Michael Paton
BSc(Ed) UNSW, BA(hons.) Syd, PhD Syd.
Senior Lecturer; Teaching Quality Fellow
michael.paton@sydney.edu.au
Room 341
H04 Merewether Building
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9351 5569
Fax: +61 2 9351 4433
Michael Paton was the Teaching Quality Fellow of the Faculty of Economics for over 16 years. He has an extensive publication record over a wide range of disciplines including: academic communication skills, university education, critical thinking, management, and the history and philosophy of science in China.
He is a former Vice President (Asia) of the Australasian Association for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science, principal sponsor of the Sustainable Management of Organisations Group (SMOG), and Development Theme Leader for the University's Institute for Sustainable Solutions. At present, he is a member of 5 research clusters of the University’s China Studies Centre.
Michael’s major research interest is the history and philosophy of science and the environmental history of China, especially focusing on dili (the principles of the earth) and fengshui (wind & water). He has translated major dili texts over different dynasties to map the development of China’s environmental understanding. His research interests in communication skills, university education and management deal with their relationship to culture, critical thinking and knowledge production.
Publications
2012
Book Section/s
Paton M 2012 'East and Southeast Asian Science - Antiquity to 1200CE' in Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia , ed. Edward Ramsamy, Andrea L. Stanton, Peter J. Seybolt, and Carolyn Elliott, SAGE Publications, Inc, Thousand Oaks, United States
Newspaper Article/s
Paton M
2012 ‘Chinese Business Students in Australia: a conundrum of gender’ China Express vol. 1 no. 1, Link
Paton M
2012 'Fengshui, sustainability and the ethics of chance' The Fifth Estate: sustainable property news and forum 16 May Link
2011
Book Section/s
Paton M 2011 'The Cosmology of Yang Yunsong and Science' in Feng Shui (Kan Yu) and Architecture: International Conference in Berlin , ed. Florian C. Reiter, Harrassowitz Verlag, Berlin, Germany, pp. 165-84
Journal Article/s
Paton M 2011 'Asian Students, Critical Thinking and English as an Academic Lingua Franca', Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis , vol.32:1, pp. 27-39
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 2011 'Gender in Ming Dynasty China: The Water Dragon Classic, Chinese Studies Association of Australia 12th Biennial Conference , Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, 15th July 2011
Paton M 2011 'Geography of Styles of Thinking: East and West; North and South, On Hacking’s ‘Style(s) of Thinking’ Conference , University of Cape Town, South Africa, 31st March 2011
Report/s
Paton M 2011 'Ethical Challenges - International Students and Business Education', Business and Professional Ethics Group Biennial Report
Seminar Paper/s
Paton M 2011 'Good fortune, Magic, Mysticism and Science in the Water Dragon Classic: The end of the observational roots of fengshui?, Seminar presented as part of a workshop on 'Science, Magic and the Problem of the Demarcation of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe' (Michael Hunter of the Royal Society as discussant) , Universities of New South Wales and Sydney, Australia, 15 February 2011
Paton M 2011 'Not quite as smart as we think we are or should lawyers govern?', On Line Opinion , Brisbane, Australia
2010
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 2010 'Gender roles in Ming Dynasty China: The Water Dragon Classic, 2nd Academic Association of Historians in Australian and New Zealand Business Schools Conference , University of Sydney, Australia, 17th December 2010
Paton M 2010 'The Empirical basis of the Cosmology of Yang Yunsong of the Tang dynasty, Symposium on Kan Yu (Feng Shui) and Architecture - Seminar of Sinology , Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Germany, 11th November 2010
Paton M 2010 'The nexus between rationality and emotion: fengshui as an early post-modern science?, Australasian Association for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science Annual Conference , University of Sydney, Australia, 11th July 2010
Paton M and Zhang C 2010 'Southern Culture & the North/South Divide: more than a metaphor, Transcultural Mappings: emerging issues in comparative, transnational and area studies , University of Sydney, Australia, 11th April 2010
Paton M 2010 'Delegate by invitation of the United Nations (UN-HABITAT) The University Roundtable & HABITAT partner University Side Event, World Urban Forum 5: the right to the city – bridging the urban divide , Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, 26th March 2010
Conference Proceeding/s
