SYDNEY ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2016 EDITION

SYDNEY’S CAMPUS IN ANCIENT LATIN AND A RABBI WHO’S GREAT INVESTMENT DECISIONS TRANSFORMATION GREEK, ALIVE AND WELL AROUND THE KITCHEN GONE WRONG

A good night’s sleep research CONTENTS

Inside Australia’s leading The biggest ever gift, set to Designs for making the University sleep research facility 3 transform health education 6 more accessible 12

Chancellor’s welcome Introduction 2

Awake to possibilities Research 3

A new future for health education Philanthropy 6

The money or the box Research 8

An open kitchen Alumni community 10

Design of the times Campus 12

Making a dog’s life longer Research 14

Grounds for change Campus 16

Classics never date Culture 18

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK SAM Heritage celebrates the fact that alumni speak their minds. We would love to hear your feedback about this publication and your ideas for future editions via [email protected]

Published by Managing editor: Printing managed Cover photography: Inside front cover: Inside back cover: The University Kate May by Publish Partners Dr Maria Comas Soberats The Anderson Stuart The Anderson Stuart of Sydney, Publishing editor: is a molecular Building under Building in 2016, Level 7, JFR George Dodd 16/5700 chronobiologist construction in is the home to Building, NSW 2006 ©2016 The University working with the 1883. Supplied the Discipline 02 9036 6372 Produced by of Sydney Sleep and Circadian by the University of Anatomy and [email protected] Marketing and Research Group. Photo of Sydney Archives. Histology. Photo Communications, by Louise Cooper. Ref G3_224_0373 by Irenaeus Herok ISSN: 2205-4669 the INTRODUCTION RESEARCH

CHANCELLOR’S WELCOME

AWAKE TO

Thank you for your positive responses to the importance of nurses through providing POSSIBILITIES the first SAM Heritage, published just over 12 annual scholarships. This time, the Wakils a year ago. I am delighted to welcome you have donated funds for the construction of a to our second issue. It has been a very full centre that will deliver enhanced teaching, Sleep aids concentration, good health, memory and possibly year, during which we have launched the learning and research capabilities across all even maintaining your weight. So the Sleep and Circadian Australian Institute for Nanoscale Science the health disciplines. and Technology; commenced implementation Our health is all important. Those who Research Group studies how more people can sleep the of our 2016–20 Strategic Plan; and completed research and battle disease and who treat and night away, writes George Dodd. several noteworthy building projects around care for us are vital to our community. The the University including the new world class University of Sydney’s new Susan Wakil Health Business School and Queen Mary student Building will encourage multidisciplinary, accommodation. These are just a few of interfaculty learning, collaboration, and the Sleep. We all do it. We don’t all do it well. And insomnia was old-style sleeping tablets with the University’s myriad achievements. cross-fertilisation of ideas. Staff and students according to Professor Ron Grunstein (MD ’95 what the experts term their ‘dirty effects’ of We recently announced plans for another will benefit immensely – and so, ultimately, will MBBS ’80), some of us keep ourselves awake grogginess and memory loss. “The new sleeping transformative facility, enabled by an incredible our entire community. Working together, we worrying about it. tablets are much more targeted and less gift from Susan and Isaac Wakil. They are the will make a real and enduring difference. “Telling people they must get eight hours’ dirty,” says Professor Grunstein. “They have same generous couple who last year recognised I hope you enjoy this issue of SAM Heritage. sleep creates insomnia,” he says with a smile. their place, but now it’s more about changing How much sleep to get is the question Professor behaviours that affect sleep.” Grunstein is asked more than any other. Physiologically speaking, sleep is a team “It varies,” he says. “Most people sleep from effort, with agents such as melatonin, cortisol six-and-a-half to eight hours a day. You wouldn’t and orexin lowering us into sleep or lifting us call lack of sleep ‘insomnia’ unless it really into wakefulness. It’s an arrangement that affects how you work and live. That happens can easily go awry from factors such as stress, to about 10 per cent of the population.” illness, alcohol, caffeine, medication or the blue- Belinda Hutchinson AM, There was a time when the treatment for light stimulation of device screens before bed. Chancellor BEc Sydney, FCA

2 3 t Topographical brain maps showing the big differences in brain wave activity during wakefulness (above) and sleep (below).

