The following article was copied from today's NZ Herald:
________________________________________________________
Colin James: Crunch time for Maharey's tertiary research funding
24.02.2004
COMMENT
On March 23 an official study into the quality of university research is due
to be published. It may well not make reassuring reading.
Research is at the core of the Government's growth policy (though its
spending is still below the OECD average, let alone compensating for the
miserly private effort).
It is also a core element in Tertiary Education Minister Steve Maharey's
drive to differentiate (academic) universities from (practical)
polytechnics.
Maharey has siphoned $5 million of university funding into a
performance-based research fund. Another $20 million is due in the three
years 2005-07. Previously university research had to compete for money with
teaching and administration and the EFT (equivalent full-time student)
funding system steered institutions towards attracting maximum numbers of
students.
Now Maharey faces a crunch. Hints are that his quality study - an
international peer review of researchers - rates universities here modestly
at best by comparison with Britain, even in the case of some farm-oriented
research, which is vital to our economy.
Should Maharey therefore concentrate his research funding on one university
- Auckland's track record makes it the obvious candidate - make it
world-class and let the others wither? Should he spread his money around
among "sites of excellence" in all universities? Or a mixture?
Probably the last, though that also probably means Auckland will keep and
build on its national pre-eminence and outlier universities will find it
increasingly difficult to attract the top students and postgraduate students
- and eventually top teachers - that go with top research.
Research funding is also a tool for differentiating universities from
polytechnics. A Tertiary Education Commission report defining their roles
and those of teachers colleges, Maori waananga and private training
establishments is to go to the Cabinet soon and is due for release late next
month or in April.
This is the beginning of Maharey's bigger challenge: to rationalise
resources between universities and between the university and polytechnic
systems.
EFT funding was essentially a payment for bums on seats in lecture theatres.
That helped lift numbers dramatically in the 1990s. But, coupled with
constraints on overall funding, it also provided an incentive to emphasise
courses that could be taught at low cost or in large volumes.
And, because there were few constraints on what different institutions could
teach, universities started offering sub-degree courses and polytechnics
degree and postgraduate courses. That is, they began poaching off each
other. Some polytechnics aspired to be universities in name and Auckland
University of Technology succeeded.
Maharey has put a stop to that. Next comes the definition of roles. He is
likely to urge universities to focus on academic teaching - degrees and
postgraduate study - backed by world-class scholarship and research, and
limit sub-degree courses to disadvantaged groups being prepared for degree
study. He is likely to urge polytechnics to focus on vocational teaching and
practical education and applied technological research that supports
industry innovation, particularly in their regions.
There will be consultation - and controversy. But Maharey wants the
definitions reflected in the institutions' profiles - their definitions of
what they say they do - for next year.
Then the TEC can start prodding them to reduce duplication of courses,
concentrate on courses they are strong in and, in universities' case, focus
more on value than on volume - even cap numbers, perhaps over time steer
some whose aptitudes suggest they should not be on expensive university
courses to less expensive polytechnic courses. But any reallocation of
resources to reflect or stimulate that will not start to take effect for two
years.
That, however, will still not deal with a deeper issue: does the system
maximise talent or does it preserve middle-class privilege?
A teenager in a decile 10 suburb (the richest) is more likely to go to
university than one in a decile 9 suburb and so on all the way to decile 1.
For Maharey's system to be making the most of talent at university level,
decile 1 kids would have to be dumber than decile 10 kids. Christine
Fernyhough's Gifted Kids programme has falsified that.
Maharey would claim he has programmes to dredge low-decile kids into the
system. The waananga, for all their faults, seem to be first-stepping Maori
dropouts, recovering wasted talent.
But Maharey has a long way to go if he is to get every milligram of talent
at the research coalface. Which he needs if he is to get this tiny country
up to world class. *
http://jobs.unitec.ac.nz/index.cfm?JOM_ID=2C&JOB_UUID=20040219733
Senior Lecturer Design History and Theory
UNITEC - School of Design
Auckland, New Zealand
Applications close: Wednesday, 17 March 2004
The School of Design has long been recognised as an innovator in the field
of Design History and Theory. We are now looking for someone capable of
expanding this area further and willing to lead a committed and diverse team
of academics.
