Humanities ___________________________________Page

AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHY COMPETITION

Geography students from Year 10 and 11 tested their geographical skills and knowledge against students from all around Australia in the 2017 Australian Geography Competition. A number of students performed to a high level in the Competition this year with three students gaining distinctions and one student gaining a credit. These students were: Year 10 Distinction - Oscar Mazaraki, Bryce Watkins and Jonty Lawson. Year 11 Credit - Nathan Mifsud.

Over 70,000 students from 743 schools across Australia entered the Australian Geography Competition so the results give us an external benchmark as to how our students are going in certain aspects of geography. Bernard Fitzpatrick, the Competition’s national coordinator, said: “The Competition aims to encourage student interest in geography and to reward student excellence. Geography is an important subject which develops a student’s understanding of the spatial interrelationships between people and place. It helps students appreciate the complex nature of local, regional and global, social, economic, and environmental interactions.” High-achieving Year 11 students from the 2017 Australian Geography Competition will take part in a six-day training selection event, Geography’s Big Week Out, being held on Kangaroo Island, South Australia in early October this year. From this event, four students will be chosen as members of the team which will represent Australia at the 2018 International Geography Olympiad in Quebec City, Canada.

THE UN YOUTH EVATT COMPETITION

On 4 August at Deakin University, senior students Patrick Richards, Xavier Dowd, Jurrin Romanis, Matthew Walters, Harvey Carmody and Joshua Spork from Mr Bertino’s Politics class competed in the UN Youth Model UN Evatt Competition, with each pair being assigned a country to represent. They debated against each other and students from other schools in the Geelong region, negotiating in an attempt to best serve and meet the interests of their assigned country on a range of issues from governance in Israel and Palestine, espionage sanctions, to freedom to navigate in the South China Sea. The results of the competition found that two teams progressed to the semi-finals in Melbourne.

VCE PHILOSOPHY

This year VCE Philosophy was offered to students for the first time at St Joseph’s College. Philosophy is a challenging and engaging subject that requires students to explore questions such as: What is the nature of reality? Is there such a thing as human nature? Is it possible to attain certainty about anything? And what does it mean to live a good life? Students have honed their reasoning skills and grappled with problems posed by some of history’s greatest thinkers.

- Tom Arthurson

“I think, therefore I am”. Our existence comes from our capacity to ponder. For the first time at St Joseph’s, students were asked to question what they were and how to live a good life with the introduction of Philosophy as a subject. This year has opened the students’ minds to a new understanding of how the world works, as well as questioning and discovering truths of the universe. Among all the classes this year, this will be the one that will challenge students the most as they have to question their own beliefs as well as understand complex theories by arguably the best philosophers of all time.

- Denzel Rabino, Year 12 Philosophy

Philosophy has broadened my mind since day one. During the year we have covered interesting topics such as free will, truth and even beauty. Its student orientated style and class discussion has assisted students to formulate original ideas, as well as further their confidence and arguing ability.

- Harry HockleySamon, Year 11 Philosophy HOLOCAUST MUSEUM YEAR 10 EXCURSION

The period between 30 January 1933 to 8 May 1945, is arguably the worst in human history. Orchestrated by the German Nazi Party, the Holocaust took over 6 million lives - which equates to 60 full MCGs. During Term 2, Year 10 History students visited the Jewish Holocaust Museum. The museum featured a wealth of information on Jewish persecution during the Nazi regime. The museum includes everything from used ‘striped pyjamas’ and concentration camp replicas, to German newspapers published in the 1940s. These significant sources gave every student the realisation that this brutal attack on human life, occurred not during the middle ages, but less than 100 years ago. The museum prominently displayed a tube, containing 1.5 million buttons, each one representing the life of a child, lost too soon. This was a symbolic reminder of how privileged we are to be alive in this current time. During our visit, we were given the rare opportunity, to speak to a survivor who experienced this abhorrent event. Joseph De Haan lived in the Netherlands during Nazi occupation, and stayed alive, by hiding at a farm on the outskirts of Amsterdam. After hearing his incredible story, we were able to reflect on what we saw and how it is still relevant to our lives today.

- Angus Wiese, Matt Davie & Max Tagliabue