Veronica Boulton, Faculty Executive Officer of Humanities and Social Sciences, has been appointed project manager for the establishment of the Bond College. She will be seconded to this task for four months from November 20, 2006. During this period Dr Bill Krebs will be the Acting Executive Officer.

The Bond College will provide a matriculation program, which will also function as a foundation program, leading into the various Faculties which comprise Bond University. It will constitute the equivalent of years 11 and 12 in the education system and will provide guaranteed access to Bond University for those students who pass the course.

Articulation with and recognition by other Universities will be negotiated.

The Bond College will be open to domestic students as well as to international students, and have its first intake in May 2007. It will operate on the basis of the Bond University system of three semesters a year, with two semesters equalling a full year in the public education system.

The college will be located within the university precinct with students able to share in the university ethos and the university facilities. It will operate with the distinctive Bond University education style, with small class sizes and individual attention, and will offer a University-like ethos for students who prefer this degree of freedom.

Eventually the Bond College will offer a pre-Masters qualifying program. It is envisaged that over time the college and the Bond University English Language Institute will merge.

Further announcements will be made about the first intake in May 2007, but it is likely at this point that it will operate as the year 12 equivalent in the first instance. Advertisements have been posted on the Bond University website and in the national press for both the Marketing Manager and Director positions for the college.

Bond’s Japanese language students have done well in the Gold Coast Annual Speech Competition, held at Griffith University.

In Year 1 Japanese Tanah Sullivan came first. In Year 2 Japanese Sally Andersen was first, Linda Wang second, and Jenny Kelly third. In Year 3 Japanese Nicholas Cripps was first.

Japanese is the only foreign language that has an annual competition nationwide in tertiary education. It is organised by the Modern Language Teachers’ Association of Queensland, Gold Coast Branch.

Other languages have competitions to secondary education level.

Tanah is in Europe and Nick is in Japan, both on study abroad programs, and will be back in January.

Bond University Master of Public Relations graduate Nick Jonsson has relocated to London with his wife after two years working for Spark Communications in Bangkok.

He is currently operating as part of Chameleon PR’s team of senior PR professionals with a minimum of six years’ consumer and consumer tech experience, as a strategic PR consultant. 

Nick is spending half of his time working on accounts such as Browzar and Enterprise Insight and the rest on leading the company’s new business drive.

Before joining Chameleon PR, Nick worked freelance as an account director at MS&L in London where he serviced companies such as Philips and Procter & Gamble. 

Please contact Nick by e-mail if you are interested in internships or PR jobs in London. There are plenty, he says. He may be contacted at nick@chameleonpr.com 

While at Bond in 2004, Nick’s golf day project won the Public Relations Institute of Australia’s Golden Target award for students. The event raised $18,500 for a children’s cancer charity.

Public Relations programs at Bond - undergraduate and postgraduate - are accredited by the Public Relations Institute of Australia. 

Professor of Psychology Greg Boyle, Associate Dean (Research), will graduate as Doctor of Science from the University of Queensland in December. This award is based on his thesis titled “Scientific Analysis of Personality and Individual Differences” which draws on his research publications over the last 30 years.

Prof. Boyle was elected a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society in 2004 and of the Association for Psychological Science (formerly the American Psychological Society). He has been Associate Editor, Australian Journal of Psychology, for almost 15 years and no fewer than 130 of his published works have been listed in the American Psychological Association’s on-line database. His PhDs are from the University of Melbourne and the University of Delaware (USA).

His thesis uses the Cattellian Psychometric Model (CPM) to simplify the taxonomy of psychological constructs relating to cognitive abilities, personality traits, motivation and mood states. He identified 92 primary factors, far too many for practical utility, which he reduced to 29 in his Boyle Psychometric Model (BPM).

The UQ citation for the degree ceremony says, “A particular strength of his work has been the translation of his analytical research into advice and tools for practitioners in a wide range of fields including clinical psychology, neuropsychology, education, sport, law and medicine.”

The Bondstock Inaugural Art Show was held in the Princeton Room last month. Jacinta Veitch submitted eight canvasses in “artography”, digital photography (some of which are pictured). “Positive feedback quickly overcame my feelings of apprehension of my first public viewing,” she said.

“I have been dabbling in artography of late and my work comes under the name of ‘AZIZ…..simplicity in surrounds’. If readers are interested in my work they may email to azizpics@bigpond.com.”

The show was coordinated by Troy Smith (HSS student, now HSA member). Most of the other works were submitted in more conventional media such as charcoal, oils and pastels.

About half the Sports Journalism class from the May semester teamed up again in September and October to produce a series of full colour newsletters during the Special Olympics National Games on the Gold Coast.

