tran (Management) Through an expert-led panel discussion, attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of embracing cultural diversity, sustainability and corporate responsibility and global market trends and opportunities. This event is a must-attend for executives, managers, and professionals who are keen on equipping their organisations with the tools and knowledge needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Attendees will leave with actionable insights and practical strategies to drive their organisations forward, ensuring they remain competitive and resilient in the face of ongoing global challenges. Join us as we explore the multifaceted ways in which organisations can achieve lasting success in a fast-changing global society. Tuesday 10 September 2024 Time: 2-3pm Online via Teams

Engaging Young Children in Nature-Play

Virtual , Australia

Charles Sturt University

This presentation provides a synthesises of the research evidence relating to young children's engagement in nature play. The presentation will cover what nature play is factors, impacting the likelihood of young children engaging in nature play, and ways to support parents to involve young children in nature play.

Free

A Skilled (Open) Hand and a Cultivated (Open) Mind: Goals, Policies and Case Study of Open Scholarship at RMIT University

Virtual , Australia

RMIT

RMIT University has worked to support Open Scholarship over several years. It now has a suite of resources and policies to support its goal to encourage and concretely support the development of Open Education Resources by RMIT staff. This online session outlines what Open Scholarship and Open Education Resources are, and their benefits, and introduces the ways in which RMIT now enables its educators to develop and publish open-access materials. This session explores a case study of open scholarship, an edited volume titled A Skilled Hand and a Cultivated Mind: A Culture of Learning and Teaching at RMIT University (2024; eds: Lee, Ducasse, Ni, Quek and Yoshida). The editors of this volume reflect on their experiences in developing this book for RMIT Open Press and how they collaborated with RMIT’s library to make it happen.

Conversation as Experiential Learning: We Make the Road by Walking

Virtual , Australia

Charles Sturt University

This event will delve into how genuine, caring, and culturally intuitive conversations can transform collective experiences into knowledge. Join educators from Charles Sturt University's School of Social Work and Arts to discuss how philosophy underpinning experiential learning not only created the groundwork for social work education, but can be revisited to transform student experiences.

Free