Arts & culture

19 February 2024

What can we learn from nature if we listen to it deeply?

Dr Diana Chester, a sound studies scholar from Media and Communications in FASS, and Associate Professor Damien Ricketson, a composer from Sydney Conservatorium of Music invite visitors to lie down, close their eyes and listen to the sand, sea and wind in a new research project called Listening to Earth.

15 February 2024

Taylor Swift: why academics are studying the pop star

Taylor Swift, who is about to tour Australia with her much-anticipated Eras concerts, was the subject of a three-day academic conference, known as a Swiftposium, in Melbourne, where academics presented papers on her global impact.

12 February 2024

Opera Australia finds campy, playful joy in The Magic Flute

Dr David Larkin, senior lecturer in musicology at Sydney Conservatorium of Music, reviews the new production of The Magic Flute by director Kate Gaul for Opera Australia.

06 February 2024

Lunar New Year 2024: What does the Year of the Dragon mean?

Associate Professor Xiaohuan Zhao, from Chinese Studies in the School of Languages and Cultures, shares what it means to be born in a Year of the Dragon or to live through the Year of the Dragon in 2024.

30 January 2024

Mysterious pearl shells unearthed in French Polynesia

Associate Professor James Flexner, archaeologist, returned from a dig in French Polynesia where, together with local community members, he and his team found relics from the country's missionary past.

20 December 2023

Loud, energetic and bright: Disney's Artful Dodger down under is fun!

Dr Megan Nash, a teacher in literature and film in the School of Arts, Communication and English, takes a close look at Disney's new TV series The Artful Dodger, set in Australia with bright sunshine and savage humour - and Aussie pop songs.

18 December 2023

MySydney scholarship fuels metal guitar passion at Sydney Con

Alexander Andrevski, a MySydney scholar from Western Sydney, is pursuing his passion for metal guitar at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He used the scholarship to buy instruments and encourages others to explore new pathways to university education.

15 December 2023

Bradley Cooper's Maestro: the Leonard Bernstein story

Dr Joseph Toltz, Honorary Associate in the School of Languages and Cultures, and Manager of Research Support in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, explores the legacy of the great American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein as portrayed in the new Netflix film Maestro directed by, and starring Bradley Cooper.

14 December 2023

MCA unveils Tacita Dean's poetically-charged art

Associate Professor Donna Brett, Chair of Art History, explores the work of British visual artist Tacita Dean - known for her film-works, photography, drawings and installations - in a major new exhibition at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art.

05 December 2023

'A deeply thoughtful show': artist Louise Bourgeois at AGNSW

Dr Lea Vuong, a French scholar from the School of Languages and Cultures, explores the 'deeply thoughtful and sensuous' blockbuster exhibition by French-American artist Louise Bourgeois at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

29 November 2023

Thirty years of Indigenous history captured on film

The recent history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Sydney is chronicled in a new, free, photographic exhibition at the University of Sydney's Chau Chak Wing Museum.

24 November 2023

University of Sydney to host prestigious Congress of HASS 2023

The Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) will meet at the University of Sydney Camperdown campus in the final week of November, 2023, bringing together scholars from around Australia and the world.

23 November 2023

Two Sydney academics awarded public policy funding

The James Martin Institute (JMI) awarded its prestigious annual Policy Challenge Grants during a ceremony at the State Library of NSW on Wednesday evening.

22 November 2023

Should OpenAI's board have fired Sam Altman?

OpenAI's board is facing backlash for firing CEO Sam Altman - but it's good it had the power to, writes Dr Joanne Gray, Lecturer in Media and Communications. She argues big tech companies could benefit from more accountability.

20 November 2023

Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita is brought to astonishing life on stage

Dr Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer in English, reviews a riotous new stage adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita, known for its supernatural satire.

16 November 2023

The power of stories to help or hinder progress

Humanity has always been driven by stories, and their power in a post-truth world will be the topic of exploration for the 2023 Cleveringa Address, to be held at the University of Sydney Business School on Monday 27 November.

08 November 2023

Sydney researchers lauded as national leaders

The Australian's 2024 Research Magazine ranks the University of Sydney and its researchers as number one nationally across a range of research fields.

08 November 2023

Workplace protections needed for menstruation and menopause

Consideration for menstruation and menopause needs to be included in our understanding of the right to work, according to new research from the University of Sydney Business School.

03 November 2023

Is Now and Then really a Beatles song?

Dr Jadey O'Regan and Dr Paul McDermott, both lecturers in Contemporary Music at Sydney Conservatorium of Music, reflect on the technology used in the new, and final, song by the Beatles and ponder its meaning and legacy.

03 November 2023

Sydney academics awarded prestigious ARC Grants

University of Sydney academics have been awarded more than $24 million in funding for 42 new research projects, spanning accessible playgrounds for children with vision impairments, attracting and retaining quality teachers in early education, and developing facilities to improve renewable technology.