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MARCH 2018
AUSTRALIA-US DELEGATION
USSC in Washington
The United States Studies Centre (USSC) was among the massive delegation that accompanied Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to Washington, DC in February, where he met with President Donald Trump. During the visit, USSC CEO Professor Simon Jackman hosted an infrastructure and innovation luncheon with top Australian and US political and business figures. The Premier of New South Wales, the Hon. Gladys Berejiklian, MP, and Chief Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, Lucy Turnbull, AO, both addressed the audience as special guests of the Centre.
Read Simon Jackman's full recap of the trip here.
ACADEMIC FELLOWSHIPS
Experts abroad
Both Dr Gorana Grgic (pictured) and Dr David Smith have been awarded fellowships as visiting scholars at Harvard University and the London School of Economics, respectively.
Dr Grgic will be a Visiting Scholar at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES) at Harvard University between February and July 2019. During her time there, Dr Grgic will be working on a research project titled 'The Politics of Deprioritization: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Western Balkans (2000-2016)' with the intention of turning it into a book manuscript.
Dr Smith will be a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics based at the prestigious United States Centre. During his time there, Dr Smith will work alongside some of the most internationally respected voices on the United States.
EVENTS
Trump and the US presidency: The past, present and future of America’s highest office
Dr Charles Edel’s new report looks at the history of the US presidential office, the limits of presidential power and the unique stress test the office is being subjected to under President Donald Trump.
Trump and the US presidency: The past, present and future of America’s highest office draws on an incredible array of historical anecdotes and incidents to demonstrate the ways in which sitting presidents can stretch, shrink, create, and destroy the remit of the president of the United States.
The report will be launched on 12 April by Dr Edel and Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Richard McGregor.
DATE & TIME
12 April 2018
6pm–7.30pm
LOCATION
PNR Lecture Theatre 2, Peter Nicol Russel Building, Maze Crescent, University of Sydney, Darlington NSW 2008
COST
$10
Maritime security in the Indo-Pacific with Admiral Scott H. Swift
Admiral Scott H. Swift commands US Pacific Fleet, which consists of 200 ships and submarines, 1,100 aircraft and 130,000 sailors and civilians in an area that encompasses 100 million square miles across the Indo-Pacific region.
The USSC is honoured to host a public event with the Admiral, where he will talk about the maritime security challenges and opportunities the United States and its allies face to help maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific within the context of growing great power competition in the region.
DATE & TIME
17 April 2018
5pm–6.30pm
LOCATION
Holme Building Refectory Room
COST
Free, but registration required
Violent crime in the United States: Focus, prevention and legitimacy
Something has changed in the US gun debate: The students are marching. The recent ‘March for our Lives’ protests in Washington reached a scale reminiscent of the civil rights movements of the previous century. Whilst most of the talk is about guns, the discussion can’t be separated from violence.
In light of this renewed public pressure, the question that follows is what can be changed?
On 18 April, Professor David Kennedy, the Director of the US National Network for Safe Communities along with Rachel Locke, its Director of International Interventions, will join the USSC senior lecturer in American politics, Dr David Smith, to discuss how an integrated strategy that narrows in on the specific drivers of violence can keep communities safe, lower homicides and address drug markets.
DATE & TIME
18 April 2018
6pm–7.30pm
LOCATION
Law School Foyer, University of Sydney
COST
$10
CENTRE NEWS
Australia and the 2018 US midterm elections: A primer
The Centre's Foreign Policy and Defence program released a new brief in March looking at the upcoming US midterms and their relevance to Australia.
Dougal Robinson and Matilda Steward's co-authored Australia and the 2018 US midterm elections: A primer examines what's at stake when Americans go to the polls in November. Robinson and Steward flag deeper partisanship in Washington, dysfunctional government, more risk of shutdowns and negative signs for the Pentagon, trade and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
This is Matilda Steward's first published research at the USSC.
Read the full brief here.
Lambda nomination
The Centre's 2017 visiting scholar Julio Capo, Jr. has been nominated for a prestigious Lambda Literary Award for his new book, Welcome to Fairyland: Queer Miami Before 1940, which was the focus of research conducted during his USSC tenure.
It examines how members of the LGBTIQ community were able to leave a distinct imprint on Miami’s social, cultural and urban landscape. The book has already won three Florida Historical Society (FHS) awards – the Rembert Patrick Award; Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore Award; and Stetson Kennedy Award. It's the first time in 20 years a book has won in three FHS categories.
The Lambda Awards celebrate achievement in LGBTIQ writing and Capo, Jr. is nominated for LGBTIQ Studies. Winners will be announced on 4 June 2018.
First book
Harvard University Press has recently published former USSC postdoctoral fellow Carrie Hyde’s first book. Civic Longing: The Speculative Origins of U.S. Citizenship explores how the forms and ideas of citizenship were made and remade in the early United States.
Hyde traces and demonstrates how in the absence of a legal definition of citizenship, early US politicians and writers relied on political philosophy, Christian theology, natural law, fiction, and didactic literature to authorise visions of what citizenship was or should be.
Spend the winter break at UCLA
Applications have opened for the UCLA Study Abroad Program run by the USSC in partnership with the Perth USAsia Centre.
The program offers undergraduate students at the University of Sydney, University of New South Wales and University of Western Australia an exclusive opportunity to study at UCLA in the winter break.
Applications close 2 April. More information here.
Special Fulbright applications open
In June 2017, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in conjunction with the US State Department announced the creation of four one-time
Fulbright scholarships to celebrate 100 years of Australian-American mateship. The special awards are for two American citizens and two Australian citizens with the aim to advance scholarship in the fields of strategic studies, technology and innovation.
Applications are now open and will close on 1 August for Americans, and on 15 July for Australians.
O-Week
The University of Sydney's Orientation Week 2018 ran from 26 February-2 March. The USSC had a stall on Eastern Avenue and partnered with the United States Studies Society and the Sydney University United Nations Society to hold a number of special events.
These included a career panel, a book exchange, and a particularly popular trivia night.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The future of cyberspace in the Indo-Pacific: Former White House Senior Director for Cybersecurity Policy Chris Painter gave a public lecture and Q&A on how cyber issues will shape the Indo-Pacific. Listen to podcast.
Australia-Japan-US strategic relations and Indo-Pacific security: Dr Tomohiko Satake, Dr Lavina Lee, and Lyle Morris participated in a public panel with USSC's Ashley Townshend to discuss the strategic security landscape in the Indo-Pacific faces. Listen to podcast.
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United States Studies Centre
Institute Building H03
University of Sydney NSW 2006
