Latest UC News

The 44th Conference of the Australasian Society for Classical Studies will be hosted by the Classics Department at the University of Canterbury from 31 January – 3 February 2023. This will be a face-to-face conference, timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the University of Canterbury. In 1874 Professor Macmillan Brown was appointed to the Chair of English and Classics, one of three foundation chairs at the newly established Canterbury College in Christchurch. The College at that time was located at the "old university" site, now the Arts Centre, which in many ways remains the spiritual home of the University. The Classics Department returned home in the Arts Centre in 2017 along with the Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities. Activities related to the conference will take place at the Arts Centre. We intend to use our Heritage setting both to acknowledge the University’s past and to connect with the city. However, it is also our intention to look forward, by developing and showcasing future directions for our discipline. A central theme in the conference is Classics in the 21st Century. Keynote Speaker Kate Cook is a UK based researcher who works on the intersection of the digital world and the ancient world with a particular focus on “gaming”. Her talk will help develop new perceptions of our discipline, enhance our future directions theme, promote interdisciplinary study and help showcase possibilities in UC's new Bachelor of Digital Screen. This event is open to the general public. Registration is essential. ASCS delegates will be automatically registered when Conference registration payment is received. Programme & Booklet ASCS44 Conference Programme* ASCS44 Conference Booklet   *Please note this programme may be subject to changes* Presentation Slides  If you are presenting a paper, please follow the steps below to send us your presentation slides by 5pm, Thursday 26th January NZDT. Go to wetransfer.com  To the left of the page you will see a box where you upload your files. Upload your powerpoint here.  In the 'title' field, please include your name  In the 'Email to' field, put harriet.boyle@canterbury.ac.nz  Once you have done the above steps, click the 'Transfer' button to send. Handouts: All presenters need to pre-print and bring copies of any handouts to Christchurch. Conference attendees will not have access to printing/copying facilities.  Special Conference Topic: Games and the Ancient World  Video and tabletop games are an exciting space of classical reception and one that is growing as an object of scholarly attention in the field of Classics and Ancient History. This year we have two special panels on the topic and a demonstration: Panel 1: Ludic Mythologies Panel 2: (Re)shaping Perspectives Workshop: Kolax, The Flatterer: Reconstructing a fragmentary play through play Read more about these Special Conference Topic sessions Registration For registration and other related information (including details on the conference dinner), visit the REGISTRATION PORTAL.  Registration amounts (all prices are in NZD and are GST inclusive): Full participation - $330.00 Postgraduate/Student/Unwaged - $260.00 Dayrate - $135.00 Conference Dinner - $115.00 ASCS delegates will be automatically registered when Conference registration payment is received. Registration Cancellation Policy: Up until 5pm Friday 16 December 2022 NZDT with a full refund.  From 5pm 16 December to 5pm Friday 20 January 2023 NZDT a full refund less an $100.00 admin fee. After 5pm 20 January 2023 NZDT no refund is possible. Poster Competition  As a part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the University of Canterbury, the organisers of ASCS 44 would like to invite the submission of posters on any aspect of the history of Classics at UC. The focus can be people, subjects, events, the collection, teaching or any aspect of the Department’s history from its earliest time as a foundation chair in the Canterbury College to the present day. There will be cash prizes for the best posters as determined by the judges: First prize NZ$250.00 Second prize NZ$150.00 Third prize NZ$100.00  All judges decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into. Not all prizes need to be awarded.  Register interest by 5pm Tuesday 24th January (NZDT) ASCS44 Poster Competition Instructions Accomodation View accommodation options in the City Centre and around the Arts Centre. We encourage delegates and their families to stay in Christchurch after the conference and to visit beautiful Aotearoa. For activities, destinations, transport and accommodation around the country, go to the explore Christchurch page or visit Tourism New Zealand. Postgraduate Support  ASCS provides support to postgraduate students presenting a paper at the conference,  apply for the ASCS Conference Subsidy Form here. We would like to acknowledge the support of the University of Canterbury, the Classical Association of Christchurch, the Badian Fund and Tourism New Zealand.  Page header image: Courtesy of the Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities, James Logie Memorial Collection #41.57.  

