AustLit

'We are three writers and researchers learning to teach the image. We approach comics from different backgrounds and engage the medium in different ways, but our point of convergence is Graphic Narratives, a fourth-year subject developed by Dr Elizabeth MacFarlane at the University of Melbourne. Liz founded Graphic Narratives in 2011, when it was Australia’s first tertiary-level subject devoted to the study of the comics medium. Each year students create a minicomic which they then have the opportunity to swap or sell at an annual showcase event open to the public. With graphic novelist and academic Dr Pat Grant, Liz co-directs the Comic Art Workshop, Australia’s first artists’ residency dedicated to supporting major comics projects in progress. Bernard Caleo has taught comics making skills as part of Graphic Narratives, and also at primary and secondary schools. He edited and published the giant romance comics anthology Tango from 1997 to 2009, and made the feature documentary Graphic Novels! Melbourne! in 2012 with filmmaker Daniel Hayward. His ongoing project is to investigate possibilities for performing comics. Dr Ronnie Scott guest lectured, then tutored, then coordinated Graphic Narratives in various years and has since integrated comics into his Media & Communication Honours Lab and his undergraduate Nonfiction studios in the Creative Writing program at RMIT University. He has also published comics criticism in national venues and edited comics for international literary magazines, as well as publishing scholarly research on comics.'  (Introduction)

'A time-travel adventure for young budding scientists

'Ten-year-old Mary has always wanted to win a Nobel Prize. She loves running her own science experiments at home. But how can she become a real scientist and win the greatest prize of all?

'One day Mary stumbles on a secret meeting of Nobel Prize winners. Swearing her to secrecy, Dr Barry Marshall agrees to be her guide as she travels around the world and through time to learn the secrets behind some of the most fascinating and important scientific discoveries. They talk space and time with Albert Einstein, radiation with Marie Curie, DNA with Crick, Watson and Wilkins – and much more.

'How to Win a Nobel Prize is a funny, fascinating adventure story for ages 9 to 12, and includes experiments that young scientists can do themselves at school or at home.' (Introduction)

'"There is no better, there is no more open door by which you can enter into the study of natural philosophy than by considering the physical phenomena of a candle." Michael Faraday

More than 150 years ago, Michael Faraday saw beauty and wonder in the chemistry of a candle. His observations remain true today and the lessons are both simple and profound. Join Faraday at St Paul's Cathedral for a truly illuminating theatre performance. Society has changed, technology has advanced, language has evolved, but the phenomena underpinning a candle remain constant. Today, candles are rarely seen outside birthday cakes, churches, romantic dinners and power failures, but are no less fascinating. In fact, these contexts provide an insight to the enduring value of the candle; celebration, worship, emotion and the ever-present need for light.' Source: http://re-science.org.au (Sighted 28/09/2011).