The ideal candidate will have a PhD or Master¹s degree in an appropriate
field of study and/or a proven track record in research and publishing in
the field of Design.
Candidates should have a strong understanding of the cultural, intellectual
and commercial role that design plays in the wider environment, both as it
applies to New Zealand and to the wider international context. Knowledge
and understanding of the current issues facing designers and artists in
practise is essential.
If you're keen to grow your career in a forward-thinking, supportive culture
that offers an outstanding working environment out of the city, we'd like to
hear from you.
Please apply on-line by clicking on the APPLY button on the right and attach
your CV (in Word format) and details.
For further details on the role listed above click on the DOWNLOAD button.
If you are an overseas applicant without NZ citizenship or residency please
be aware that your application may not be accepted due to immigration
requirements.
>Running from ACMI, and with a significant online forum which should
>be kicking off soon
especially relevant with the Brashionals making too much ruinning,
and Labour too slow in counterattack?
apologies for cross-posting
sean
> > How is cultural difference represented in new media and contemporary art?
>>
>> EMPIRES, RUINS + NETWORKS: Art in Real Time Culture
>> April 2 - 4 2004, Australian Centre for the Moving Image
>> http://www.acmi.net.au/empires
>>
>> EMPIRES, NETWORKS + RUINS sets out to provoke a dialogue between art and
>> politics. It asks artists, critics and curators to think of the place and
>> function of art in the contemporary world. It questions how artists can
>> contribute to cultural and technological change.
>>
>> While the debates on art and cultural difference have been raging for
>> decades, current circumstances are compelling us to reframe the issues.
>>
>> Drawing together an exciting mix of local and international thinkers and
>> artists, the emphasis of EMPIRES, NETWORKS + RUINS will be peer-to-peer
>> participation and discussion. High quality presentations will open the
>> space for discussion, workshops and critical feedback in open forums.
>>
>> You are invited to register and join the dialogue with speakers and
>> participants that have been drawn from around the world including North
>> and South America, Oceania, Africa, Asia and Europe.
>>
>> PLEASE REGISTER NOW
>> Book online at http://www.acmi.net.au/empires
>> Email empires(a)acmi.net.au for more details
>> Phone Bookings: 03 8663 2583
>> Phone Inquires: 03 8663 2426
>>
>> CONFERENCE PROGRAM
>> Full conference includes keynote address and two days of the event: Full
>> $375 Con $121
>> Friday April 2, 7.30pm
>>
>> Keynote address
>> CRISIS IN GLOBAL CAPITAL AND THE WAR ON CULTURE
>> Okwui Enwezor (USA) Artistic Director, Documenta
>> Single ticket available only for the Keynote address: Full $18, Concession
>> $10
>>
>> Born in Nigeria, Okwui Enwezor is the Artistic Director of Documenta11, in
>> Kassel Germany, 2002. He was the Artistic Director of the 2nd Johannesburg
>> Biennale, 1997. Enwezor until recently held a position as the Adjunct
>> Curator of Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago. He is the
>> publisher and founding editor of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art,
>> a critical art journal co-published with the African Studies Center at
>> Cornell University. A poet, critic, and curator, Enwezor has written
>> extensively on contemporary African art and artists, as well as on
>> American and international art and artists.
