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Newsroom FeedNewsroom
Obama needs to find a way to kick some goals at home
30 July 2010
The Australian
President Obama lacks the common touch that made Reagan and Clinton popular leaders, according to Brendon O'Connor, Associate Professor in American Politics at the US Studies Centre. O'Connor says that the ailing economy is adding to the President's woes due to the tendency of the American public to pin economic blame on the man in the White House. Read article
Adaptation the best climate change policy
30 July 2010
ABC The Drum Unleashed
Tom Switzer says that however much there may be a scientific consensus on man-made global warming, the fact remains no policy or global consensus exists. Without these conditions, Switzer argues unilateral action to price carbon would inflict collateral damage on the Australian economy, in terms of higher energy prices, lost jobs and lower growth. Tom Switzer is a Research Associate at the US Studies Centre. Read article
Notes on America: Appointments, goodbyes and infrastructure funding
29 July 2010
In this edition:
- A launch, a prize and a long goodbye
- New postdoctoral fellows program coordinator
- US infrastructure funding model born of necessity
- Events and commentary Read More
Good infrastructure a key ingredient for prospering cities
29 July 2010
Well funded and smartly planned infrastructure is a feature of the world's most productive cities. In this interview Gregory Hummel, a Chicago based legal expert on urban planning talks about the role of public-private partnerships, explains how Tax Increment Financing works and attests to the importance of this taxation method in the economic development of many American cities. Hummel also gives his views on how Australia's infrastructure issues can be addressed. Watch Online
How to deal with a strong China?
28 July 2010
The Age (online)
James Fallows says that Australia has three big advantages in dealing with an ever more powerful China. However, he also notes that China has a long way to go before it rivals America's economic and military might. James Fallows is Chair in US Media at the US Studies Centre. Read article
Susan Vogel: African art, Western eyes
25 July 2010
ABC Radio National
Susan Vogel is one of the world's leading experts on African art and also has a new film, Fold Crumple Crush, a documentary about El Amatsul, a Ghanian artist living in Nigeria. Susan Vogel, a guest of the US Studies Centre, talks to Lyn Gallacher about her film and her groundbreaking book African Art, Western Eyes. Listen Online
Obama jumps to the left, Gillard steps to the right
24 July 2010
Sydney Morning Herald
Geoffrey Garrett says in the run-up to elections in both countries this year, Julia Gillard and Barack Obama are each taking stances at odds with their own parties' traditional positions. Geoffrey Garrett is chief executive of the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Read article
Centre to co-host innovative infrastructure funding forum
23 July 2010
Innovative US methods to fund public infrastructure projects will be explored as part of a forum in Sydney next Tuesday 27 July co-hosted by the US Studies Centre and Sinclair Knight Merz, a Sydney based international engineering and project delivery firm. Read More
US future uncertain ahead of interest rate meeting
22 July 2010
ABC Lateline Business
US Studies Centre CEO Geoffrey Garrett comments on the news that US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke has told Congress the future is 'unusually uncertain', adding to global tensions. Read Transcript or Watch Online
Notes on America: Confederate guerrillas & international prizes
22 July 2010
In this edition:
- Guns, fraud & guerrillas: a new history of the US Civil War
- Leading thoughts on US infrastructure funding
- US politics student wins international essay prize
- Events and commentary Read More
US politics student wins international essay prize
21 July 2010
What began as an assignment for the Introduction to US Politics course taught by the Centre’s Associate Professor Brendon O’Connor, has won Arts/Law student Josh Marks a prestigious international essay prize.
Marks’ work on what the long battle to enact healthcare reform signified about the state of politics in Obama’s America was awarded second prize in the 2010 Institute for the Study of the Americas (ISA) Undergraduate Essay Prize Competition this month. The ISA is part of the University of London’s School of Advanced Study.
Marks, a third-year student enrolled at ANU, receives 150 pounds and an invitation to consider postgraduate study at the ISA as part of the prize.
He says he’s now enthusiastic to continue studying US politics and is already planning to look into applying for an internship in Washington DC. Read Josh Marks' essay
Legacy on the line
20 July 2010
Inside Story
Barack Obama’s policies are starting to fall into place. So why is his approval rating so low, asks Lesley Russell. Read Article
Like the US, Australia remains a centre-right nation
19 July 2010
The Australian Financial Review
The Australian Prime Minister's conservatism is not genuine warns Tom Switzer. Read Article
Teacher program helps students race to the top
19 July 2010
The Canberra Times
An American scheme is transforming education for the poor, Lesley Russell writes. Read Article
Notes on America: Presidential exception & oil spill health
15 July 2010
In this edition:
- Obama: The exception to prove the rule?
- Public health should be oil spill priority
- Events and commentary Read More
Obama to bounce back at mid terms
14 July 2010
SBS World News
The BP oil spill has been enormously damaging to US President Barack Obama but how seriously has it affected the Democrat's chances at the mid term elections in November? In this interview, Director of the Center for Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Michigan, Professor Kevin Gaines, says he expects the Obama administration to survive. Watch Online
Race relations in Obama's America
14 July 2010
SBS World View
Prize-winning author and professor Kevin Gaines, from the University of Michigan's Centre for Afro-American and African Studies, is asked what he feels the first year and a half of Barack Obama's presidency has meant to race relations in America. Listen Online
Obama: The exception to prove the rule?
