Eight Interesting (and Free) Talks Coming to Sydney in October

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After you leave school or uni, learning anything that's not directly related to your chosen career becomes a hell of a lot harder. We're all time-poor and after a long day at work, there are other things, like socialising, drinking and Netflixing, that usually take precedence over extracurricular learning. Luckily, on Wednesday, October 17, you can get all of that in one spot. Raising the Bar, a global initiative that turns unexpected city locations into classrooms, is returning to Sydney.

In partnership with the University of Sydney, a bunch of smarty-pants will be sharing their research and curious passions across ten Sydney haunts. Each venue will host two free talks on the night — one at 6.30pm and another at 8pm — and, because we all remember how torturous choosing subjects was in school, we've narrowed it down to our top picks for you. Don't forget that the bars will be open for business, too — so pick a venue, grab a beer and settle in for a night of learning.

DELLA HYDE

THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT? AT 6.30PM 

This talk is for the doomsday preppers out there. Geographer and disaster expert Dale Dominey-Howes will explore how we process natural disasters as a society and pose the question: 'Is it still a disaster if humans aren't affected?'

Dominey-Howes will explain the difference between hazards and disasters, as well as examine where our planet is headed and consider the direct link between climate change and natural disasters. Dominey-Howes is a consultant for the United Nations and The World Bank, as well as the chairman for the post-disaster policy and protocols working group of the United Nations UNESCO-IOC.

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS AT 8PM

No, this isn't that Will Smith movie. But it does have the same focus. Happiness: what is it, why is it important and how can we attain it? Though brooding about happiness is an ancient philosophical tradition, it remains elusive and misunderstood in modern society. Philosopher Dr Caroline West has forged a career investigating the concept of happiness and will explore these question in depth during her talk.

A radio personality and lecturer on the philosophy of happiness, West is also an essayist who has been published in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The National Times, and the Australian Review of Public Affairs.

SURLY'S

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND AT 6.30PM

Channel your Buzz Lightyear-loving inner child and hit up space engineer Warwick Holmes' talk at Surry Hills' American barbecue joint. Holmes has been in the business for 30 years and contributed to the mammoth Rosetta mission. Now, he is the executive director of USyd's Space Engineering School. Didn't know there even was such a division? It's not surprising — though the exploration of space is a $400-billion industry, Australia only contributes one percent to that market share.

Holmes will explore how Australians can leverage its existing space experts, as well as encouraging a new generation of space engineers through the new Australian Space Agency. He'll also discuss how rival space programs, namely Elon Musk's SpaceX, could affect this Aussie vision.

SINCE I LEFT YOU

GENERATION WHY AT 8PM

If you're a millennial who is tired of being labelled 'lazy', this one will validate your frustration. Steven Hitchcock is a generational researcher who doesn't believe in categorising people by their birth year. He considers the concepts of the 'lazy millennials' and 'technologically inept baby boomers' to be more akin to horoscopes than scientific fact. During his talk, Hitchcock will explore how society came up with these categories and how to avoid generational typecasting.

Hitchcock's background is in organisational and management communications and he aims to teach how to work together without making generational assumptions about one another.

HARPOON HARRY'S

THE HEAT IS ON AT 8PM

By winter's end, we were pretty desperate for warmer weather — but the rising temperatures aren't necessarily good news. Scientist Ollie Jay, a specialist in thermoregulatory physiology (the study of body temperature) will explore the factor of climate change and teach guests how to stay cool without the need for air-con. He'll talk to his understanding of how heat effects body temp and human health, why heat effects people in different ways and how extreme heat can impact us going forward. This one will help spice up those regular chats about the weather with your colleagues.

Jay is currently helping to develop an 'extreme heat policy' for Australia — one that is very necessary for a country with regular 40-degree summer days.

THE TAPHOUSE

BUILD A BRAIN AT 6.30PM

If all of those dystopian, robots-taking-over films have you scared, join physicist Zdenka Kuncic for a more realistic exploration of applying human intelligence to artificial brains. She argues that AI will require the same level of cognition as humans to be successful — including self-awareness, self-reliance and the ability to learn and adapt. She'll discuss how to build a synthetic brain and what obstacles scientists will need to overcome in order to make it work in society.

Zdenka is an elected fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics and was awarded an Australia-Harvard fellowship in 2017. Her research focuses on the intersection of physics, medicine and biology.

LANGUAGES OF THE LAND AT 8PM

Learning a second (or third) language is pretty common these days. But for the countless classrooms, apps and foreign exchange courses teaching Spanish, Mandarin and Arabic, very few are teaching the indigenous languages of Australia. Sydneysiders live on the ground of Cadigal people of the Eora nation but the native languages of this land, and the stories, histories and identities that go hand in hand with them, are at risk of being forgotten. Ngarigu woman Jakelin Troy is a linguistic anthropologist and will discuss why it is so important to preserve indigenous languages.

Troy works to reconstruct Australian languages through education and expresses what is at stake when these languages are lost. She is the author of Sydney Language and the director of the University of Sydney's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research program.

MOJO RECORD BAR

WHO OWNS YOU? AT 6.30PM

Who doesn't love pondering a good ethical quandary every now and again? In this age of self-empowerment and celebrities insuring body parts, having 'ownership' over one's body has many different meanings — but we rarely consider that, actually, none of us own our bodies in a legal sense. Sascha Callaghan will explore the ethical conundrums of treating the human body as property, including buying and selling body tissue for personal or commercial gain. It's a doozy, but luckily you can mull it over with a beer in hand.

Callaghan is a lawyer and academic with a PhD in mental health law. Her research is focused on the mental and reproductive health law and policy.

All of these talks (plus many more) will take place on Wednesday, October 17. Registration for each individual event, while free, is a must, so head over here to check out the full program and nab your free tickets.