>>
>> Saturday April 3
>>
>> Morning session
>> MAPPING FLOWS AND LINKING CLUSTERS
>> Lisa Reihana (Aotearoa/ New Zealand) Artist
>> Carlos Cappelan (Uruguay/Spain) Artist
>> Kendell Geers (South Africa) Artist
>>
>> Afternoon session
>> RACIALIZED SPACES: THE WITNESS IN THE AGE OF SURVEILLANCE
>> Stefano Boeri (Italy) Architect, Multiplicity
>> Simryn Gill (Australia/Malaysia) Artist
>> Ana Kokkinos (Australia) Filmmaker
>>
>> Sunday April 4
>> Morning session
>> THE BURDEN OF CULTURE IN THE GLOBAL CITY
>> Don Bates (USA/ Australia) Architect, LAB Architecture Studio
>> Eddie Berg (UK), Executive Director, FACT, Liverpool
>> Virginia Pérez Rattón (Costa Rica) Director TEOR/éTica
>>
>> Afternoon
>> NEW MODELS OF COLLABORATION
>> Ross Gibson (Australia) Research Professor of New Media & Digital Culture,
>> UTS.
>> Marina Fokidis (Greece) Director of Oxymoron Artspace, Greece.
>> Nikos Papastergiadis (Australia) Deputy Director. Australia Centre,
>> University of Melbourne.
>>
>> Visit the website for more details: http://www.acmi.net.au/empires
>> PLEASE REGISTER NOW
>> Book online at http://www.acmi.net.au/empires
>>
>>
>> Presented by The Australian Centre, University of Melbourne, the Media and
>> Communications Program, University of Melbourne, and the Australian Centre
>> for the Moving Image.
>> This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the
>> Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. It is an initiative
> > of the Australia Council's Arts in a Multicultural Australia Policy.
>> Cecelia Cmielewski
>> Senior Policy and Research Officer
>> Policy Communication Research
>> tel 02 9215 9026
>> fax 02 9215 9062
>>
>> empires ruins +networks conference: http://www.acmi.net.au/empires
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>delete all copies of this email. If you are not the intended recipient, you
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>
>Any information provided by a Council, Board, Committee or staff member
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--
Sean Cubitt * Screen and Media Studies * University of Waikato *
Private Bag 3105 * Hamilton * New Zealand * seanc(a)waikato.ac.nz * T:
+64 (0)7 838 4543 * F: +64 (0)7 838 4767
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/film
The Cinema Effect, MIT Press, March 2004 http://www-mitpress.mit.edu/
Free public lecture: Kestutis Kuzinas / Director of Lithuania's Contemporary
Art Centre
Venue: Physics Room (2nd floor, 209 Tuam St, Christchurch)
Date: Monday 23 February, 6pm
Kestius Kuzinas is one of the most important curatorial forces in
contemporary Eastern European art today. During his brief visit to
Christchurch he will speak about his organisation the Contemporary Art
Centre (CAC) in Vilnius, Lithuania - its history, exhibition strategy,
funding, and place in the European and international contexts.
This is a unique opportunity to find out about the continuing struggle of
younger artists and curators working in contemporary practice and new media
in the highly conservative artistic and political culture of formerly
Communist Europe, and how the CAC has survived as a vital venue for
contemporary experimental art.
Kestutis Kuizinas has been Director of the Contemporary Art Centre since it
began in 1992. He is a member of A.I.C.A. (Association Internationale des
Critiques d'Art), and has curated a number of major exhibitions in Lithuania
and other countries including "Cool Places. The 7th Young Baltic Art
Triennial" and "Lithuanian Art 1989-1999". Kuizinas has also been invited to
curate projects for international contemporary art festivals including the
Lithuanian Pavilion at the 49th Venice Biennial (2001) and in the 26th
Biennial of Sao Paolo (2004).
The Contemporary Art Centre is the largest venue for contemporary art in the
Baltic states (which include Estonia and Latvia) and consistently exhibits
the newest international trends in art. It also organises retrospective
exhibitions of artists from Lithuania and abroad, attracting over 100 000
visitors a year.
The building was inaugurated in 1968 as the Art Exhibition Palace. Until
1988, it was run as a branch of the Lithuanian Museum of Art. From 1992 the
CAC became a separate institution under the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture.