Paton M 2010 'English as an Academic Lingua Franca: Internationalisation, Economic Imperative or Cultural Chauvinism?', Proceedings of the Internationalising Learning and Teaching in Academic Settings - "Engagement, Collaboration and Sustainability" , University of Sydney, Australia, 1st January 2010-31st December 2010
Seminar Paper/s
Paton M 2010 'Learning and Teaching with Chinese Students: A history & philosophy of science perspective, Learning and Teaching Seminar Series - Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney , Australia, 05 October 2010
2009
Book Section/s
Paton M 2009 'Feng Shui and the Energy of the Land' in Research in Scientific Feng Shui and the Built Environment , ed. Michael Y. Mak and Albert T. So, City University of Hong Kong Press, Hong Kong, (China), pp. 45-64
Journal Article/s
Paton M and Henry P 2009 'Human nature and social complexity: a common challenge for Chinese philosophy and marketing', International Journal of Chinese Culture and Management , vol.2:3, pp. 276-90
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 2009 'Can Historical Research into Fengshui Tell Us Anything about Business in China?, Academic Association of Historians in Australian and New Zealand Business Schools (AAHANZBS) – Inaugural Conference , University of Sydney, Australia, 15th December 2009
Paton M 2009 'English as an Academic Lingua Franca: Internationalisation, Economic Imperative or Cultural Chauvinism?, Internationalising Learning and Teaching in Academic Settings Conference , University of Sydney, Australia, 23rd November 2009
Paton M 2009 'Asian Students, Critical Thinking and English as a Lingua Franca, 3rd International Free Linguistics Conference , University of Sydney, Australia, 11th October 2009
Paton M 2009 'Environmental History of China and Australia: the Logic of Short term Advantage & the Ethics of Chance, 15th Annual Conference of the International Sustainable Development Research Society , Utrecht, Netherlands, 9th July 2009
Paton M 2009 'Environmental History of China and the Sustainable Management of Governments, 1st International Conference on Sustainable Management of Public and Not For Profit Organisations SMOG 2009 , University of Bologna, Forli, Italy, 3rd July 2009
Rowe A, Guthrie J and Paton M 2009 'Public Environmental Reporting in China, 1st International Conference on Sustainable Management of Public and Not For Profit Organisations SMOG 2009 , University of Bologna, Forli, Italy, 3rd July 2009
Conference Proceeding/s
Paton M 2009 'Can Historical Research into Fengshui Tell Us Anything about Business in China?', Academic Association of Historians in Australian and New Zealand Business Schools AAHANZBS – Inaugural Conference , Sydney, Australia, 15th December 2009
Paton M 2009 'Good Fortune or Environmental Harmony?', Proceedings of The 4th International Conference on Scientific Feng Shui and Built Environment 2009 - Sustainability and Operability , Hong Kong, (China), 21st February 2009
2008
Book Section/s
Paton M 2008 'Reflective journals and critical thinking' in Intercultural Communications across University Settings - Myths and Realities "refereed proceedings of the 6th Communication Skills in University Education Conference" , ed. j. van Rij-Heyligers, Pearson Education New Zealand, Rosedale, New Zealand, pp. 201-9
Conference Paper/s
Paton M and Henry P 2008 'Human Nature and Social Complexity: A Common Challenge for Chinese Philosophy and Marketing, 2nd World Business Ethics Forum: Rethinking the Value of Business Ethics , Hong Kong, China, 12th December 2008
Paton M 2008 'Has the Sentence been Lost in Genre?, 2nd International Free Linguistics Conference 2008 , Sydney, Australia, 12th October 2008
Paton M 2008 'Chinese students and critical thinking, ALTC (Australian Learning & Teaching Council) Workshop "Investigating the efficacy of culturally specific academic literacy and academic honesty resources for Chinese students" , Melbourne, Australia, 29th August 2008
Henry P and Paton M 2008 'What Basis for Consumer Rights? The Case of Credit Card Debt, The 2008 Latin-America Conference of the Association for Consumer Research , Sao Paulo, Brazil, 3rd August 2008
Paton M and Henry P 2008 'Confucian Values: A Case of Oversimplification?, 8th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Business , Honolulu, United States, 25th May 2008
Seminar Paper/s
Paton M 2008 'A Comparative Analysis of the Environmental History of China and Australia using the Concept of Shanmai ??: the Logic of Short-term Advantage & the Ethics of Chance, Department of Agricultural Economics seminar series , University of Sydney, Australia 2008
2007
Journal Article/s
Paton M 2007 'Fengshui: a Continuation of the Art of Swindlers?', Journal of Chinese Philosophy , vol.34:3, pp. 427-45
Paton M 2007 'Why International Students are at Greater Risk of Failure: An Inconvenient Truth', Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations , vol.6:6, pp. 101-112