The eight-strong volunteer group provided all the pictures and stories for four four-A4-page newsletters, all produced to tight deadlines within a two-week period. For instance, the Games’ opening ceremony was at the Gold Coast Exhibition and Convention Centre on Monday, October 2, and the copy and picture deadline was the following morning at 9am.

In the previous week, the students had written (and organised pictures) for the official newsletter’s first edition, welcoming the Special Olympics family – athletes, coaches, carers and supporters, about 5,000 in all – to the Coast.

Competition started on the Tuesday, and within 36 hours, the team had produced enough stories to fill the third edition. The final edition of the newsletter featured the closing ceremony at Dreamworld and had an easier deadline – three days.

Sports Journalism lecturer, Associate Professor Roger Patching, said Bond’s Journalism School had been approached earlier in the year about helping the Special Olympics organisers in this practical way.

The Special Olympics cater to athletes with an intellectual disability. The National Games doubled as the selection trials for the World Games in China next year.

At the time Roger was teaching Sports Journalism and about half the class volunteered, knowing they would not get any academic credit for their efforts.

The reporting group comprised Kyrrie Blenkinsop, Jessica Cossell, Luci Gambrill-Davis, Ryan Lenegan, Melissa Lewis, Claudia Motta, Jessica Schumann, and Joanna Wheaton.

The layout of the newsletters also became a major exercise for the 063 Editing and Publishing class taught by Molly Blair. One member of the class, Morgan O’Brien-Powell, who had prior experience in layout, undertook to be editor-in-chief for all four editions as her major project for the subject.

She was able to use the best of the ideas of the class in three of the four editions. The Editing and Publishing class meets on a Tuesday morning, so they were able to practice on the first, second and fourth editions.

The third edition was written by the team on the Tuesday, edited by Morgan on the Wednesday, printed on the Thursday and distributed around the various sporting venues on the Friday! There were very tight deadlines for two of the editions, but the group was excellent. It was heartening to have so many students maintain their interest in the project over several months of discussions and preparation.

The Special Olympics involved 10 sports almost the length and breadth of the Gold Coast – the swimming was at the Sleeman Centre on Brisbane’s southern outskirts, so covering all venues was a challenge.

The 4th year Psychology poster display is hosted by the library in week 10 of each semester.

The poster display is a celebration of the production and presentation of the students own substantial creative work under the guidance of a faculty supervisor.

Chatting over morning tea in the library, the 062 student cohort took the opportunity to discuss their posters with the Psychology academic staff. Professor Raoul Mortley presented the Dean’s Award for the best poster to Edith Saedt for "Perception of Terrorism and Locus of Control" - supervised by Assistant Professor Katarina Fritzon.

Creating the posters is challenging. Many students use a single powerpoint slide, getting final printing and laminating done at Clancy’s. Some links for creating poster presentations are included below:

http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/IndexStart.html

http://www.aas.duke.edu/trinity/research/vt/postertips.html

http://www.tss.uoguelph.ca/ltci/TGuides/epd/index.html

Chair of Criminology Professor Paul Wilson is working with Senior Research Officer Helene Wells on finalising a two-year ARC Linkage Grant for the project Crime and CCTV in Australia: Understanding the Relationship.

The report is scheduled for release at a function here at Bond on Tuesday, December 5. The Premier and Police Commissioner will be among those notables invited.

“Crime costs Australia an estimated $32 billion annually,” Professor Wilson said.

“National and international criminal and terrorist activities have caused major breaches of security in public places, resulting in a heightened investment in crime prevention strategies, including the use of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV).

“However, until our study, rigorous research in Australia into CCTV’s effectiveness on crimes in public places had not been undertaken,” he said.

This project will identify CCTV’s impact on crime and key socio-legal issues of security in public places. The outcomes will contribute to an important decision-making model for local, state, and federal departments, and private sector organisations responsible for CCTV and related crime prevention technologies.

Partner organisations have included Queensland Rail, Community Safety and Support Policy Unit (formerly Crime Prevention Queensland) and Gold Coast Safety Camera Network (Gold Coast City Council).

This project has had the cooperation and support of the Queensland Police Service.

Professor Wilson and his team have been conducting quantitative analysis of CCTV usage in public areas of Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, and on Queensland Rail’s public transport system.

They have also been looking at how CCTV footage is monitored, stored and recorded, as well as examining the interaction between CCTV users during large-scale events such as Gold Coast Indy and Schoolies Week.

“Our aim is to see how we can improve the use of CCTV so that it serves as a better deterrent to crime, while ensuring issues of privacy and other civil liberties are fully addressed,” said Prof. Wilson.