Free public event: The Path to a Sustainable Future Can the path to a sustainable future be found in the past? Global experts on water policy and management in the Pacific will gather on Tuesday night (7 February) at The Piano in Christchurch for Tauhere UC Connect public talk The Path to a Sustainable Future. Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | the University of Canterbury (UC) Office of Treaty Partnership, Kā Waimaero | the Ngāi Tahu Centre are co-hosting a free Tauhere UC Connect panel discussion by international thought-leaders in the fields of ecosystems, water science and the sustainability of the Pacific Islands: Professors Peter Vitousek and Barton “Buzz” Thompson from Stanford University, United States, and Dr Mike Joy of Victoria University Wellington, chaired by University of Canterbury Professor Bronwyn Hayward, and introduced by Professor Te Maire Tau, Kā Waimaero | Ngāi Tahu Centre, University of Canterbury. The year 2023 marks the University of Canterbury’s sesquicentenary and the 150th anniversary theme is: Ka titiro whakamuri, ki te anga whakamua | Guided by the Past, Shaping the Future. Topics for discussion in The Path to a Sustainable Future event include: How and why Polynesia Island societies approached sustainability How we got our deadly addiction to nitrogen How our food went from energy positive to energy negative How producing food became industrialised and fossil fuel dependent How we lost our connection to water Do courts have a role to play in promoting sustainability? Does the world need a trustee? and What does history teach us about how best to achieve sustainability? About the experts:Barton “Buzz” Thompson is a global expert on water policy and management. He is the Robert E Paradise Professor of Natural Resources Law at Stanford University and a professor of environmental behavioural sciences at Stanford’s new Doerr School of Sustainability. He also is a senior fellow in the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, which he co-founded in 2004 and directed for over a dozen years. He serves of counsel to the international law firm of O’Melveny & Myers and is a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Sustainable Water Impact Fund (a joint business venture between the Renewable Resources Group and The Nature Conservancy).  From 2008 to 2018, he served as Special Master for the United States Supreme Court in Montana v. Wyoming, an interstate water dispute involving the Yellowstone River System. He also is a former member of the Science Advisory Board of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Buzz is the author of multiple articles and books on water and the environment. His recent research focuses on the growing importance of private businesses in the pursuit of sustainability. His new book on The Business of Water will be published in 2023. Peter Vitousek is the Clifford G. Morrison Professor of Population and Resource Studies in the Department of Earth System Science at Stanford University. Peter was born and grew up in Hawai’i and has been on the faculty at Stanford University since 1984. His research interests include: evaluating the global cycles of nitrogen and phosphorus, and how they are altered by human activity; determining the effects of invasive species on the workings of whole ecosystems; and understanding how the interaction of land and culture contributed to the sustainability of Pacific Island societies before European contact. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was awarded the 2010 Japan Prize. He is co-director of the First Nations Futures Institute and of the Hawai’i Ecosystems Project. Mike Joy is a senior researcher at the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. Seeing the decline in freshwater health, he became an outspoken advocate for environmental protection. Mike has won numerous awards, including an Ecology in Action award from the NZ Ecological Society (2009), the Royal Society’s Charles Fleming Award for protection of the New Zealand environment (2013), the Morgan Foundation inaugural River Voice Award (2015), the inaugural Universities NZ Critic and Conscience award (2016) and was a semi-finalist for the 2018 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year. Mike has developed bio-assessment tools used by many regional councils and consultants, and published scientific papers in many fields from artificial intelligence and data mining to the freshwater ecology of sub-Antarctic islands. He has worked for decades at the interface of science and policy in New Zealand with a goal of strengthening connections between science, policy and real outcomes to address the multiple environmental issues facing New Zealand.

Haere Mai | Welcome! If you are new UC international student (or transitioning to campus for the first time), join us for a fun and informative welcome to help you meet other students, key international support staff, and learn how to settle into your new life in Ōtautahi Christchurch as a UC international student! What’s involved? Goodie bags! A formal Māori welcome to campus International Student Orientation seminar, presented by UC Student Care and UC International Kai (lunch) on the lawn, music, international support stalls, and the opportunity to make connections with other new students To finish up, you have the option to join the Amazing Race around our beautiful campus, led by student mentors. In addition to our International Welcome, we encourage all new students to come along on Friday 17 February to Haere tō waka | UC Orientation day. This is when the whole campus is on show: campus tours, academic introduction seminars, market stalls, handouts and lots of fun around campus and the UCSA students Association. Students who are welcome to joint this event are: Study Abroad and Exchange students New Zealand Manaaki Scholarship students UCIC, CCEL and other pathway students transitioning to UC Campus Students who have been studying online with us and are coming to campus for the first time New international Undergraduate and Postgraduate students If you have any other arrival questions, please email the International Relationships team on iro@canterbury.ac.nz You can also find some settling in information here on UC's webpage and we recommend checking our Education NZ's resources on Nau Mai or email us on iro@cantebury.ac.nz with any questions you or your whānau (family) may have.

UC Herea tō waka | Orientation Day (O Day) is the best way to find out what university life has to offer. It takes place the Friday before term starts and is a chance for new students to connect with their peers, get amongst the UC community, explore the campus and find out what they need to know for day one at UC. O Day is exclusive for students new to UC in 2023 including an opportunity for whānau and parents to find out more about how to support their new student at UC.