Insomnia is the dedicated to most common sleep understanding disturbance, but it’s and treating sleep not the only reason disorders, with people come for researchers drawn from overnight stays at the diagnosis and molecular Woolcock Institute of biology through to Medical Research, which is drug development, affiliated with the University disease management and p Dr Maria Comas Soberats says the body clock can be p Professor Ron Grunstein is a world authority of Sydney and where Professor sleep education. Walking into harnessed to make some cancer treatments more effective. on sleep and sleep disorders. Grunstein heads the Sleep and reception, it feels like a pleasant, Circadian Research Group. mid-ranking city hotel, but the “A population that sleeps Woolcock offers a lot more than well is more productive, uses a bed for the night. fewer health resources and “We have an area where has fewer workplace and we can isolate some of our road accidents,” says patients from time,” Professor Grunstein, Professor Grunstein standing in the patient says. “This lets us accommodation area. observe their actual physiology and metabolism, such as eating patterns. she explains. “A red blood cell doesn’t even have a “These are things that sleep patterns by “The richest results come when sleep disturbance nucleus, but it does have a clock. The clock activates can save lives and save removing the cues that and body clock studies inform each other,” Professor and represses functions within that cell. the nation billions of tell them what time of Grunstein says. Which is why he jumped at the chance “So if a cancer drug is designed to be taken up by dollars.” day it is.” to bring Dr Maria Comas Soberats onto the team. a particular receptor in a cell, it will be much more During the day, This includes Recently arrived from Sweden, Dr Comas is a effective if you can administer it when you know the the 12-bed sleep floors built on springs postdoctoral fellow and molecular chronobiologist cell clock has made that receptor active.” accommodation to absorb vibration who has worked with world authorities in the body- This implies using a different mindset in some feels strangely from morning garbage clock field. She is also an awarded researcher. “I am cancer treatments so the body clock is considered when vacant, but at night it’s trucks; food is continuously passionate about my work,” she says. “There is so much designing therapies. What’s always needed is more buzzing with clinicians available so there’s no sense to learn. For example, people with schizophrenia or information, and Dr Comas is excited about what will and the sleep disturbed: of breakfast, lunch and dinner; other severe mental illnesses have chaotic body clocks. be uncovered in this area. men, women and even children light from any time of day can be Understanding more about their clock function could “Professor Grunstein is helping me make with conditions such as narcolepsy, mimicked in the rooms, and there’s no lead to better treatments.” connections here at the University with researchers circadian rhythm disturbances, and the second internet or television. Male technicians even There is even the promise that cancer clinicians in other fields. They really want to be involved,” most common sleep disorder, sleep apnoea. have to make sure they shave at random times. could use Dr Comas’s insights to make existing she says. “I’ve worked where people talk about The Woolcock’s sleep research unit is The body clock, also called the circadian clock, is treatments more effective. collaboration but it doesn’t happen. Here it does. Australia’s only multidisciplinary sleep centre involved in more than sleep. It also affects behaviour, “Every cell in a person’s body has its own clock,” It makes so much more possible.”

4 5 PHILANTHROPY

Imagine a teaching environment postgraduate nursing students with MHlthSc(Sports&ManipPhty) that integrates all the health study, tuition and accommodation. Hons ’75). “Our future services The Wakil gift is the largest ever given to the University of disciplines – nursing, medicine, Together, these gifts provide will be well-linked with access Sydney in its 166-year history. It will mean a revolution in allied health, dentistry and a singular opportunity for the to multidisciplinary teams, the pharmacy – so the education on University to drive excellence in infrastructure will match the needs health education and research, writes Anna Herbert. offer is underpinned by the latest clinical services and holistic care of the community and people will multidisciplinary research. wherever its health graduates go have control of their own health.” The farsighted vision of Susan to work. The building is just the and Isaac Wakil is bringing “We were inspired by the beginning. It will be the catalyst this concept to life, with the radical and innovative approach for new ways of thinking, aim of transforming healthcare the University of Sydney is taking collaborating and teaching. The education in Australia. to address immediate and future changed mind‑set will see health Through their family healthcare challenges,’’ Mr Wakil professionals moving away from A new future Foundation, the Wakils have says. “Susan and I are pleased to be their isolated silos to become part committed an unprecedented able to make this project a reality.” of a team working to improve $35 million to establish a statef ‑o ‑the‑art facility that will be part of a unique health for health education precinct at the University. This precinct will bring together the various health disciplines to form a multidisciplinary teaching and research hub. “Organising Sydney health education and research in this way will enable many more opportunities for learning as teams, and for exploring ways to improve health by taking a broader perspective on health research,” the Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery (Sydney Nursing School), Professor Donna Waters (MPHlth ’97 PhD(Medicine) ’07), says. The philosophy behind outcomes – a team that involves the “Our people are at the forefront co ‑location, where University patients and their families. of health research. We can add students, researchers, clinical This model promises a future value by working together to embed and education staff work closely of more affordable and equitable this research in clinical service together under the one roof healthcare and real patient choice. delivery and education.” exchanging knowledge and ideas, It’s a future worth imagining, and The Wakils’ new gift is in is mirrored in contemporary thanks to the shared vision of the addition to another gift they thinking about health. Wakils and the health educators made in support of nursing “At the moment we don’t and researchers at the University of students. In 2015, the Wakils gave operate as an integrated Sydney, it’s closer than you think. $10.8 million to Sydney Nursing health system – our services School to recognise the invaluable are fragmented,” explains the work of nurses in the frontline of Dean of the Faculty of Health p The new health hub will use ideas from healthcare. This gift established 12 University researchers and educators. Sciences, Professor Kathryn annual scholarships in perpetuity, Refshauge (DipManipPhysio ’84 t A vision of the University health education to assist undergraduate and hub that the Wakil Gift will help make possible.