“Whether we like it or not, CCTV is here to stay and we need to ensure that it is as effective as it can be within the context of people’s rights to privacy.”

As well as the cost savings the research results are likely to represent for CCTV users, the project is already impacting on broader security issues such as terrorism.

Funding in 2005 was $52,230 and this year $54,059 (excluding industry contributions). The report on the study will be available world-wide as an electronic publication.

I was very fortunate to attend the 18th International Congress of the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP) on the island of Spetses, Greece.

In addition to hearing many interesting talks and symposia, I presented the findings of research projects carried out with my postgraduate students Fred Thorberg, Alana Dobie, Joanna Huang and Priya Reginald, entitled “Mood and Relationship Correlates of Heavy Smoking Across Cultures.”

Our research indicated that the psychopathological correlates of heavy smoking (such as anxiety and depression) as commonly reported in research conducted on Westerners may not apply to Asian countries where heavy smoking is more socially accepted.

Perhaps because of the increasing social sanctions against smoking in the West, those who are most addicted to nicotine, or who smoke mainly for “self-medication” purposes (to alleviate dysphoric feelings or stress), may be over-represented among Western smokers.

Our research suggests that this is not the case in countries such as China and Japan where smoking is more socially accepted—there many people, mostly men, smoke.

The town of Spetses proved a charming place, and the conference venue (a 20-minute walk along the beach from my hostel room in town) was a 19^th century boarding school where author John Fowles set his popular novel “The Magus.” The view at right was from the balcony of my hostel room in Spetses town. Following the conference I did a bit of travelling and made sure I saw many of the famous sights.

These include the Acropolis and the National Archaeological Museum in Athens; also:

· the archaeological sites of Delphi (home of the famous Delphic Oracle), Delos (birthplace of Apollo, god of light and civilization)

· Epidaurus (with its wonderfully preserved ancient Greek theatre, still in use today)

· Mycenae (the ancient city-state that led the Greeks in the Trojan War), and Olympia (where the original Olympic Games were held for nearly 1200 years)

· Meteora, with its medieval monasteries perched atop towering pinnacles of rock; and a small sampling of the thousands of Greek islands.

My favorite island was Santorini, with its vast sea-flooded volcanic caldera formed in the greatest volcanic eruption ever recorded (1650 BC) – the basis of the legend of Atlantis and possibly the many flood myths of the Eastern Mediterranean as well (the eruption created a gigantic tsunami that overwhelmed the entire region).

When Bond Associate Professor of International Relations Rosita Dellios asked social worker and writer Naning Pranoto, a Bond graduate, about Indonesian philosophy in action, Naning took her to a rural Balinese school.

Pengelatan Primary School, in Bule-leng province, was only one of many that received dental care, free of charge, through voluntary community efforts.

A well-equipped dental van drives out from a hospital in the provincial capital, Singaraja, and visits the more remote schools.

Where government funding is inadequate or absent in community care, the local private sector and volunteers come together to pay for the service and help administer it, according to Madam Tutik Kusuma Wardhani, director of Kertha Usada General Hospital, and donor of the dental van that does school rounds.

The dental care program covering schools in rural Buleleng, north Bali, is designed to fill a need. There is also a program for women’s health that is organised through local networks.

“Small-scale, local self-help groups are an Indonesian good news story,” Dr Dellios said. “Indonesians deploy their cultural and social resources in tackling problems themselves, without having to rely on government or international community to ’rescue’ them.”

She noted that Indonesia’s, and particularly Bali’s, reputation has suffered from terrorist bombings.

“As well, natural disasters, from the Tsunami in Aceh to the earthquake in Yogyakarta, caused massive devastation. The government has been unable to prevent environmental and health damage through the haze caused by illegal forest fires to clear land. In the past year poverty has increased by 11 per cent. But despite this there is a resilient community spirit.”

She concluded that Indonesian philosophy in action needs to be seen through the many social programs that are run by the people themselves.

This work entailed visits to three cities in Iran – Shiraz, Esfahan and Tehran. Near Shiraz, Dr Ping visited the Achaemenid Empire ruins of Pasargadae (546 BC) and Persepolis (518 BC). In Esfahan he studied the Iman Square complex which includes two mosques and the 16^th Century Ali Qapu Palace. Because of the concurrent Israeli-Hezbollah war he was unable to enter the University of Shiraz or the University of Esfahan.

In Tehran he viewed the political structures of the later Persian/Iranian monarchies, as well as the former United States of America Embassy (now named the US Den of Espionage) which was stormed by University of Tehran students after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs library of Political and International Studies proved helpful in his research. After hours of security clearance interviews, he was allowed to enter the University of Tehran where he met the Associate Dean for Research at the Faculty of Law and Political Science.

