Faculty and Professional Dinners
“Faculty Dinners provide a unique opportunity to mix with past students, hearing of their pursuits in the workforce, and of course, their pursuits at St Hilda's in days gone by.”
Angharad Hayter, '95
From Round Table to High Table, Dinners in the JCR and Luncheons in the SCR, St Hilda’s provides many opportunities for academic discourse and career advice.
Past students wishing to register their interest for a future Faculty & Professional Dinner should contact the College on 61 3 9248 8400 or email.
Professor Margaret Abernethy
with Professor Ross Williams.
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Brainstorming commerce session aims at change
Our Commerce Dinner was addressed by the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Commerce, Professor Margaret Abernethy. She outlined the future directions of the Faculty, emphasizing the importance of increased links with alumni and industry due to declining Commonwealth funding.
She then invited the audience to partake in a brainstorming session to identify areas where the Faculty could be improv-ed, with issues such as more stringent quality of teaching controls, and the restructuring of subjects to include more practical and problem-solving material being raised.
Andrew Hone, Commerce/Arts - 2
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Where to with a Science degree?
If there was one take-home message from this year’s Science Faculty & Professional Dinner, it was this: it’s not disappointing that we may not know where we are heading with a science degree; rather, it’s exciting there we are not confined to a set path.
Professor John McKenzie, Dean of the Faculty of Science at The University of Melbourne, was the guest speaker at the Science Dinner. Along with academics from a wide range of fields and past students of the College, our current students took full advantage of the evening to get a small taste of what the future holds in the world of science.
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Professor John McKenzie with
Student Club President, Emmett Ahern, Sci-3.
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Professor McKenzie spoke of his own background in science and the skills he gained from a science degree, including analysis and critical thinking skills, which can be adapted to many situations. He also spoke of the current global science issues that will need to be dealt with in the near future.
Brent Eichler, Chemical Engineeering/Science - 2
L-R Mr Derek Weeks ’01, Mary Conlon, Dr Vince Verheyen ’75, Rebecca Neilson,
Ms Elizabeth Neilson ’02, Mr Shaun Gladman ’01 and Dr Jennifer McDonald.
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Media power
Students with an interest in media and communications learnt first-hand about the power of the media from Mr John Ferguson, senior writer with the Herald Sun. With more than 20 years of experience in the field, John explained how a career in journalism had taken him from a small paper in Adelaide to London, Rwanda and back again to Australia in his current position.
The power of the media to influence lives in the modern era was deftly illustrated by John, who pointed out that a story run by a major magazine in London, which was published without adequate research, had resulted in riots around the world killing15 people. Hearing about the cut-throat world of journalism directly from someone with so many years of experience was fascinating; the possibilities which a profession like journalism provides seem endless.
Andrew Fisken, Arts/Law - 2
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Back row (L-R): Mr Phil Honeywood, Dean Merriman, Mrs Barbara Green, Cassandra Eadie, Emma Schmidt, Andrew Chidzey, Laura Mitchell, Huw Porter, Stuart Seal; front row (L-R): Danielle Xu, Mr John Ferguson, Gabrielle Innes, Charlotte Knight, Aimee Elliott, Dr Jennifer McDonald.
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James Judd
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A case for legal reform
The guest speaker for our Round Table Law Dinner was College Fellow and Melbourne QC, James Judd. James argued the case for the reform of Australia’s legal system.
Mr Judd’s decision to talk about the male-oriented environment of the current Australian legal system was sparked when he noticed an advertisement for wine in a major newspaper. The advertisement read: “When women drink wine, they don’t want to use their brains...” The ad was subsequently withdrawn, but it prompted James to share his views on the reasons why the current legal system needs to be reformed to better deal with complaints and provide a fairer and more equal access to justice for everyone in society.
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Lynn Gillam
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What to expect in your AMS year
Our very own Rhodes Scholar, Dr Lynn Gillam (Sampson, ’81), addressed medical students from around the Crescent on the Advanced Medical Science (AMS) year. The AMS is a one year program that students enrolled in the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree at The University of Melbourne must complete in the second or third year of their course. It provides a unique opportunity to engage in-depth with a particular research topic by completing a thesis on one of more than 100 AMS units offered across the Faculty.
Lynn, a Senior Lecturer in Health Ethics at the Centre for Health and Society and a Research Fellow in the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, is also academic coordinator of the Centre’s AMS units. Over a luncheon in the Senior Common Room, Lynn offered practical strategies for dealing with the AMS year.
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Back to school
Our Bachelor of Education students were not to be left out of the equation when they benefited from the combined wisdom of classroom teachers, two school Principals and St Hilda’s College Councillor and Head of Science and Mathematics Education, Associate Professor Anne McDougall at the Education Round Table Dinner.
According to our students, the broadening of the professional and academic dinner program has been a welcome initiative, allowing them to benefit from the experience of leaders in their chosen profession. We look forward to more of these dinners and workshops in 2006.
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The latest edition of St Hilda’s Chronicle is now online as a PDF. 
