Past news

Free public lecture with Professor Michael Taussig (Columbia University)

Authors, artists and musicians engage with Behrouz Boochani’s novel: No Friend but the Mountains. Live recording of event now available.

A public lecture with Dr Marc Glöde, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Dr Glöde will give an insight into his research developed at NTU CCA Singapore.

Professor Irit Rogoff presented a public lecture at the University of Melbourne on the concept of 'exhausted geographies'.

In 2017 the Research Unit in Public Cultures has made efforts to rethink our relationship to both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. In this spirit, we asked our RUPC Graduate Academy: ‘Does data make a difference?’

Leading researchers gathered together to discuss the key role of urban space in enhancing urban accessibility and creating urban public life.

The RUPC was pleased to host the seminar “Curating ‘The European refugee crisis’” with our visiting research fellow Dr Karina Horsti, from the University of Jyväskylä.

The 'Multiculturalism and Governance Report: Evaluating Arts Policies and Engaging Cultural Citizenship', authored by RUPC members Rimi Khan, Audrey Yue, Nikos Papastergiadis and Danielle Wyatt, is now available to read online.

On Thursday 21st September, The RUPC was pleased to host the seminar, entitled “Developing Digital Methods to Map Museum ‘Soft Power’”, from our Research Fellow Dr Natalia Grincheva.

Recently RUPC Graduate Academy member Fiona Whitworth gave a public seminar on ‘Monitoring People in Public’.

The Research Unit in Public Cultures was thrilled to host the public lecture from Rod Quantock, OAM, the Chief Investigator of a 12- month creative research project, The Last Tim Tam.

The Research Unit in Public Cultures, in collaboration with Thesis Eleven and The Greek Centre for Contemporary Culture, were pleased to host a night in conversation with renowned sociologist Craig Calhoun.

In February 2017, RUPC director Nikos Papastergiadis gave a lecture at the Potential Spaces Conference. The documentery of this conference is now available online.

In December 2016, the RUPC hosted a one-day symposium on Participatory Public Space. The contributions from Miyase Christensen, Lu Ye, Gary Gumpert and Susan Drucker, as well as RUPC members Nikos Papastergiadis, Scott McQuire, Amelia Barikin, and Danny Butt are now available online.

The Law Literature and Humanities Association of Australasia (LLHAA) has awarded the 2015 Penny Pether Prize to RUPC executive member Professor Alison Young for her book Street Art, Public City. Congratulations, Alison!

Kirsten Emiko McAllister is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University in Canada. Her research areas include memory studies, visual studies and political violence. Using fieldwork, archival research, spatial analysis and interviews she has researched questions of memory and space in relation to Japanese Canadian internment camps and refugees seeking asylum in countries like Canada and the UK.

Professor Kong is Provost at Singapore Management University, Singapore. Professor Kong is widely regarded as a thought leader in religion, cultural policy and creative economy, heritage and conservation, and national identity.

Professor Nikos Papastergiadis was invited to speak at the launch of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25) in Berlin this February.

As I take up my new position as incoming Director, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our founding and outgoing Director Professor Nikos Papastergiadis for his leadership over the past three years.

Rimi Khan is Research Fellow in the School of Culture and Communication at The University of Melbourne, Australia. Her publications have appeared in a number of scholarly journals, including The International Journal of Cultural Policy and the Journal of Sociology.

Deakin University recently hosted the inaugural TEDxDeakinUni. This conference brought together scientists, artists, thinkers and creators to discuss the theme 'All Around' and the forces of pervasiveness that are shaping the conditions for the emergence of new possible worlds.

RUPC Series issue 3 and issue 5.

Last year Professor Nikos Papastergiadis, Director of RUPC, and numerous colleagues worked on a winning bid for their design of a site-specific public sculpture installation reflecting Australia's immigration history, which has just been announced in April 2015.

On the eve of the 5th Auckland Triennial, Natalie King conducted a candid, public conversation with acclaimed biennial curator, Hou Hanru at Asialink, University of Melbourne.