Paton M 2007 'A review of Hong-Key Yoon’s The Culture of Fengshui in Korea: An Exploration of East Asian Geomancy', The Review of Korean Studies , vol.10:4, pp. 321-324
Paton M 2007 '**** you Ouyang or Whingeing as a Northern Hemisphere Trait’ a review of Ouyang Yu’s poem ‘**** you Australia', Southerly , vol.67:3, pp. 209-212
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 2007 'Has the Sentence been lost in Genre?, Australasian Association for Language and Learning conference , Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 1st - 31st December 2007
Singer P and Paton M 2007 'On the Ethical Life, The Empty Dichotomy of East and West and the Problem with Moralities: a ‘Southern’ Environmental Perspective , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st - 30th April 2007
2006
Book Section/s
Paton M 2006 'Ethical Responsibility: the Southern Perspective' in Moral Responsibility: Eastern and Western Traditions , NSW Chapter of the Independent Scholars Association of Australia, Australia Link
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 2006 'Communication Skills in University Education, Critical Thinking and Learning Journals , Auckland, New Zealand, 1st - 31st December 2006
Paton M 2006 'The Environmental History of China and Australia from a Traditional 'dili' Perspective, Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia, Transformations 2006: Culture and the Environment in Human Development , Canberra, ACT, Australia, 1st - 31st December 2006
Paton M 2006 'The Environmental History of China and Australia: the relationship to the 21st century, World without Walls: East and West 21st Century Perspectives, conference of the Oriental Society of Australia , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st - 31st December 2006
Paton M 2006 'Why International Students are at Greater Risk of Failure, FECCA Transformations: Culture and the Environment in Human Development , Canbeerra, ACT, Australia, 1st January 2006-31st December 2006
Paton M 2006 'The Conceptual Basis of Fengshui and Science, Australia Association of Philosophy conference , Canberra, ACT, Australia, 1st - 31st July 2006
Conference Proceeding/s
Paton M 2006 'a review of Mark Elvin’s, The Retreat of the Elephants: an Environmental History of China', China Journal , 1st January 2006-31st December 2006
Paton M 2006 'A North /South Axis', Moral Responsibilty: Seminar proceedings 2006 Independent Scholars Association of Australia , Australia, 1st January 2006-31st December 2006
Paton M 2006 'Learning Journals and Critical Thinking: a Preliminary Study', Proceedings of the Uniserve Science Conference, Assessment in Science Teaching and Learning 2006 , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st - 30th September 2006
Paton M 2006 'Reflective Journals and Critical Thinking', Uniserve Science Symposium-Assessment in Science Teaching and Learning , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 28th September 2006
Paton M 2006 'Is Traditional Chinese Medicine Science? What Chinese Scientists Think', 16th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia , Wollongong, NSW, Australia, 29th June 2006
Seminar Paper/s
Paton M 2006 'Moral Responsibility: Eastern and Western Traditions, NSW Chapter of the Independent Scholars Association of Australia , Sydney, NSW, Australia 2006
Paton M 2006 'Learning Journals as an Assessment Tool, Research Forum on the First Year Experience at the University of Sydney , Sydney, NSW, Australia September 2006
Paton M 2006 'Effective Assessment for First Year Students, Best Practice in Assessment and Student Feedback: A Forum , Sydney, NSW, Australia June 2006
2005
Book Section/s
Paton M 2005 'Is Critical Analysis Foreign to Chinese Students?' in Communication Skills in University Education: The International Dimension , ed. E. Manalo and G. Wong-Toi, Pearson Education, Auckland, New Zealand, pp. 1-12
Journal Article/s
Paton M 2005 'New Scholarship: XXII International Congress of the History of Science Beijing (a review)', China Heritage Newsletter , vol.3
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 2005 'Fengshui and the Energy of the Land, International Symposium on Fengshui and the Built Environment , Hong Kong, (China), 1st January 2005-31st December 2005
Paton M 2005 'Cultural Chauvinism or a Continuation of the Art of Swindlers?, 14th International Society for Chinese Philosophy , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st January 2005-31st December 2005
Paton M 2005 'The Concept shi in Fengshui Classics of the Form School (chair of session, Ancient Cosmology), XXII International Congress on the History of Science , Beijing, China, 1st January 2005-31st December 2005
Conference Proceeding/s