14 July 2010
Despite claims to the contrary, Barack Obama's presidency does not herald a post-racial America or a new black politics, according to US Studies Centre visitor, African-American cultural expert, Professor Kevin Gaines. Gaines is the Director of the Center for Afro-American and African Studies, and Professor of History at the University of Michigan and in this interview he discusses the topic of Barack Obama and African American politics. Watch Online
Barack Obama: hope or disappointment?
14 July 2010
ABC The World Today
Director of the Centre for Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Michigan Kevin Gaines discusses Barack Obama's falling opinion polls and how his election as the country's first black president is not proving to be the turning point on race that so many had hoped for. Professor Gaines says there remains an almost primal fear amongst many Americans about black people in positions of power. Listen Online
Australia faces tough contest with US for Asian students
14 July 2010
National Times
Australian universities are facing the challenge of competing for Asia's best students against global brands such as Berkeley and UCLA. In this article, Dr Sean Gallagher says after two decades of practically unrivalled access, Australian universities need to review their comparative advantage against this new and formidable competition. Sean Gallagher is the Chief Operating Officer of the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Read article
Dr Mark Geiger on 'Financial Fraud and Guerrilla Violence in Missouri's Civil War, 1861-1865'
14 July 2010
In this interview, author Mark Geiger discusses his book about the guerrilla conflict that raged in the state of Missouri during the American Civil War. Geiger gives an overview of the reasons for the extreme violence in Missouri, what made it distinct from other regions in the war. He also provides an insight into parallels with other civil wars and the potential errors that historians can make by overlooking certain types of evidence in their reconstruction of the past. Watch Online
US steps in to poach foreign students
14 July 2010
Sydney Morning Herald
Universities in the United States are stepping up their efforts to entice international students to study in America. Dr Sean Gallagher, Chief Operating Officer of the US Studies Centre, features in this article saying there has been a real and perceived decline in Australia's ability to deliver a quality education, a secure and safe environment, affordability and a pathway to a residential visa. Read article
Gulf oil spill, the economy and immigration test Obama's presidency
13 July 2010
Sky News
Director of the Centre for Afro-American and African Studies and Professor of History at the University of Michigan Kevin Gaines says the Obama administration faces enormous challenges including job creation in a time of financial crisis, the Gulf oil spill and immigration policy. Watch Online
US court out on its own
9 July 2010
The Australian
Recent decisions reveal that the majority justices of the US Supreme Court are being driven by political agendas according to David Weisbrot, professor of legal policy at the US Studies Centre. The issues of focus in this article are gun control and large corporate political donations. Read article
Top secret leaks, executive power and democracy
8 July 2010
Judith Ehrlich co-directed the Academy Award nominated documentary The Most Dangerous Man In America which tells the story of US government official Daniel Ellsberg's leak of classified information about five Presidents' involvement in the Vietnam War. Known as the "Pentagon Papers", Ehrlich says that the leak changed the relationship between US citizens and their government. In this interview Ehrlich also discusses the continued significance of leaks and how executive power remains highly concentrated in the Obama administration. Watch Online
Notes on America: Minding the Gap, American Power and McGovern
8 July 2010
In this edition:
- Minding the Gap for ethical supply chains
- Obama makes history for Australian teachers
- The Campaign Tapes: George McGovern
- News and commentary Read More
Susan Vogel on African art
8 July 2010
In this interview Susan Vogel, documentary filmmaker and Professor of Art History at Columbia University, discusses the reasons for the popularity of antiquated and contemporary African art in the United States. Vogel says it is America's racial composition more than racial politics that explains the growth in its popularity. Vogel also discusses how collections and exhibitions in America are funded. Watch Online
Professor elected to New York Regional Plan Association
7 July 2010
US Studies Centre Honorary Professor in Urban Policy, Edward Blakely, has been elected to the Board of the New York Regional Plan Association (RPA). The Association is is America's oldest and most distinguished independent urban research and advocacy group. Blakely, a disaster recovery expert, has been elected to the RPA Board because of his continuing contribution to re-planning New York following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Better more cameras than more crime
6 July 2010
This debate about the use of closed-circuit cameras as a tool to combat crime features the US Studies Centre's Honorary Professor in Legal Policy, David Weisbrot. Watch Online
People are more than gene machines: genetic code
3 July 2010
The Australian
Along with the great promise that genetic technology brings to human suffering, David Weisbrot argues that the flood of new and often poorly understood genetic information poses ethical, legal and social dilemmas. David Weisbrot is Professor of Legal Policy at the US Studies Centre. Read article
Notes on America: Innovation, inequality and unemployment
1 July 2010
In this edition:
- Australian biotechs not matching US innovation
- Race: Where you live shapes what you think
- US long-term unemployment at record highs
- News and commentary Read More
