RMIT Vietnam scholars contribute to World Book Day

Tiếng Việt

RMIT Vietnam scholars contribute to World Book Day

World Book Day, the biggest event of its kind, honours and celebrates the contributions of authors, illustrators, books and reading around the globe.

Historically, universities have been significant contributors to the world’s book library, attracting many great thinkers, scientists, poets and dreamers who inspire curiosity and exploration across generations and build upon humankind’s collective knowledge.

RMIT Vietnam academics are no exception, joining thousands of writers internationally in tirelessly researching, interviewing and discovering, until hundreds of pages of work can be collected, bound and gifted to the world.

RMIT Vietnam will join book lovers on World Book Day, 23 April, to celebrate the achievements contained within the pages of the following recent publications from some of the University’s scholars, written to inspire the thinker, encourage the innovator and educate the learner.

mHealth Innovation in Asia | Associate Professor Jerry Watkins

This open access book offers a detailed account of a range of mobile health initiatives across South, Southeast and East Asia. It provides readers with deep insights into the challenges such initiatives face on the ground, and a view of the diverse cultural contexts shaping strategies for overcoming these challenges. The book brings together various discussions on the broader mHealth literature, and demonstrates how a research focus on diverse Asian contexts influences the success and/or failure of current mHealth initiatives. It also highlights the important roles social scientists can play in advancing theoretical approaches, as well as planning, implementing and evaluating mHealth initiatives. The book is a valuable resource for project planners, policy developers in NGOs and government institutions, as well as academics, researchers and students in the fields of public health, communications and development studies.

Sustainable Technologies for Fashion and Textiles | Dr Rajkishore Nayak

Sustainable Technologies for Fashion and Textiles combines the latest academic research and industrial practices to shed light on a wide range of activities that influence how the textiles industry affects the natural environment. The research explores how pressure from regulators, customers and other stakeholders has pressed companies to translate general sustainability concepts and ideas into business practices. This movement is leading to improvements in how the industry consumes water, electricity and chemicals, and to a reduction in the amount of waste generated by textile processes.

(L-R) RMIT Senior Lecturer Dr Rajkishore Nayak and Head of Department, Communication, Associate Professor Jerry Watkins, recognised for their research on World Book Day.

We need to talk about Heidegger | Dr Justin Michael Battin

This collection explores contemporary issues relevant to media studies, referencing the work of German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Following the release of Heidegger's controversial Black Notebooks and the subsequent calls to abandon the philosopher, this book seeks to demonstrate why Heidegger, rather than be shunned by media theorists and practitioners, ought to be embraced by, and incorporated into, the discipline, based on his unique and often innovative pathways to address, and ultimately understand, our daily engagements with media-related phenomena.

Indian documentary film and filmmakers: Independence in practice | Dr Shweta Kishore
Independent documentary is enjoying a resurgence in post-reform India. But in contemporary cinema and media cultures, ‘independent’ operates as an industry genre or critical category of cultural production.

Based on detailed on-site observation of documentary production, circulation practices and the analysis of film texts, this book identifies ‘independence’ as a tactical practice, contesting normative definitions and functions assigned to culture, cultural production and producers in a neoliberal economic system. Focusing on selected filmmakers, Dr Kishore establishes how they have reorganised the dominance of industrial media, technology and institutions to develop practices that build upon principles of de-economisation, artisanship and interdependence.

Print is not Dead | Stefanie W. Neukirchen and Professor Rick Bennett
Print is not Dead shows and describes outcomes from the original course, ‘Print is not Dead’ (2017). Led by German graphic and interactive designer Stefanie W. Neukirchen, the leadership, vigour and enthusiasm of her young Vietnamese students goes a long way into dispelling the myth that print is a medium of the past; it is not in a poor state of health, and certainly nowhere near dying.

RMIT Vietnam Lecturers Dr Justin Battin and Dr Shweta Kishore, and Vice President Academic and Head of School of Communication & Design Professor Rick Bennett published books on contemporary media studies, Indian documentary film and filmmakers, and the relevance of the printed word, respectively.

Story: Lisa Humphries