Paton M 2005 'Fengshui and the Energy of the Land', Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Scientific Fengshui and the Built Environment , Hong Kong, (China), 1st - 31st October 2005
Seminar Paper/s
Paton M 2005 'The Concept shi and its Relationship to Gravity, Cambridge University, United Kingdom October 2005
2004
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 2004 'Critical Thinking of East Asian students studying in Australia, 8th Pacific Rim First Year in Higher Education Conference , Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 1st January 2004-31st December 2004
Paton M 2004 'Dragon Veins, Cultural Chauvinism, and the Energy of the Land, Tenth International Conference on the History of Science in China , Harbin, China, 1st January 2004-31st December 2004
Conference Proceeding/s
Paton M 2004 'Dragon Veins, Cultural Chauvinism, and the Energy of the Land', Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on the History of Science in China: Multiaspect Studies on the History of Science, Technology and Medicine in China , Harbin, China, 1st - 31st August 2004
Seminar Paper/s
Paton M 2004 'International and Non-English Speaking Background Students, Discussion paper for the Teaching & Learning Committee Faculty of Economics and Business , Sydney, NSW, Australia 2004
Paton M 2004 'Yang Yunsong of the Tang Dynasty: the Second Father of Fengshui?, Chinese Studies Department seminar series , Sydney, NSW, Australia 2004
2003
Book Section/s
Paton M 2003 'Zhou Shu’an' in Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Twentieth Century 1912-2000 , ed. L.X.H. Lee and A.D. Stefanowska, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, New York, United States, pp. 712-713
Paton M 2003 'Yan Fengying' in Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Twentieth Century 1912-2000 , ed. L.X.H. Lee and A.D. Stefanowska, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, New York, United States, pp. 609-610
Paton M 2003 'Yeh T’ao' in Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Twentieth Century 1912-2000 , ed. L.X.H. Lee and A.D. Stefanowska, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, New York, United States, pp. 642-645
Paton M 2003 'Ch’en Hsiu-his' in Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Twentieth Century 1912-2000 , ed. L.X.H. Lee and A.D. Stefanowska, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, New York, United States, pp. 62-65
Journal Article/s
Paton M 2003 ''Balancing Virtues’, A review of John Ralston Saul, On Equilibrium, Penguin Books Australia, 2002', The Drawing Board , vol.4:1
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 2003 'Is Freshman English the Way to Go?, 7th Pacific Rim First Year Experience in Higher Education Conference , Queensland University of Technology, Australia, 1st January 2003-31st December 2003
Paton M 2003 'Is Critical Analysis Foreign to Chinese Students?, Vice Chancellor’s Teaching and Learning Showcase, Graduates for the World , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st - 30th November 2003
Paton M 2003 'Practice Makes Perfect: Meeting the learning needs of students with diverse cultural backgrounds (joint demonstration), Vice Chancellor’s Teaching and Learning Showcase, Graduates for the World , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st - 30th November 2003
Areni C, Bonanno H and Paton M 2003 'Practice makes perfect: Meeting the learning needs of students with diverse cultural backgrounds, Vice-Chancellor's Showcase: Graduates for the world , University of Sydney, Australia, 6th November 2003
Paton M 2003 'Was Shi a Physical (or Psychic) Concept?, Biennual Conference of the Chinese Studies Association of Australia , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st - 31st July 2003
Paton M 2003 'The Concept shi in Traditional Fengshui Texts, Australasian Association for the History, Philosophy & Social Studies of Science (AAAHPSSS) , Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 1st - 31st July 2003
Seminar Paper/s
Paton M 2003 'Weng Wenhao, Geologist and Fengshui Researcher, Chinese Studies Department seminar series , Sydney, NSW, Australia May 2003
2002
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 2002 'The Water Dragon Classic: the end of the observational roots of Fengshui?, Early Modernity, Conference of the International Society for Intellectual History , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st January 2002-31st December 2002
Paton M 2002 'Dragon Veins, Annual Conference of the Australian Association for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st January 2002-31st December 2002
2001
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 2001 'Towards a Scientific Understanding of Fengshui, (Colloquium) , United States, 1st January 2001-31st December 2001
Paton M 2001 'Women, Modernity and Opportunity in 20th Century China, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st January 2001-31st December 2001