6 7 RESEARCH

How do we make financial decisions? Dr Agnieszka Tymula talks to Kat Friel about who is willing to tolerate more risk and why. The results may surprise you.

THE MONEY OR THE BOX p More than a coin toss. Dr Agnieszka Tymula p The research looks at how people make financial decisions, is researching how people make decisions. particularly risky ones, and the role our brain plays in this process.

Neuroeconomics research, which combines ideas but smaller rewards and larger rewards that come with “We have compared the risk attitudes of 12-to-90 number of options, people are more likely to pick their from neuroscience, economics, and psychology, more risk, and understanding who will tolerate more year olds and we found something interesting when second preference over their first,” she says. has enquired into such weighty matters as whether risk and in what circumstances. we separated between known and unknown risk. We “You should start by eliminating the worst choices monkeys are more risk averse when they’re thirsty Most people who participate in psychology research discovered that when the risks are known, adolescents – what we call the distractors – first. This allows you (yes) and if adolescents really are risk takers (no – like this receive a standard fee, but it’s different for are just as risk averse as older adults and actually much to make the best decision.” but more on this later). Dr Tymula’s volunteers. Just like in the real world, more risk averse than middle-aged adults,” she says. Although age is a factor in decision making, it is not Dr Agnieszka Tymula is well versed in their decisions can affect what they’re paid, which is “It’s in situations where they don’t know the a simple correlation. “When people age, their brains neuroeconomics. She’s a Senior Lecturer at the important for seeing real‑world outcomes. odds that adolescents take more risks. They change, losing grey matter at an individual, specific University’s School of Economics and describes herself “Asking hypothetical questions doesn’t convince behave as though the odds are skewed towards pace,” Dr Tymula says. “We know now that grey- as a decision scientist. She is interested in how people economists,” Dr Tymula explains. “For example, I positive outcomes.” matter volume is more significant than chronological make financial decisions, particularly risky ones, and may ask a study participant if she prefers $5 for sure, A better understanding of adolescent risk taking age as a predictor of an individual’s risk attitude.” the role our brain plays in this process. or a lottery that pays either $12 or nothing, with a could help limit risky behaviour. Dr Tymula believes Dr Tymula also found that older people tended to Dr Tymula recently started work with colleagues 50-50 chance.” As well as observing the decisions this is particularly important when considering make less money in her study because they were more at the University’s Brain and Mind Centre, trying to people make, Dr Tymula tracks brain activity using an mortality rate for adolescents, which is twice as high likely to make mistakes and choose options that made figure out how economics fits in with their research on MRI scanner. as that for younger children, despite adolescents them financially worse off. age-related cognitive decline. “What was significant about older people in our typically being stronger and healthier. “The brain is plastic – it can be shaped – so once “I hope our research leads to practical policy and study is that they made on average 40 per cent less Dr Tymula explains that we can start to improve we learn which regions of the brain are responsible lifestyle interventions,” Dr Tymula says. “So far a money than young and mid-life adults,” Dr Tymula our daily chances of making the right decisions by for inferior financial decision making, we can start to lot of effort has been made to improve memory for says. “Part of the reason is that older people are simply reducing the number of choices. think about what interventions can be made to slow older people, which is of paramount importance. In more risk and ambiguity averse, so they will pay a “The more options you have to consider when this down. These could be simple recommendations this work we go one step further to look at improving premium for this.” making a decision, the more you have to spread your to do more of certain activities that will help. If decision making.” At the opposite end of the age scale, Dr Tymula neural resources around. As a consequence, the signals I can achieve this by the time I’m old, that would In general, Dr Tymula’s research centres on the says it is a misconception that teenagers are prone to in your brain become noisy and you are more likely be awesome!” trade-offs people make when deciding between safe risk ‑taking behaviour. to make mistakes. For example, as you increase the

