Next to last day — Day 5 — no kangaroos! July 21, 2015

Hi All —

Much less to report today as it was a full conference day. I presented my “research” paper and it seemed to be received well. Following my presentation, I was approached by a Kenyan conference go-er to do a webinar for Kenyans (?) and two people from different Australian universities seemed interested in hosting me to come and do a more in-depth presentation and help them think through some engagement issues, and the French Canadian (public health post-doc in Quebec City) queried about how we could work together. Several people wanted to know what my firm was doing with Tacoma communities (?) and why I don’t just move my office to Tacoma.

Anyway, it’s an interesting group and it appears that every one of the 40 universities in Australia (Yup, that’s it.. they have just 40 universities across the entire country. I believe we have 5,000 colleges and universities in the US.) has some mechanism within their university (generally a vice chancellor or a deputy vice chancellor) who oversees and promotes “engagement”.. That said, it’s a lot of “service learning” and I don’t think it’s a fully integrated activity. The conference participants are varied with about 50% being faculty academics and about 50% being either administrators or what they call “Professional Staff and Managers”… Regardless, it seems to be a big topic over here and they are all trying to figure out how to do it well.

While most of the participants are Aussies… there are a few from the US (Tufts, Depaul, etc.) and a few Canadians, some New Zealanders, some Kenyans.. and perhaps others that I have not yet met..

Tomorrow (Wednesday) I do my Roundtable presentation and discussion and I’m hoping that will be lively.. we shall see. And also tomorrow at the very end of the conference, I’m on the final wrap up panel… which is to engage the entire participant group. Then I pack, have dinner and leave the next morning (Thursday for me… but really Wednesday afternoon for all of you)..

So, let’s see.. what have I not told you..

• The Australians seem to shorten lots of words and terms. Today people were talking about “pracks”… took a while for me to decipher but they mean “practicums” or practice (like practice teaching/student teaching).
• Last night I had a late dinner at Garfish, which is very close to the hotel… which is how I chose it. It was surprisingly good.. I had some oysters which were sitting in Japanese ponzu sauce with seaweed.. and some were sitting in soy and ginger.. I also had wonderful roasted scallops that came with morcilla crumbs and apple puree and mushrooms; I sat outside which was warmer than inside (no heat in Sydney) because of the heaters outside.. The outside area had a canopy, but about halfway into the meal, it started to pour.. I had to move my table about three times.. but all good.. and then I decided to take a taxi back to avoid walking in the rain
• The conference is in a little area called Kiribilli and it’s taking place at a somewhat posh Kiribilli Club.. Great food and fairly good conference arrangements.. and nice not to be in a typical university setting or conference center setting.
• I haven’t gotten to (and it is unlikely that I will get to — given that tomorrow is packed and I have double responsibilities at the conference –) the zoo.. So I haven’t seen any kangaroos!

Oh — the Australians (or at least those at this conference) are very careful to open their presentations with an “acknowledgement” which they quickly explain is different from a “welcome”.. This acknowledges and recognizes the unique position of Aboriginal people in Australian culture and history and shows respect. They make note of the particular groups of aboriginal people in that particular area of the land where the conference is taking place.. There is also a “welcome to country”… that is what they call it and it is done by an elder or someone with Aboriginal roots. Incorporating welcoming and acknowledgement as protocols into meetings and events is supposed to recognize Aborigines and Torres Strait Island people as the First Australians.. and it is intended to promote awareness of the past and a connection to the place… But like all things, this is somewhat controversial I hear — I’m guessing because this does not solve the practical problems of indigenous peoples… and doesn’t deal with the disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.. and the fact that there is a connection between being dispossessed and disadvantaged..

One of the presentations involving the School of Education at one of the universities addressed some of the intense discrimination toward Indigenous peoples here.. Pretty staggering.

Just returned from the Conference dinner. Quite nice, really good food for these kind of events.. Held at the Kiribilli Club, with great views of the harbor. Have become very conversational with a faculty member at University of Christchurch in New Zealand.. Totally random conversation — and turns out she did her PhD in Oulu Finland! So you know how near and dear Finland is to me and how many times I’ve been there… and here in Australia to meet someone from NZ who went to school in Finland.. and not just Finland but Oulu.. which is pretty far north… And we had a long conversation about travel and discovered that we both love Shanghai.. which is sort of funny since she comes from such an unpopulated city and country.. .and is able to really love Shanghai which I refer to as “NYC on steroids!”

I learned at the dinner table, that Australian universities have all but done away with liberal arts majors… nearly everyone is in a program that leads to a career of some sort.. Interesting. And tuition (though a lot less than US) is based on your major.. So law or medicine costs more than education… or social work. And while NZ’s government which they describe as neo-liberal and like the US ? has socialized medicine which is a throwback to the days when they had a more socialist government.. Australians pay for their medical care in a similar way to the US, but the cost is staggeringly less than what we pay for private insurance. No one knows too much about air bnbs– but they say they are coming quickly to Australia and NZ.. I also heard a lot about the Catholic universities and schools which apparently get a lot of government funding due to the power they hold… but it’s resented. And the “engagement” of the Catholic universities is heavily focused on bringing services to East Timor and to African countries.

At the dinner, they awarded the White Ribbon organization (focuses on domestic violence against women) with a check. Apparently the organization (Engage Australia) donates the funds they would have provided to a keynote speaker to a nonprofit each year.. Very nice..

Walked back to the hotel through this little alley and path.. and I’m back in my room and ready to crash.. I think it is about 5 am your time on Tuesday.. you haven’t even started your Tuesday yet.. about 10 pm my time on Tuesday.. I’ve already lived through Tuesday; totally amazing.

Best — See you in less than 48 hours

Fern