2000
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 2000 'delegate, Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for the History , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st January 2000-31st December 2000
1999
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 1999 'The Fengshui Classics and Twenty Four Difficult Problems; a Negation of the Compass School, London International Fengshui Conference , London, United Kingdom, 1st January 1999-31st December 1999
1998
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 1998 'The Relationship of Fengshui to the Scientific Tradition, Eighth International Conference on the History of Science in China , Berlin, Germany, 1st January 1998-31st December 1998
Paton M 1998 '10th World Conference on Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, Freiburg, Germany, 1st January 1998-31st December 1998
1997
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 1997 'Fengshui: an Australian Perspective, Property Council of Australia National Property Conference , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st January 1997-31st December 1997
Paton M 1997 'English translations of the Fengshui classics, The First Melbourne Fengshui Conference , Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 1st January 1997-31st December 1997
1996
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 1996 'Fengshui and the History of Geology, Annual conference of the Australasian Association for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science , Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 1st January 1996-31st December 1996
Paton M 1996 'delegate, Conference on Descartes' Natural Philosophy , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st January 1996-31st December 1996
Thesis
Paton M 1996 'Towards a Scientific Understanding of Fengshui: The Burial Classic of Qing Wu, Twenty Four Difficult Problems and Secretly Passed down Water Dragon Classic', , University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Internal Working Paper/s
Paton M and Goodhew J 1996 'Failing Students - Accounting 1A and Economics', Faculty of Economics and Business University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
1995
Conference Proceeding/s
Paton M 1995 'delegate', Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australia Conference , Perth, WA, Australia, 1st January 1995-31st December 1995
1994
Seminar Paper/s
Paton M 1994 'Workshop leader, Teaching Across Cultures , Sydney, NSW, Australia 1994
1993
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 1993 'delegate, Biennial Conference of the Chinese Studies Association of Australia , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st January 1993-31st December 1993
1991
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 1991 'delegate, Biennial Conference of the Chinese Studies Association of Australia , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st January 1991-31st December 1991
Seminar Paper/s
Paton M 1991 'The Problems Encountered by NESB Students in the Writing of a thesis, Thesis Writing Seminar , Sydney, NSW, Australia 1991
1990
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 1990 'delegate, How to Teach Writing for the Year 2000: Technical Communication , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st January 1990-31st December 1990
Seminar Paper/s
Paton M 1990 'Fengshui and the History and Philosophy of Science, NSW Chinese Studies Group Seminar Series , Sydney, NSW, Australia 1990
1989
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 1989 'organiser, International Conference on the History of Printing , Taiwan, 1st January 1989-31st December 1989
Paton M 1989 'organiser, The Eleventh International Conference on Abraham Lincoln , Taiwan, 1st January 1989-31st December 1989
Paton M 1989 'organiser, International Conference on Chinese Folk History , Taiwan, 1st January 1989-31st December 1989
1988
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 1988 'chairman and organiser, Aboriginal Studies throughout the Curriculum , La Perouse, NSW, Australia, 1st January 1988-31st December 1988
Seminar Paper/s
Paton M 1988 'The Beginnings of an Understanding of Diqi, NSW Chinese Studies Group Seminar Series , Sydney, NSW, Australia 1988
1987
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 1987 'chairman and organiser, Computers and the Teaching of Languages , Canterbury, NSW, Australia, 1st January 1987-31st December 1987
Paton M 1987 'delegate, Biennial Conference of the Chinese Studies Association of Australia , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st January 1987-31st December 1987
1986
Conference Paper/s
Paton M 1986 'delegate, 4th International Conference on the History of Chinese Science , Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1st January 1986-31st December 1986