Associate Prof. Saideh Lotfian proved to be an excellent host and a wealth of information. She has invited Dr Ping to present a paper to the University’s Centre for Graduate International Studies.

This was Dr Ping’s first visit to Iran. “I now have an enhanced understanding of the precursory and contemporary statecraft of the world’s only Islamic Republic,” he said. “The tenets of Shiite Islam are the basis of government, society and individual behaviour and I will argue in my book that these have been accepted by the Persian civilisation to guard against unwanted change brought by external sources.”

The Humanities Students' Association has advertised a new position: a postgraduate liaison officer to look after their interests. At present, postgraduate students make up 40 per cent of Bond’s student population.

ANY OLD BOOKS FOR A WORTHY CAUSE?

The Students’ Association is working with a man named Polydor Mutombo to collect old books. These will be forwarded to the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa. Anyone with unwanted books they would like to donate (from children’s fiction to dictionaries and adult literature) can drop them off at the HSA office—or contact us via email and we will organise to pick them up.

BONDMATES HELP STUDY ABROAD STUDENTS SETTLE IN

Anyone wanting to help Study Abroad students settle in can be a BondMate by emailing hsa@staff.bond.edu.au

The Humanities Faculty Teaching and Learning committee met earlier this month.

It consists of the Dean (chair), Masako Gavin (Deputy Chair), Jonathon Sargeant, Mike Grenby, Anne Cullen, and Wayne Murphy.

It was resolved to examine again the questions of peer review of teaching, voluntary methods for teaching improvement for access by staff (in particular new staff), Teval review, and having an outsider reviewing teaching.

“Dr Jonathon Sargeant of Education (pictured) will be our representative on the central Teaching and Learning committee,” the Dean, Prof. Raoul Mortley, said.

“We will regularly communicate to all staff the initiatives being taken by that committee.

“We would welcome any suggestions about teaching improvement and voluntary measures which could be taken. We also welcome suggestions about measuring teaching performance in a way which can be accessed by the Dean, with a view to an incentive/bonus structure.”

Dr Sargeant, Assistant Professor of Education, this month hosted a staff information session titled “Classroom Techniques”. The session explored a range of considerations necessary for effective teaching and learning.

It’s quite an experience, spending the day in the company of Australia’s top 40 or so students, according to Joy Cameron-Dow, Teaching Fellow in the Journalism program. Three staff were on each interviewing panel, a dozen staff in total.

Joy was an interviewer on the Saturday. Assistant Prof. Phillip Fourie from Counselling was the other Humanities staff member.

About 40 of these high school leavers visited Bond as finalists for eight Vice-Chancellor’s scholarships (where all fees are rebated) or five corporate scholarships (where companies pay 50 per cent of their fees). Some tried for both.

On the Friday they undertook management training including a group leadership exercise. “All were extremely self-assured, all merited serious consideration,” Joy said. Phillip added, “I’ve been doing these interviews for three years and each time I’ve been very impressed with the quality of the applicants.”

Winners of VC’s scholarships are:

from Queensland, David Bell from Tamborine Mountain College (planning to study Law and International Relations), Melissa Bergin from Lourdes Hill College (Law/Commerce), Matthew Hodgson-van Dahl from Anglican Church Grammar (Law/Biomed Science), Alexandra Mathewson from Centenary Heights State High School (Law/ International Relations);

from South Australia, Tessa Dignam, Loreto College, (Arts/Law); from Tasmania, Pieter Joubert, Hutchins School (Law/Commerce); and from Victoria, Thomas Harrison, Caulfield Grammar (Law/IR) and Ellie McKay, Melbourne Girls’ Grammar (Law/Biomed Science).

Associate Professor of English Bill Krebs has launched a shorter version of his six-week Australian Experience study tours. Two programs are now available—one of six weeks and the new one of four weeks.

In 2007, the longer program is from June 3 to July 14 and visits Darwin, Alice Springs via Katherine Gorge and on to Uluru, Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), Watarrka (Kings Canyon) then Canberra and Sydney after classes on the Gold Coast.

The shorter program is from July 15 to August 11 and after classes at Bond, goes to hinterland and coastal sights, then explores the Queensland coast including Hervey Bay, Fraser Island and the Great Barrier Reef, with some days on Heron Island.

Not counting travel from abroad, the short program costs $6,800 and the longer one $11,100. Fees include all tuition and materials, accommodation, all meals, tours, park entry and flights.

“I’d like to see more Australians take up these programs,” Bill said. “So far, most are from abroad.”

To contribute to next Humanities Faculty News, email Dr Richard Phillipps rphillip@staff.bond.edu.au or call his mobile—0427 392 568.