More information can be found on the Contemporary Art Centre's website:
http://www.cac.lt
Kestutis Kuizinas visits New Zealand as part of the Artspace / Creative NZ
international visitor's programme. His stay in Christchurch is hosted by Art
& Industry Biennial Trust and the Physics Room.
Rosemary Forde
Director
The Physics Room contemporary art project space
PO Box 22 351, Christchurch, New Zealand
ph. +64 3 379 5583
fax. +64 3 379 6063
www.physicsroom.org.nz
The Physics Room receives annual funding from Creative New Zealand / Toi
Aotearoa
Hi Ada's,
Just wanted to let you know about a presentation that we're doing tomorrow
in Wellington, which is about some of the work we've done in the Baltic
country of Latvia. The lecture was organised by the ex-pat Latvian
community, but its completely open to anyone, and we would like to invite
our friends to come along too.
As well as the presentation itself, there will be traditional Latvian food
and a general Baltic ambience.
If any of you are free and in town, it would be great if you could come
along :-)
best
Honor
13 February 2004 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
r a d i o q u a l i a - Baltic Interconnections
New Zealand new media artists, Honor Harger and Adam Hyde of r a d i o q u
a l i a, will be giving a free public presentation this Sunday 15th
February on their recent work in the Baltic country of Latvia.
Time:
2pm, Sunday 15th February
Venue:
St Mary's Church Hall
170 Karori Road
Karori
Wellington
Detailed information follows:
r a d i o q u a l i a
http://www.radioqualia.net
r a d i o q u a l i a is an art collaboration from New Zealand which is now
based in Europe. The participants are Honor Harger and Adam Hyde.
r a d i o q u a l i a experiments with the concept of artistic
broadcasting, using the internet and traditional media forms, such as radio
and television, as primary tools. We are also interested in ways that
audio can be used to illuminate abstract ideas and processes. We work in
gallery, performance, broadcast and publishing contexts.
r a d i o q u a l i a's work has been exhibited at the New Museum of
Contemporary Art in New York; the Generali Foundation, Vienna, Austria;
Gallery 9, Walker Art Center, USA; Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, UK; Sonar
2001 in Barcelona, Spain; VideoPositive2000 in Liverpool, UK; the Machida
City Museum of Graphic Arts, Tokyo, Japan; Infowar - Ars Electronica 98 and
LifeScience - Ars Electronica 99 in Linz, Austria; the Bregenz Festival 98
in Austria; Iona Gallery, Scotland; the Lux Centre in London, UK; the
Experimental Art Foundation in Adelaide, Australia; CACSA in Adelaide,
Australia; The Physics Room in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the HDLU in
Zagreb, Croatia, among other places. r a d i o q u a l i a have lectured
and taught internationally at the American Film Institute, Los Angeles; the
University of Amsterdam, the Banff Centre of the Arts, Canada; the Museum
of Science and Technology, Vienna, Austria and many other contexts.
r a d i o q u a l i a are currently producing a major project about radio
astronomy with the support of the Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art,
Science, and Technology.
More information about r a d i o q u a l i a's work is available at:
http://www.radioqualia.net/
Images can be seen at: http://www.radioqualia.net/documentation
* r a d i o q u a l i a in Latvia
r a d i o q u a l i a became involved with the Latvian new media community
through work with net.radio in the mid-late 1990s. Net.radio as a loosely
defined movement initially became visible through the activities of a
network of musicians, DJs and sound artists called Xchange.
* Xchange
http://xchange.re-lab.net
Initiated by Latvian media art collective, e-Lab <http://www.re-lab.net>,
Xchange began life as a website and a mailing list documenting the growing
number of artists' groups experimenting with radio online. As the network
matured it grew into one of the earliest international communities of
artists, broadcasters and musicians working together online on audio
projects. There are now approximately 200 organisations and individuals
subscribed to the Xchange mailing list.
Since beginning collaborations with Xchange, r a d i o q u a l i a have
worked with e-Lab (who have now evolved into the cultural centre, RIXC) on
a number of projects. Probably most notable recent collaboration has been
the Acoustic Space-Lab.