8 9 ALUMNI COMMUNITY

Rabbi Dovid Slavin founded Our Big Kitchen in Bondi to help feed people in need. True success, he says, comes from helping others. He talks to Katie Booth (BA (Media&Comm) ’16).

An open kitchen p Standing in Our Big Kitchen, Rabbi Slavin credits the incredible dedication of his wife Laya (above right) for making the kitchen a reality.

In 2001, as Rabbi Dovid Slavin for and feeding of cancer patients Our Big Kitchen now has 650 volunteers making “much more than a supervisor, she was a mentor (PhD ’13) and some volunteers became a big part of our home,” more than 70,000 meals a year for those in need. The and a friend”. were pouring the foundations Rabbi Slavin says. facility offers activities including volunteers cooking In 2002, Rabbi Slavin made the trip to Poland for what would become Our Big Laya became immersed in for the homeless as well as school and corporate with his mother, who had left the country as a young Kitchen, world‑shattering events helping cancer patients going giving days. “What we’ve done here is used food as girl. “It was a very special thing to go back to a world were unfolding in the Rabbi’s through treatment, becoming a platform to allow people to connect and help them that has just vanished, that has been destroyed, where home city. a hairdresser and wig-maker in feel empowered,” Rabbi Slavin says. the whole context and terms of reference have gone,” “For [9/11] to take place in the process. Rabbi Slavin says Whether it’s companies preparing meals for the he reflects. my home town of New York …,” if a client left wearing a wig and homeless or providing space for caterers to start One of the most striking moments in the Rabbi Slavin says, falling silent feeling more self-confident, Laya their own businesses, food is the language of Our Big course of the research took place in New York as as he reflects on the day. “The felt she’d hit the jackpot. “People Kitchen and kindness is the currency. The same can be he interviewed one of his grandfather’s students. whole day for us was surreal. We going through treatment are said for the Slavins’ home, where the couple are raising “I’m sitting there talking to him and he stops and started work very early in the vulnerable and sometimes aren’t their eight children, which Rabbi Slavin describes as says, ‘how old are you?’,” he recalls. “I was 44 or 45 morning and must have finished managing it,” he says. his “proudest achievement”. at the time and I told him. The next thing, he says ‘no at about 10 or 11 at night. Then As making meals for With his fierce belief in social justice, it should you’re not – I am not who you think I am either. I’ll the news came through.” vulnerable people became a come as no surprise that Rabbi Slavin read upwards tell you what’s happening here: I’m not in my 80s, Rabbi Slavin migrated from bigger commitment for the of 300 books during the course of his University of I’m a 17-year-old boy, and we’re not sitting here in the United States to Australia Slavins, they decided to be clever Sydney PhD research into the Holocaust. Rather than New York, we’re sitting back in the Yeshiva [a Jewish in 1992 to take up the position about it. The light-bulb moment focusing on the destruction of European Jews, he institution for the study of traditional religious texts]. of Executive Director of the p Rabbi Dovid Slavin uses his huge personal energy came after a long day of peeling, investigated what was lost to Jewish life and culture. You’re not Dovid Slavin, you’re Dovid Minzberg’. I get to advance causes of social justice. Rabbinical college of Sydney. chopping and cooking. He particularly examined the Polish Rabbinical chills today when I think about it.” Quickly becoming active “If you forgot the tin opener, college where his grandfather, Dovid Minzberg, With his dedication to helping those in need members of their Bondi community, Rabbi Slavin and the whole operation came to a standstill,” Rabbi Slavin after whom Rabbi Slavin was named, was a member. radiating through his warm smile, Rabbi Slavin’s work his wife, Laya Slavin, founded Our Big Kitchen in 2005 says. It was then that the Slavins grasped the logistics Professor Suzanne Rutland from the Department rests on strong foundations: from the concrete base after working with other volunteers to prepare meals of setting up Our Big Kitchen: “And that’s how the of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies supervised of Our Big Kitchen to the historical and cultural roots for a sick member of their community. “The cooking kitchen was born.” Rabbi Slavin’s research. Talking about his time at the of his research. University of Sydney, he says Professor Rutland was

10 11 CAMPUS

At a collaborative workshop, students design new technologies to assist people with disabilities. The results are good for everyone, writes Angela Wilcox-Watson.

