University of Newcastle

I start a second term of assistant teaching today at the main campus of the University of Newcastle--three sections of Introduction to Journalism. Last term it was International Media Studies. I'm "international" over here, after all.

A few months ago "uni" changed it's logo from the seahorse with the starry, question mark thought-bubble--actually, the Southern Cross star constellation, also featured on the Australian flag--to the stylized white-on-black horse head. I get the new one--those are waves lapping at the horse's neck and into its eye--but it looks too much like a sports team mascot. I really like the friendlier old one better. And "I Look Ahead" says a lot, I think.

By the way, "uni" is what locals call the school, and it's typical Australian shorthand for "university" in general.

Surprisingly, the University of Newcastle has about 20,000 students. Here's the school's website http://www.newcastle.edu.au/ and a link to its Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Newcastle,_Australia

The school is located smack dab in the middle of a suburb, on a large tract of land next to a wetland that was donated to the university in the 1960s, I believe it was. It's an unfortunate siting as far as transportation goes, especially for students who live on campus. There's no business district within convenient walking distance, for instance, and the train station is a 15-minute brisk hike from the building that I teach in (although a city bus stops nearby). Also, a couple of my American exchange students from last term told me that it was the first time they had to take a bus anywhere. Back home in small-town Iowa they always drive. Another American student shared an apartment in downtown Newcastle and got very tired of taking a bus back and forth, about 8 miles each way, I estimate.

Another unusual aspect of the campus is its deliberate "bush" character. There is a long walking path, featured in part in this photo, through a dense wooded area linking two main parts of campus. It's beautiful, if you don't have to be anyplace in a hurry and if you know where you're going. Most of the buildings look the same--1960s and 1970s bland beige and brown architecture--so navigating around campus, up one "bush walk" path and down another, can be disconcerting at first. And then there are the mosquitos, which make it nearly impossible to sit outdoors in warm weather, and a challenge sometimes to use the men's room.