Law School students head to the US for the Global Voices Scholarship, Japanese speech earns a national prize, and an award-winning essayist in Ancient History.
National prize a sweet reward for speech on a sour topic
It was fourth-time lucky for Japanese studies student Ying Lou at the annual Australian Japanese Language Speech Contest, who has participated since her first year at Macquarie, but this time went home with the Special Prize at the national competition.
Ying’s first-year tutor Dr Chavalin Svetanant recognised her talent for Japanese, which eventually convinced her to switch her major to the subject.
“I am an international student from China, I had an interest in learning Japanese since I was a high school student, but I did not have time to learn,” said Ying.
“I think foreign language learning made me have a second and third soul when I learned English and Japanese. The most enjoyable moment is when you are using languages other than your first language to communicate and express your feelings.”
Ying said the reason she kept participating the speech contest each year was trying to prove herself, with the ultimate goal of being the top in the state. She achieved her aim this year with her speech about the Chinese term ‘lemon’ which has come to refer to a feeling of envy towards a person you admire. She then went on to compete at the national finals, winning the Special Prize.
“It was very exciting to receive the special award from the national contest, I have been imagining being at the nationals for so long, and what made me stand on that stage was my teachers who supported me.
“I really would like to thank all teachers from the department of Japanese studies for believing in me.”
Macquarie Law students get insider view of international policy development
Law students Courtney Ferguson and Tiarlee Bellhouse were recently awarded Global Voices Scholarships, giving them the opportunity to attend international policy delegations and prepare policy papers on issues affecting migrants and women.
Courtney is in her third year of a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Public Policy, Law and Governance. She is attending the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings this month in Washington.
Tiarlee is in her final year of a Bachelor of Laws majoring in Public Policy, Law and Governance. She will be attending the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March 2020 in New York.
As Public Policy, Law and Governance majors, Courtney and Tiarlee said they are excited to be completing a policy fellowship alongside their international delegations. With the guidance of experienced policy makers provided by the Scholarship Program, they will be researching and composing policy papers for the Australian domestic context. Courtney’s policy paper will focus on dismantling the barriers to the integration and participation of Australian children of migrant or refugee backgrounds. Tiarlee’s policy paper will explore ways domestic legislation can better enhance Australian women’s superannuation contributions, to support more equitable financial outcomes in retirement.
To prepare for their delegations and assist in the research of their policy proposal, these Macquarie Law students seeking to better support women and children engage and thrive in the community and economy, took part in pre-departure briefings in Canberra. Courtney and Tiarlee met with ministers and ambassadors to discuss their policy topics, as well as Australian and international politics more generally. They also had the opportunity to meet with senior representatives from Treasury, Prime Minister and Cabinet, and DFAT.
Global Voices is an Australian not for profit that provides experience in policy writing, international relations and diplomacy.
Lydia's CRINT essay a winner
Lydia Gore-Jones, a casual academic staff member in the Department of Ancient History, has been announced this year’s winner of the Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum (CRINT) Foundation Essay Prize. Her paper is entitled “Wisdom and Torah in Late Second Temple Judaism by Example of 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch”. The bi-annual CRINT Essay Prize is awarded to the best paper on a topic that illustrates how Jews and Christians shared and/or developed their own traditions and identities in the early centuries.
Lydia is a Macquarie PhD graduate in 2018 from the Department of Ancient History. Her thesis, under the supervision of Paul McKechnie and Stephen Llewelyn, is an exegetical study of Jewish apocalyptic writings in the first century in the event of a national and religious crisis. Her prize winning essay is similarly a study of the evolvement of two important concepts that marked a paradigm shift in the development of religious identities in the first century.