Kate Archbold says the event opened up her mind to with a range of disabilities to offset the impacts of being more inclusive. “One of the things I really took their condition on their study – the opportunities away from this is that there’s a big difference between are exciting and endless.” DESIGN OF THE TIMES designing for someone with a disability and designing Support for students with a disability includes with someone with a disability. access to the Assistive Technology Lab in Fisher “We have such an increasing demand for designs Library; screen readers and magnifiers for vision that are inclusive on all levels. It needs to be something impairment; voice recognition for learning, physical that we think about day to day, rather than trying to do and cognitive impairments; and text-to-speech it at the end of the design process because you forgot to technology for learning and cognitive disabilities. do it at the start.” The University also supplies large print, braille The designs generated at Enabled by Design-athon and accessible PDFs for exams, as well as more specific have the potential to be taken up by investors and tools and support for individual students’ needs. developed into groundbreaking new products. “If it The founder of Remarkable and workshop even sparks an idea that could make it happen in the organiser, Peter Horsley, says co-design can often lead future, I’d be happy with that,” Archbold says. to ideas and technologies that benefit all members of This assistive technology could help the nearly society. “We want to see assistive technology kick into 2000 students who are registered with the University’s the higher level of universal design,” Horsley says. Disability Services unit. “We really believe that disability can be a lens you look “Advances in technology are constantly improving through that enables innovation, and to think about assistive technology to make it more effective for the design in a better way for everyone.” user,” Disability Services Manager Dagmar Kminiak Despite our best efforts, the design process can all kinds of users, including people with disabilities says. “New technologies could assist individuals unwittingly limit technology’s potential. It’s often and an ageing population. hard to predict the experiences and needs of the people Associate Professor Martin Tomitsch, Head of q The University works to recognise the needs, contributions who will use it, particularly when those people might Design in the Faculty of Architecture, Design and and accomplishments of its people living with disabilities. be living with disabilities. Planning, says collaboration allows designers and In April 2016, students from the Faculty of users to bring their own perspectives and experiences Architecture, Design and Planning aimed to overcome to generate change. “It can lead not only to new this by taking part in the Enabled by Design-athon. solutions that otherwise might not have emerged, Enabled by Design-athon is an international but more importantly it will bring out solutions that initiative that brings together students, industry, actually address the concerns, needs and desires of clinical practitioners and people living with people,” he says. disabilities to workshop ideas for new products and “An important side benefit of co-design is that assistive technologies. The Australian Enabled by people feel empowered by having a say in what future Design-athon is hosted, in partnership with the products might look like.” University of Sydney, by the Remarkable organisation, After three days of intensive work, teams presented which is a division of Cerebral Palsy Alliance. prototypes of their designs to their peers and a panel In the classroom, students learn about the value of judges. The ideas were diverse – from a Bluetooth of co-design, where designers and the ultimate device to help visually impaired people find their users all contribute ideas. The Design-athon was an destinations, to a shopping trolley for people who opportunity to put this principle into practice for struggle with mobility. students who will one day be designing products for Third-year Bachelor of Design Computing student

12 13 RESEARCH

Learning more about how lymphoma affects dogs could lead advances in treatment for humans who have the condition, writes Katynna Parry (BSc(Adv)(Hons) ’01).

Making a dog’s p Associate Professor Peter Williamson, left, and PhD student Pamela Soh use the latest genome technologies to investigate lymphoma.

u Border collies Mac and Jetty will be remembered through the life longer gift that created the Mac and Jetty Lymphoma Research Project.