* Acoustic Space Lab
http://acoustic.space.re-lab.net/lab/
In August 2001 r a d i o q u a l i a participated in the Acoustic Space Lab
at the Ventspils International Radio Astonomy Center (VIRAC) in Latvia.
This creative workshop and symposium was attended by 25 artists, scientists
and researchers from many different countries.
The occasion was to explore the a 32 metre satellite dish located in the
forests of Latvia west of Riga.
While participating in the Acoustic Space Lab, were surprised to discover
that though space was audible, there were few opportunities for
non-scientific personnel to 'listen to space'. In a response to this
situation, r a d i o q u a l i a began work on creating Radio Astronomy in
the literal sense - a radio station devoted to broadcasting sounds from
space. The Radio Astronomy project will manifest as an online radio
station, transmitting audio from radio telescopes. This work is being
carried out in collaboration with VIRAC and RICX.
* Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Center (VIRAC), Latvia
http://www.virac.lv
In 1994 the Latvian Academy of Sciences assumed possesion of 32m and 16m
fully steerable parabolic antennae from the former Space Communication
Center of the Russian army. This former spy satellite dish was abandoned
and nearly destroyed as the Soviet occupying forces retreated from Latvia
in 1994. Since then a small group of Latvian scientists have dedicated
themselves to the resurrection of the dish and have returned the radio
telescope to complete functionality.
VIRAC's 32M array is one of the ten best antennae in the world. An
important part of VIRAC's role is its participation in the Low-Frequency
Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network which connects radio telescopes
across Europe and Asia. VIRAC is one of the only facilities of its kind
in the world which has invited artists to visit and carry out research.
RIXC have produced a DVD which documents the work of VIRAC and the
Acoustic Space Lab symposium.
In 2003, r a d i o q u a l i a also participated in another event in
Latvia, the Locative Media workshop in Karosta.
* the Locative Media Workshop
http://locative.x-i.net
The Locative Media Workshop brought an international group of artists and
researchers to the K@2 Culture and Information Centre in Karosta (an
partially abandoned military installation on the coast of the Baltic Sea
resembling ('the Zone' from Tarkovsky's 'Stalker') to explore the potential
of this new mapping paradigms, both conceptually and through the creative
use of GPS technologies.
* About Karosta
http://www.karosta.org + http://www.karosta.lv
Karosta, Latvian for 'war port', was built by order of the Russian Tzar
Alexander III as a military port in the Baltic region. After the Soviet
occupation of Latvia, Karosta became a military base housing some 25000 and
was closed to civilians by a fortress wall was build all around the whole
city. The Soviet army evacuated Karosta in 1994, following Latvian
independence, leaving behind some 6000 people. Mostly Russian speaking, the
stateless citizens of Karosta either carry Latvian issued so-called 'alien'
passports, or old Soviet ones. Today the town appears to be a landscape of
ruins. Many houses are completely destroyed, and the town is plagued by
mass unemployment. After and experience setting-up arts workshops there,
documentary film-makers Kristine Briede & Carl Biorsmark began making a
film on Karosta and subsequently decided to step through the screen to
"become documentary social workers" with the inauguration of the K@2
Culture and Information Centre in December 2000.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Jeremy Scrivener on 021 433 658
email: jscriv(a)hotmail.com
honor(a)va.com.au
r a d i o q u a l i a:
http://www.radioqualia.net
*
present location: wellington, .nz
temp sms: +64 (0)21 1750264
*
current work:
radio astronomy: the space station
http://frequencyclock.montevideo.nl/pMachineFree2.2.1/weblog.php?id=C0_4_1
Hi
I'm out of the office from the 9th to the 23rd February. For any enquiries during my absence please contact tom.eslinger(a)saatchi.co.nz.
Kind Regards, Lara Bowen
+64 4 385 6524
www.saatchi.com
Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand