DOCSLIB.ORG

Annual Report 2014–15

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Annual Report 2014–15 AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF THE HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15 AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF THE HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15 This document is a true and accurate account of the activities and abridged financial report of the Australian Academy of the Humanities for the financial year 2014–15, in accordance with the reporting requirements of the Academy’s Royal Charter and By-Laws, and for the conditions of grants made by the Australian Government under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (Cth). CONTENTS From the President 2 Publications and Communications 20 From the Executive Director 4 Grants and Awards 21 Council 5 International Activities 23 Strategic Plan 6 Obituaries 26 The Fellowship 7 Treasurer’s Statement 64 Events 13 Abridged Financial Report 65 Policy and Research 16 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Funding for the production of this report and a number of the activities described herein has been provided by the Australian Government through the Department of Education and Training. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Education and Training. 2 THE AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF THE HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15 FROM THE PRESIDENT In this my first year as President, I take the opportunity The Academy has been a vocal participant in the ongoing to highlight some of the impressive outcomes and discussion around research evaluation and metrics, achievements of the Australian Academy of the encouraging the development of multidimensional Humanities in this reporting period, July 2014 – June approaches to both measure and facilitate researcher 2015, as detailed in the pages that follow. engagement and ‘impact’. We have called on government to adopt the principles outlined in the Leiden Manifesto, The humanities, alongside the arts and social sciences which contends that too often ‘evaluation is led by the (which together comprise the HASS sector), represent data rather than judgement’. half of the tertiary research and teaching system in Australia. The humanities make a deep and rich As we all know, often these contributions are not easily contribution to the nation in many ways, and must be measured. Take for example the lifetime work of historian part of the national conversation about the choices being Professor Colin Mackerras ao fAHA, who was singled out made for the nation’s future. for special mention when China’s President, Xi Jinping, addressed the Australian parliament in November 2014. A key role of the Academy is to provide independent The President thanked Mackerras for building ‘a bridge expert advice to government and policymakers, of mutual understanding and amity between our people’. promoting the social significance of humanities And he praised his ‘tireless efforts to present a real scholarship and its importance in shaping effective China to Australia and the world, based on his personal public policy. The Academy is the leading voice on issues experience of China’s development and progress’. facing the humanities disciplines, and in that capacity How would we begin to measure, let alone cost, such we are invited to participate in a variety of fora on higher a contribution to the national interest? education and research policy. The Academy is actively looking at ways to better Over the last year the Academy has been active in understand and measure academic activity through advocating for a national strategic vision for the entire projects such as Measuring the Value of International higher education, research and innovation system, Research Collaboration. Commissioned by government, including planning for the next generation of researchers. this work has examined how methodologies such Australia’s reputation for a comprehensive, quality-based as network mapping offer insights into the range of higher education and research system should remain interactions, relationships, flows and values associated the primary objective for the sector. This means a long- with international education and research collaboration. term commitment to basic research alongside efforts to encourage the translation and commercialisation Our policy work has been informed and significantly of research. strengthened by the Mapping the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences in Australia report, which has provided The Academy has also called on government to adopt the evidence base on which to progress our arguments. the principle of reciprocity as a tenet of international Launched at the National Press Club in Canberra, the engagement strategies, and contribute to regional public report provides a data resource, a foundation for further good by working on shared challenges. We have also work to support and explore arguments around the value advocated for a commitment to academic freedom to of HASS. underpin all such engagements. We remain indebted to Emeritus Professor Graeme We are currently seeking to develop a strategy Turner FAHA, who led the project, and to his co-author for humanities research infrastructure. Several Dr Kylie Brass for their tireless efforts to communicate its major reviews into research infrastructure have key findings and keep the report on the radar. been undertaken during the reporting period, and the Academy has been very active in this space, Building on this work, we have begun an ARC-funded hosting two events this year focused on the needs study on The Humanities in the Asia Region, which aims of humanities researchers and the development of to facilitate knowledge exchange between humanities a strategy that will position us to present a strong case researchers in Australia and key countries in the for investment. This has involved close collaboration Asia region. with colleagues in the galleries, libraries, archives We are also developing a series of case studies of and museums sector, whose collections are of such humanities research and its contribution to addressing significance for researchers. These institutions are the societal challenges and delivering wider benefits to repositories of the ‘data’ on which so much humanities society. I am deeply grateful to Emeritus Professor Lesley scholarship depends. THE AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF THE HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15 3 Johnson am FAHA, Immediate Past President, for leading and events noted throughout this annual report. I single this important work. out for special mention the work of the Academy, its Fellows and representatives in serving on thirteen major The Academy continues to facilitate engagement among research projects as part of the Australian Council of and across our sector. We have convened an impressive Learned Academies (ACOLA) Securing Australia’s Future array of events this year, with a focus on research programme. Our Academy led the Smart Engagement evaluation, research infrastructure strategy, and early- with Asia project, chaired by Professor Ien Ang FAHA and and mid-career humanities researchers. Our engagement looks set to manage two new projects in the coming year. with the next generation of leaders in the humanities This programme demonstrates the vital ways in which continues through our grants and awards programmes, the humanities comes together with the sciences and which facilitate international linkages and encourage social sciences to tackle big issues bearing on Australia’s excellence in research for early career researchers. future such as building an innovative workforce, This year’s grants will help connect researchers at the developing deeper links with the Asia region through beginning of their careers with counterparts in the research and cultural diplomacy, and capitalising on US, Canada, Sweden, Greece, Belgium, the UK and technological developments with a view to wider social Cambodia. and community need. The Academy’s own international collaborations continue My final word of thanks is to my colleagues, past and to be guided by our International Strategy and by the present, on Council and the staff in the Secretariat. principle of reciprocity which we espouse in our policy On behalf of all Fellows I should like to express our work. We have focused our limited resources on areas of appreciation to Emeritus Professor Lesley Johnson for key strategic value based on our extensive research on her distinguished service as President. Lesley’s quiet and international engagement in the humanities, including consultative manner masked a forceful and determined our survey of Fellows. The bilateral workshops with the leadership style, focusing on results, and ever ready Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) continue to move on to the next challenge. The challenges were to be a great success, due largely to the hard work of our formidable and in meeting them Lesley placed the Fellows who act as convenors and who engage closely Academy in a strong position for her successors. with their CASS colleagues to ensure a programme of great mutual interest and benefit, and to building The considerable and unique contribution of Emeritus strong relationships that we hope will provide a platform Professor Graeme Clark AO FAHA to the Academy during for long-term collaboration. My warmest thanks to his 40-year association, most recently as Secretary, was Professors John Makeham FAHA and Alan Hájek FAHA celebrated at the 2014 Fellows’ Dinner and is outlined for all their work on the second round of workshops in greater detail in the following pages. I wish to thank focused on philosophy. Professor Elizabeth Minchin faha for stepping into the role of Honorary Secretary, and each of the Council There is, of course, always more to do. One area that we members who have taken on additional roles: Professor hope to strengthen in the coming years is in the area Peter Cryle FAHA, International Secretary; Professor of communications, both with Fellows and the wider Richard Waterhouse FAHA, Treasurer; and Emeritus public. We have made a great start with the use of social Professor Elizabeth Webby AM FAHA, Editor. Special media to communicate and engage with our community. thanks are due to Dr Tina Parolin and the able team At 30 June 2015, we look forward with much anticipation in the Academy Secretariat who together have ensured to the launch of The Power of the Humanities publication.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Recipients of Honoris Causa Degrees and of Scholarships and Awards 1999
    Recipients of Honoris Causa Degrees and of Scholarships and Awards 1999 Contents HONORIS CAUSA DEGREES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE- Members of the Royal Family 1 Other Distinguished Graduates 1-9 SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS- The Royal Commission of the Exhibition of 1851 Science Research Scholarships 1891-1988 10 Rhodes Scholars elected for Victoria 1904- 11 Royal Society's Rutherford Scholarship Holders 1952- 11 Aitchison Travelling Scholarship (from 1950 Aitchison-Myer) Holders 1927- 12 Sir Arthur Sims Travelling Scholarship Holders 1951- 12 Rae and Edith Bennett Travelling Scholarship Holders 1979- 13 Stella Mary Langford Scholarship Holders 1979- 13 University of Melbourne Travelling Scholarships Holders 1941-1983 14 Sir William Upjohn Medal 15 University of Melbourne Silver Medals 1966-1985 15 University of Melbourne Medals (new series) 1987 - Silver 16 Gold 16 31/12/99 RECIPIENTS OF HONORIS CAUSA DEGREES AND OF SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS Honoris Causa Degrees of the University of Melbourne (Where recipients have degrees from other universities this is indicated in brackets after their names.) MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY 1868 His Royal Highness Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, Duke of Edinburgh (Edinburgh) LLD 1901 His Royal Highness Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert, Duke of York (afterwards King George V) (Cambridge) LLD 1920 His Royal Highness Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, Prince of Wales (afterwards King Edward VIII) (Oxford) LLD 1927 His Royal Highness Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George,
    [Show full text]
  • Handbook, 1957
    THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE FACULTY OF MUSIC HANDBOOK, 1957 MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PRESS Page numbers are not in sequence. This is how they appear in the publication UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE CONSERVATORIUM OF MUSIC Established 1894 t. Director—T ORMOND Рковнssок 0F Music, SIR BERNARD HEINZE, К В LL.D.нк (British Columbia), Mus. Doc. (W.A.), M.A., F.R.C.M., Degré Supérieur, Schola Cantorum, Paris. Vice-Director—REVEREND PERCY JONES, Ph.D., Mus.Doc. Registrar of the University—F. H. JOHNSTON, B.A., B.Com., L.C.A., J.P. Secretary—IAN PAULL FIDDIAN, Barrister and Solicitor. THE ORMOND CHAIR OF MUSIC AND THE CONSERVATORIUM The Chair of Music was founded in the University of Melbourne by the generous endowment (f20,000) of the late Mr. Francis Ormond in 1891. Three years later, in 1894, the Conservatorium was established. THE BUILDING The present building consists of twenty teaching rooms, a finе lecture hall, concert hall (known as Melba Hall), Director's room, administrative offices, library, social room and staff and students' rooms. AIM OF THE CONSERVATORIUM The chief aim of the Conservatorium is co provide a general course of musical education, while provision is also made for specialization in any particular subject. In the absence, on leave, of Mr. Henri Touzeau, Mr. Keith Humble has directed the orchestra. A programme was provided for the National Council of Women at the Melbourne Town Hall, and by the end of the year three concerts will have been given in Melba Hall. At two of these concerts a number of students will have had an opportunity to appear as soloists with the orchestra.
    [Show full text]
  • PAT HOFFIE: Skatebowl in a Gallery, Ipswich Essay by Julianne Schultz
    PAT HOFFIE: Skatebowl in a Gallery, Ipswich essay by Julianne Schultz MONA – the Museum of Old and New Art – is a glamorous curiosity box on the banks of the Derwent River at Glenorchy in working class Hobart. In just a few years it has been the catalyst of and economic and social transformation – crystallising the cultural essence of early twenty-first century Tasmania, and changing notions of productive work. In the process it has put the state on the global tourism agenda, providing opportunities for artists, craftspeople, performers and thinkers to find like minded souls and develop new businesses and to stretch the horizons and possibilities for countless others. Similar interventions are occurring around the world, as artists, entrepreneurs, local administrators and communities stretch the boundaries of engagement, creativity and art. Skatebowl in a Gallery, Ipswich is the most recent move into this space by the important Brisbane artist, Pat Hoffie. That this work, titled Immaterial Labour: Skatebowl Prounspace has found a home at the Ipswich Art Gallery is itself important – it is the juxtapostion of works like this in unexpected places, and with people who may not routinely visit a gallery, that adds to their power and impact. MONA is a great example. It is itself arguably as much a work of art – of genius – as some of the works assembled in its subterranean galleries and inspiring spaces. It is a product of vision and skill of one man, David Walsh, executed with unstinting precision using the proceeds of a form of work (gambling), which is more often thought of as play.
    [Show full text]
  • Discovering the Contemporary Relevance of the Victorian Flute Guild
    Discovering the Contemporary Relevance of the Victorian Flute Guild Alice Bennett © 2012 Statement of Responsibility: This document does not contain any material, which has been accepted for the award of any other degree from any university. To the best of my knowledge, this document does not contain any material previously published or written by any other person, except where due reference is given. Candidate: Alice Bennett Supervisor: Dr. Joel Crotty Signed:____________________ Date:____________________ 2 Contents Statement of Responsibility: ................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter One ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Literature Review ................................................................................................................................ 9 Chapter Outlines ............................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter Two .........................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Lee Kuan Yew the Press GalleryS Love Affair with Mr Keating Interviewed by Owen Harries Looks Like ItS Over
    INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS LIMITED (Incorporated in the ACT) ISSN 1030 4177 IPA REVIEW Vol. 43 No. I June-August 1989 ki Productivity: the Prematurely r Counted Chicken John Brunner New figures show that plans for a national wage 2 IPA Indicators rise based on productivity gains are misplaced. In 30 years government expenditure per head in Australia has more than doubled. 13 Industrial Relations: the British Alternative 3 Editorials Joe Thompson The death throes of communism will be long and painful. Economic reform in Australia is moving The "British disease" has become a thing of the too slowly. Mr Keating on smaller government. past. Now Australia should take the cure. 8 - Press Index E Lee Kuan Yew The press gallerys love affair with Mr Keating Interviewed by Owen Harries looks like its over. Mr Macphee wins hearts, but Singapores experienced and astute PM on issues not where it counts. ranging from Gorbachev to regional trade. 11 Defending Australia 32 Myth and Reality in the Conservation Harry Gelber Debate The massacre in Beijing has burst the bubble of Ian Hore-Lacy illusion surrounding China. A cool assessment of the facts in an emotional debate. 16 Around the States Les McCaffrey 38 Big Governments Threat to the Rule If governments want investment they must stop of Law forever changing the rules. Denis White Youth Affairs How regulations can undermine the law. 25 Cliff Smith 48 Militarism and Ideology One hundred young Australians debate their Michael Walker countrys future. For Marxists in power the armed struggle continues. 26 Strange Times Ken Baker 50 Terms of Reference The Sex Pistols corrupted by capitalism; Billy John Nurick Bragg on being inspired by Leninism.
    [Show full text]
  • The Public Humanities
    The Public Humanities 10-11-12 November 2016 Hosted by the ARC Centre for the History of Emotions, the ACHRC, and Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia The ACHRC conference on the Public Humanities focuses on a core aspect of humanities research that is particularly germane to research centres in universities and collecting institutions: the integral role of engagement with publics. This is really how the impact of our sector needs to be understood: in the long and dynamic threads of dialogue between researchers and publics on issues such as justice, creativity, decolonization, and heritage. The capacity of the humanities to deal with qualitative emotion as well as the quantitative facts of history and culture is crucial here. Any understanding of a cultures past, present, and future requires an articulation of feelings as well as of facts. Our aim is to bring together speakers with practical experience of programs that work so that our discussions are grounded in the pragmatics of public humanities. In Australia and New Zealand, government-led discussions of innovation and impact are mired in metrics that traduce the real public values of the sciences almost as completely as they ignore the HASS disciplines as a whole. We know about public value – its impact over time and in the lives of individuals – so this conference will be an opportunity build our case as a sector. Keynotes from: Professor Julianne Schulz, ‘Culture in the Age of Innovation’ Professor Thomas Dixon, ‘Unfriending and Weeping in Public’ 1 PROGRAMME Thursday
    [Show full text]
  • Australian Historians Networking, 1914–1973 Geoffrey Bolton1
    10 Australian Historians Networking, 1914–1973 Geoffrey Bolton1 TheOxford English Dictionary defines networking as ‘the action or process of making use of a network of people for the exchange of information, etc., or for professional or other advantage’.2 Although recently prominent in management theory, the art of networking has been practised over many centuries in many societies, but its role in the Australian academic community has been little explored. This essay represents a preliminary excursion into the field, raising questions that more systematic researchers may follow in time, and drawing unashamedly on the resources of the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Beginning on the eve of the First World War, the essay is bounded by the formation of the Australian Historical Association in 1973, at which date the profession provided itself with 1 This essay is a lightly edited version of the paper prepared by Geoffrey Bolton for the ‘Workshop on Biographies and Autobiographies of Historians’ held at The Australian National University in July 2015. Professor Bolton had intended to make further revisions, which included adding some analysis of the social origins of the Australian historians who participated in the networks he had defined. In all essential respects, however, we believe that the essay as presented here would have met with his approval, and we are very grateful to Carol Bolton for giving permission to make the modest editorial changes that we have incorporated. For biographical information and insights, see Stuart Macintyre, Lenore Layman and Jenny Gregory, eds, A Historian for all Seasons: Essays for Geoffrey Bolton (Melbourne: Monash University Publishing, 2017).
    [Show full text]
  • THE ANNUAL FICTION EDITION Edited by Julianne Schultz Griffithreview34
    Griffith 34 A quARTeRly oF wRiT inG & ideAs The AnnuAl GriffithReview34 The annual Fiction edition FicTion Claire aMan Mrs Dogwether’s bird moment ediTion roMy asH underwater e •the Re z ri g p r Tony BirCH The lovers ’ i s f f r i t GeorGia Blain enlarged + heart + child e h t i r KaTHleen BleaKley islands r v e w v i g e sally Breen sunny lodge w n i g e r m BarBara BrooKs searching for Monty ie e W H CHonG an abstract art CraiG CliFF offshore service w Dianne D’alpoiM archipelago Georgia Blain aMy espeseTH Free lunch 34 Craig Cliff asHley Hay elsie’s house ashley Hay Xavier HenneKinne The new capital Xavier Hennekinne KaTe laHey The big one-eyed dork Annual Fiction The Benjamin law BenJaMin laW post-nuclear Melissa lucashenko Maya linDen Forgetting Favel parrett niColas loW octopus Melissa luCasHenKo Friday night at the nudgel Chris Womersley MarGareT Merrilees sighting rottnest and more raCHael s MorGan Tryst Favel parreTT no man is an island JosepHine roWe The tank Julianne sCHulTz Time to don the bat wings THoMas sHapCoTT His grandfather Cory Taylor Continental drift elena WilliaMs Finding a florist in lidcombe Jane WilliaMs a matter of instinct CHris WoMersley The middle of nowhere e dition picTuRe GAlleRy MirDiDinGKinGaTHi JuWarnDa sally GaBori Girt by water www.griffithreview.com online-only essays from laurie Brinklow, Barbara Brooks, Jay Griffiths, pat Hoffie, ournal Mette Jakobsen and Miriam zolin J erly erly T ‘as engaging as it is prescient.’ Weekend Australian Cover image by Jennifer Mills.
    [Show full text]
  • JOURNAL of the ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY of QUEENSLAND The
    JOURNAL of the ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF QUEENSLAND Volume XIII, No. 8 November 1988 The Clem Lack Oration The Dawn of the Satellite Era in Australia by Cameron Hazlehurst Presented 24 March, 1988 With few exceptions, the coming of domestic satelhtes to Austraha has not yet engaged the attention of historians. The story began little more than a decade ago and it still unfolds as a significant issue in the political life of both the Commonwealth and the states. But where the phenomenon is so recent, the sources remain restricted, the actors are mostly reticent about their roles, and the historical profession is confronted by subjects of intimidating technical complexity, it is scarcely surprising that we await anything more than tantalisingly short narratives and manifestly tendentious ideological critiques. For anyone dependent, as most citizens are, on tabloid newspapers, popular magazines, and commercial television newscasts, the coming of the AUSSAT satellites may have seemed like a simple and heroic tale of technological progress and Dr Hazlehurst is a Fellow in History in the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. He previously held senior public service posts and his books include Menzies Observed (1979) and Gordon Chalk (1987). 270 entrepreneurial inhiative. From this point of view, the inevitable progress would have been swifter, if governments had had the wisdom and discretion to keep their own interference to the absolute minimum. The popular media — self interested in this matter as its proprietors were — gave some glimpses of dissent and debate but characteristicahy left the ordinary person unenlightened about events and issues which were the subject of intense speculation, controversy, and contumely.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Leadership—Perspectives and Practices
    Public Leadership Perspectives and Practices Public Leadership Perspectives and Practices Edited by Paul ‘t Hart and John Uhr Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/public_leadership _citation.html National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Title: Public leadership pespectives and practices [electronic resource] / editors, Paul ‘t Hart, John Uhr. ISBN: 9781921536304 (pbk.) 9781921536311 (pdf) Series: ANZSOG series Subjects: Leadership Political leadership Civic leaders. Community leadership Other Authors/Contributors: Hart, Paul ‘t. Uhr, John, 1951- Dewey Number: 303.34 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design by John Butcher Images comprising the cover graphic used by permission of: Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development Australian Associated Press Australian Broadcasting Corporation Scoop Media Group (www.scoop.co.nz) Cover graphic based on M. C. Escher’s Hand with Reflecting Sphere, 1935 (Lithograph). Printed by University Printing Services, ANU Funding for this monograph series has been provided by the Australia and New Zealand School of Government Research Program. This edition © 2008 ANU E Press John Wanna, Series Editor Professor John Wanna is the Sir John Bunting Chair of Public Administration at the Research School of Social Sciences at The Australian National University. He is the director of research for the Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG).
    [Show full text]
  • Sydney Is Singularly Fortunate in That, Unlike Other Australian Cities, Its Newspaper History Has Been Well Documented
    Two hundred years of Sydney newspapers: A SHORT HISTORY By Victor Isaacs and Rod Kirkpatrick 1 This booklet, Two Hundreds Years of Sydney Newspapers: A Short History, has been produced to mark the bicentenary of publication of the first Australian newspaper, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, on 5 March 1803 and to provide a souvenir for those attending the Australian Newspaper Press Bicentenary Symposium at the State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, on 1 March 2003. The Australian Newspaper History Group convened the symposium and records it gratitude to the following sponsors: • John Fairfax Holdings Ltd, publisher of Australia’s oldest newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald • Paper World Pty Ltd, of Melbourne, suppliers of original newspapers from the past • RMIT University’s School of Applied Communication, Melbourne • The Printing Industries Association of Australia • The Graphic Arts Merchants Association of Australia • Rural Press Ltd, the major publisher of regional newspapers throughout Australia • The State Library of New South Wales Printed in February 2003 by Rural Press Ltd, North Richmond, New South Wales, with the assistance of the Printing Industries Association of Australia. 2 Introduction Sydney is singularly fortunate in that, unlike other Australian cities, its newspaper history has been well documented. Hence, most of this short history of Sydney’s newspapers is derived from secondary sources, not from original research. Through the comprehensive listing of relevant books at the end of this booklet, grateful acknowledgement is made to the writers, and especially to Robin Walker, Gavin Souter and Bridget Griffen-Foley whose work has been used extensively.
    [Show full text]
  • KRAMER, Leonie
    36 THE AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF THE HUMANITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2015–16 DAME LEONIE KRAMER ac dbe 1924–2016 fellow · elected 1974 In 1968 she was offered the Sydney Chair in Australian Literature, succeeding the first appointee, G. A. Wilkes, and remained there until her retirement in 1989. Established in 1963 in response to a public fundraising campaign, the Sydney chair was the first and for many years the only chair in the world dedicated to the study of Australian literature. Dame Leonie’s contribution to the teaching of Australian literature at Sydney was arguably the major achievement of her career. In the 1960s, Australian literature was still a relatively new academic subject and it had a limited role in the undergraduate curriculum, with the English major dominated by the British canon. Her appointment was soon followed, in the early 1970s, by the establishment of a course dedicated to Australian literature. It proved extremely popular with students and was developed into a major with greatly expanded curriculum. Then and since, these innovations have met with fierce opposition but can be seen in retrospect as the necessary and enabling conditions for the subject’s development. The late 1970s to the early 1990s saw a continuous photo: courtesy of university of sydney expansion of the Australian literature courses. At its peak in the early 1990s, fuelled by strong numbers of overseas ame Leonie Kramer was appointed to the staff of students, the curriculum comprised over 300 titles, many Dthe University of Sydney in 1968 as Professor of by living writers. This had an incalculably positive effect Australian Literature; she retired as its Chancellor in on the publication and informed reception of Australian 2001.
    [Show full text]