Mac and Jetty were two beautiful border collies “Some breeds of dog exhibit an extremely high rate Soh’s honours research looked at the function As border collies are a very popular breed, the and hugely important family members to Anne and of the disease,” says Associate Professor Williamson. and structure of bacterial proteins found in poultry, team has been able to access many samples from Warwick Evans as they ran their vineyard and cellar. “Our group has found a possible genetic area that called bacterial proteomics, which brought together both healthy and diseased border collies. “Mac and Jetty won hearts wherever they went,” predisposes another dog breed – bullmastiffs – to molecular bioscience and veterinary science. “Our initial results suggest that in cases where dogs Anne says. “They were excellent judges of character lymphoma, so we’re keen to investigate whether this is “The project will help us understand the develop lymphoma early in life – about four years of and quite discerning.” the case in border collies.” heritability of lymphoma and facilitate the age – there may be a genetic predisposition,” Associate When the two dogs were The research may also development of new breeding strategies to control its Professor Williamson says. diagnosed with lymphoma have impacts on lymphoma incidence in these dogs,” says Soh. “I’ll be examining Anne and Warwick still miss Mac and Jetty and later passed away, Anne “Our initial results in humans which has many proteomic and metabolomic aspects of lymphoma and they’re glad to be contributing to a greater wanted to turn her sorrow into similarities to canine in border collies to help us understand how the understanding of lymphoma. “We’re hoping that if something more practical. suggest that in lymphoma, with humans biochemical pathways are affected. This could lead to the research achieves a successful outcome, other As it happened, the two vets and canines responding to earlier diagnosis and, eventually, better treatments.” dogs may be spared the suffering that Mac and Jetty who treated the dogs at the cases where dogs treatments in a similar way. Soh’s co-researcher, Cheng, has worked as a endured,” Anne says. Bega and Cobargo clinics Since human lymphoma is veterinarian in small animal general practices and “Dogs give us so much unqualified love and were Sydney alumni and they develop lymphoma the most common form of referral hospitals, but her strong interest in veterinary devotion without expecting anything in return. suggested contacting the haematological or blood oncology brought her back to the University for I could never repay Mac and Jetty for the joy they University. That contact led early in life ... there cancer in Australia, and the further studies. Her study program includes a research brought into our lives.” to Anne and Warwick making sixth most common form of component, so she decided to join the Mac and Jetty a gift to the University. may be a genetic cancer overall, the potential Lymphoma Research Project. If you breed or own border collies, we invite you to The result of this gift is benefits of this research are “There is potentially a large amount of information participate in the Mac and Jetty Lymphoma Research the Mac and Jetty Lymphoma predisposition.” far-reaching. and data regarding lymphoma in dogs available from project by contacting us via the project website: Research Project. Led by The Mac and Jetty veterinary clinics, kennel clubs and pet owners,” www.facebook.com/USydBorderCollie Associate Professor Peter Lymphoma Research project explains Cheng. “My role in the project is to collect the or fill in the survey at: Williamson (PhD (Vet started in earnest in 2016, information and evaluate it in a scientific manner. www.surveymonkey.com/r/USydBorderCollie Science) ’93), in the Faculty of Veterinary Science, with Associate Professor Williamson recruiting PhD “I have always been very interested in research that To learn more about supporting work like this, the project aims to unravel the genetic basis for one student Pamela Soh (BAnVetBSc(Hons I) ’15) and contributes to improvement of the quality of life for please call our bequest team on 02 8627 8492. of the most common cancers in dogs. master’s student Katrina Cheng (BVSc(Hons) ’11) to animals,” she says. work on the project.

14 15 CAMPUS

u The Nanoscience Hub, with Winston Churchill said: “We shape our buildings; thereafter its world-leading, hi-tech laboratories, is part of a new they shape us.” Justine Bashford explores the old and the brand generation of campus buildings. new on the University of Sydney’s constantly evolving campus. t The Transient Building has lived up to its name – in its place there is now green space.

“These design principles ensure that open spaces and Grounds for change buildings are woven together in a culturally responsive way,” Deputy Vice ‑Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy and Services) Professor Shane Houston says. “We want to use our open spaces not simply A great building is functional and comprehensive plan has been laid and just this year we opened for relaxation, but as an integral inspirational at the same time. For out for cohesive development of the Abercrombie Business part of our learning space and most graduates of the University the campus: our new seven‑year School and the high-tech Sydney our celebrations.” of Sydney, the iconic Great Hall Campus Improvement Plan Nanoscience Hub. In transforming the campus is such a building. Completed in received government approval in Let’s reach back just a little for the 21st century and beyond, 1854, it was the work of English February this year. further. At the outset of World Campus Infrastructure Services on the Madsen, Heydon Lawrence, accommodated in the one place. architect, Edmund Blacket, in the Before looking forward, War Two, the University had just is working closely with local and Edgeworth David, J D Stewart, More affordable student style of the Gothic buildings of let’s rewind a little. In 2009, 3500 students. By 1948, student international architecture firms Badham and Physics buildings. accommodation is planned by his homeland. the New Law Building, with its numbers had swelled to 10,779. renowned for people-focused Restoration projects, including repurposing local terrace houses, Many building have been added environmental design principles, In response to the desperate urban planning and for revitalising facade rectification, are planned encouraging students to live on to the campus since then, but in was opened; in 2014 we launched shortage of teaching space, the public spaces. The campus plan for several more. campus and enabling a community the late 2000s, it was painfully the innovative Charles Perkins “temporary” Transient Building has been refined through the While buildings are earmarked to grow within the University’s apparent that there had been Centre research and education was erected. Nearly 70 years after University’s collaboration with for demolition, this will only take boundaries. little University investment in hub for research into obesity, its construction, the Transient these firms, again adapting to place where a building has reached Today, a short walk across infrastructure for more than diabetes, cardiovascular disease Building was finally demolished just changing needs. the end of its useful existence. the Camperdown Campus takes 20 years. “We were behind the and related conditions. In 2015 this year – not for buildings, but to Preservation is vital to the The Blackburn and Bosch you from Victorian Gothic revival eight-ball,” says Campus Planning we opened the Queen Mary create a permanent green space campus plan. “It’s incredibly buildings, for example, will make architecture via tree‑lined Manager Juliette Churchill, who Building, transforming the former suitable for outdoor teaching or important to retain and conserve way for the Susan Wakil Building, avenues, passing 1920s art has a background in heritage nurses’ quarters at Royal Prince social events. our heritage buildings,” Churchill which will bring health sciences deco, 60s functionalism, 80s and education architecture. Alfred Hospital into affordable Now let’s step right back in says. “Those buildings are what and education together under brutalism, and through to our “Other universities around the accommodation for 800 students; time. The Quadrangle sits on the set us apart, and we love them.” one roof. latest state-of-the-art buildings, country had been ensuring peak of a hill that has been a place The University has been working By contrast, the Macleay the Abercrombie Building; the their infrastructure kept pace of learning for the Cadigal people with the Heritage Council of NSW Building, internally reconfigured and the with advances in research and of the Eora nation for tens of to include the entire Camperdown through the years to include Sydney Nanoscience Hub, capped teaching and learning. Many of our thousands of years. Campus on the state’s Heritage laboratories, will be returned off with a telescope that looks buildings were reaching the end Acknowledging this, the campus List. Funding has been set to its original use as a museum like pure science fiction. It is a of their lifecycles – we had a lot of plan is using Wingara Mura Design aside to ensure the retention, through a generous donation from marvellous patchwork reflecting catching up to do.” Principles, which encapsulate both restoration and conservation of Dr Chau Chak Wing. This means the University’s past and future. Now, for the first time the vision of our founders and the our heritage-significant buildings, the University’s extensive historical in the University’s history, a aspirations of our community. and already work has taken place and art collections will be

16 17 CULTURE

Fortuna Audaces Iuvat: Fortune favours the bold. And the bold study Latin, Ancient Greek and the Classics. Monica Crouch (BA(Hons) ’95) finds out why.

Classics never date

t Latin funerary monument for a man named Tiberius Claudius Amianthus. From Rome, Italy, 1st century AD. NMR.1118, .

The world’s most widely spoken languages, in rough of their problem-solving ability. Former Westpac Senior Lecturer in Latin Dr Paul Roche agrees. Dr Cowan believes the classics are a great order, are Mandarin, Spanish, English, Arabic, Hindi chief executive Gail Kelly taught Latin in South Africa “Latin is a blueprint for understanding other way to delve into the hearts of cultures that were and Russian. Latin and Ancient Greek don’t make this before embarking on her renowned banking career. languages,” he says. “It’s behind French, Italian, simultaneously like our own and yet strangely alien. list – they’re not even The University of Spanish and the other Romance languages.” PhD “One moment we feel as though we’re having a goblet among the top 100. Sydney isn’t immune. candidate Irene Stone (BA(Hons) ’12 DipLangStudies of wine with Horace, discussing life and love,” he says. But dead? Hardly. Every year, the ’14), whose work focuses on speeches and speech “The next we’re watching a Roman general cancel a The New Testament Department of Classics making in Herodotus’s Histories, adds: “The ancient battle because the sacred chickens aren’t eating their was written in Ancient and Ancient History languages assist in the ability to write good English.” corn properly.” Greek. I, Claudius, a welcomes up to 100 The notion persists, however, that studying these For Dr Roche, the joy of Latin is in its literature. mini-series about the students into its Latin and languages is difficult. Dr Roche sees it differently. “It was produced by a group of people who had such Roman Empire, was big Ancient Greek programs, “Latin has a very clear grammar,” he says. “There are a depth of feeling for the human experience,” he on the small screens in and more than 500 into a lot of grammatical rules in Latin, and that initially says, citing the poets Virgil and Horace as particular 1976. Remember The its Ancient History takes a bit of getting used to. But once you’ve got them favourites. “They answered ethical questions that are Secret History, Donna units. The University’s under your belt, the more rules a language has, the less still relevant today – they’re in the same category as Tartt’s bestselling novel January Latin Summer ambiguity it has.” Homer, Dante or Milton.” from 1992? Her central School attracts more Dr Roche has taught students who use Latin as a Dr Roche is careful to point out that while we have characters were a group of than 200 students aged research tool for ancient history; those who are curious this wonderful treasure trove of literature, it comes classics students. Harry 14 to 90 from across about the literature of the period; and English majors largely from a privileged male point of view, so we need Potter author J K Rowling Australia. There are interested in the deep roots English has in Latin. “We to exercise caution when using these texts to recover studied Latin and based sold-out stagings of have scientists and of course law students – a lot of the the experience of women and minority groups such as

Dumbledore on one of her p Long live ancient languages: from left, Senior Lecturer in Latin Greek tragedies and law’s technical terminology is in Latin,” he says. slaves and foreigners. Even so, he adds, some female professors. Then there’s Dr Paul Roche; PhD Candidate Irene Stone; Lecturer in Classics extracurricular Latin Ancient languages are also a key that unlocks the voices survive directly to us in the poetry of Sulpicia and Ancient History Dr Robert Cowan. Gladiator (2000); Troy reading groups for classics. “This is the study of the great civilisations of in Latin and Sappho in Ancient Greek. (2004); and 300 (2006): all big blockbusters reflecting students who wish to keep up their skills. Ancient Greece and Rome – their history, literature, Studying the classics embodies the University of a lasting interest in the ancient world. “People love Latin,” Senior Lecturer in Classics archaeology,” Dr Cowan explains. “They are endlessly Sydney principles of nurturing deep and specialised Even Westpac Bank has been known to seek out Dr Bob Cowan says. “They have a massive appetite fascinating periods in themselves, but also have had knowledge while exploring new thinking. “Classics graduates with ancient languages on their CVs because to learn it.” an immense influence on Western – and world – is the original interdisciplinary subject,” Dr Cowan civilisation ever since.” says. “History, literature, philosophy, democracy, art,

18 19 archaeology, politics, language, linguistics, theatre t Red figure neck amphora depicting Iphigenia and Pylades, a studies, gender studies – all are an integral part scene from the ancient Greek play of classics.” Iphigenia of Tauris by Euripides. From Campania, Italy, 350‑325BC. In person, all three of these scholars exude what NM51.17, Nicholson Museum. Stone calls the “pure magic” of engaging with ancient p Fragment of The Iliad, an texts in their original form. But in the more earthly epic poem in Ancient Greek by realm of careers, where does a graduate with a classics Homer, written on papyrus. From Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, 2nd century degree go? “This sort of study – ancient history AD. NM39.5, Nicholson Museum. combined with an ancient language – ensures a student not only covers the exacting task of learning an ancient language, but also becomes adept at pinpointing and solving problems,” Stone says. COURSES: BRUSH UP OR BEGIN Graduates go into law, commerce, public service, The Centre for Continuing Education at the University as well as academia and teaching, Dr Cowan says. of Sydney offers a 10 percent discount for alumni Stone adds: “Any number of modern careers will attending its wide range of classics courses. benefit from a knowledge of ancient history, Latin Choose from ancient history, classical language or Greek – law, maths, architecture, medicine, classes, reading Latin for pleasure, courses on the international diplomacy.” Minoans and the Mycenaeans and an introduction to Fancy revisiting your classical studies or taking philosophy. For more information, please visit: up a whole new interest? Carpe diem. cce.sydney.edu.au/alumni cce.sydney.edu.au/courses/language-culture cce.sydney.edu.au/courses/arts-humanities/history

20 In 1890 John Henry Challis gave an everlasting gift.

126 years on, his gift still inspires engineering marvels, literary classics, legal reforms, historic discoveries, philosophical insights and medical advances.

John Henry Challis (1806 – eternity)

What will your legacy be?

Speak with our team about leaving a bequest on 02 8627 8492.