Professor the English Department Annual
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j THE AUSTRll.LIAN NATION.AL uNIVERSITY 36/1965 SCHOOL OF GENERAL STUDIES The English Department Annual Report, 1964 Staff Professor • . • A. D e Hope , B . A. Associate Professor T. Inglis Moore, O.B.E.\ M.A. (Australian Literature). Reader W. Milgate, M.A. (appointed from lst Jan. 1965). Senior Lecturers . R.F. Brissenden, M.A., Ph.D • L.J. Downer, B.A., LL.B., M.A., Solicitor (N. S. W. ) • W.S. Ramson, M.A., Ph.D. Lecturers J. Miriam Benn, M.A. Dorothy Green, M.A. A. Hope Hewitt, M.A., B. Com. (on leave). Alison I. Jones, B.A. F.H. Langman, B.A. Part-Time Tutors ..• Arlene Bedwell, B.A. Erica Langman, B.A. Monica Lascelles, M.A. Nancy Norman, M.A. Erica Veevers, M.A. Associate-Professor Tom Inglis Moore returned from study leave early in the year. In January he delivered a lecture on Australian Literature at the University of Leeds. Mrs. A.H. Hewitt was absent on stud_y- leave during 1964. She spent much of her time at Bristol where she worked with Professor L.C. Knights, Mr. Glynn Wickam and Dr. Bertram L. Joseph. Her field of special study was the develop ment of Renaissance Comedy. Professor Hope left for Europe on twelve months' sabbatical leave in December. Mr. Evan Jones left the Department to take up an appointment as lecturer in English in the University of Melbourne. He was replaced by Mrs. Dorothy Green, who had been lecturing in English at Monash University. Mr. Wesley Milgate, at one time Challis Professor of English in the University of Sydney, was appointed to the position of Reader in this Department from lst January 1965. Professor Hope delivered the Commonwealth Literary Fund Lectures for 1964 in the University of Sydney. Their title was: Early Australian Poets. He lectured at the University of Melbourne in May and in August delivered a paper, entitled, 'The Twa Mariit Wemen and the Wedo,' Satire or Complaint? at the AULLA Conference in Melbourne. A Fourth Year Honours candidate in the Department of Russian worked under bis supervision during the year. Before going overseas he was elected by the Australian Humanities Research Council and the Australian Universities Language and Literature Association to repre sent these bodies at the International Conference of University Professors of English which will be held at Venice in August 1965. Dr. Brissenden delivered the Commonwealth Literary Fund Lectures at Newcastle University College: the lectures were devoted to the poetry of Judith Wright, the poetry of A.D. Hope, and the plays of Patrick White. He also lectured there to classes in American Literature. He attended the Conference of the Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association held in Melbourne in August, and delivered a paper entitled, On the Road. With Dr. Harry Heseltine of the University of New South Wales he edited a special issue of Meanjin Quarterly devoted to Theatre and Drama in Australia. In July he accepted an invitation to conduct the Saturday literary pages in The Australian. He acted as Convenor of the Drama Committee within 36/1965 2. t his University, and as Treasurer of tbe recently formed Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association. He bas also been a member of the Users Committee for tbe H.C. Coombs Theatre Building. Dr . Ramson continued to bold tbe office of Sub-Dean in tbe Faculty of Arts . He delivered a paper at tbe AULLA conference entitled Early Australian English: tbe Vocabulary of an Emigrant Mechanic . He remained a member of tbe Australian Language Research Centre, and visited Sydney from time to time to attend its meetings . During tbe year be was promoted to tbe position of Senior Lecturer. Mr . Langman visited tbe University of Sydney in third term and lectured to Honours Classes. He also delivered a paper on Shakes peare to tbe University Literary Society. He addressed bigb-scbool teachers of English on Wutbering Heights, and broadcast for tbe A.B.C . on 'Tbe Reading of Poetry ' and 'Problems of Illiteracy' . Mrs . Dorothy Green directed two play-readings for students . Sbe delivered a public lecture, Tbe Elizabethan Stage, during tbe Shakes peare Centenary celebrations, and also addressed matriculation students on Macbeth . Sbe gave one of tbe Commonwealth Literary Fund lectures for 1964 in this University, ber subject being The Novels of Louis Stone. In August Mrs. Green attended tbe AULLA Conference and delivered a paper entitled Trends in Modern Literary Criticism. Mr . L.J. Downer bas been closely associated during the year with the organization of the new course in Medieval Studies. He also attended the AULLA Conference, as did Mrs. Miriam Benn and Miss Alison Jones. Courses After exhaustive discussion amongst staff members during the year the structure and composition of literature courses offered by the Department have been extensively revised. The main changes are as follows: English I has been made more genuinely introductory; American Literature and Australian Literature may now be taken only by students who have completed ~nglish Literature I or two other Arts units; and American Literature may now form part of the English Literature major . It is hoped that a more flexible and better integrated set of courses is now available to students. Enrolments Enrolled Sat Passed English Literature I 175 132 103 English Literature II 77 67 57 (Pass and Distinction) English Literature III 32 30 25 (Pass and Distinction) English Literature IV 4 3 * E.E . L. L. I 22 17 11 E.E.L.L. II 11 10 9 E.E .L.L. III 2 2 1 American Literature 20 15 11 Australian Literature 40 33 32 M.A. Qualifying 3 1 1 M. A. 5 Ph . D. 2 Total 393 310 250 ============================ * No students completing final examinations in 1964. 3 . Leaving Certificate Marking Dr . Ramson again acted as Assistant Chief Exruniner in charge of the Canberra team of people marking N.S.W. Leaving Certificate English Expression papers . Visitors Visitors to the Department during the year included Professor C. F . MacRae , of the University of Waterloo, Ontario; Professor Lewis Leary, of Columbia University, who lectured on American Literature; Professor J. Lawlor, of Keel, who lectured to language students; Professor Douglas Grant, of Leeds, who lectured on American Literature and Augustan poetry; Mr . George Rylands of Cambridge; Dr . and Mrs . Derek Marsh of Sydney, who took classes in Shakespeare; Mr . Micheal MacLiammoir; Professor Mary Martin, McMaster University, Ontario; and Dr. H.P. Heseltine, of the University of New South Wales, who delivered one of the Commonwealth Literary Fund Lectures, bis subject being Banjo Paterson, a Poet nearly Anonymous . David Nichol Smith Memorial Seminar in Eighteenth Century Studies Professor Hope and Dr. Brissenden, together with Mr. Harold White, the National Librarian, were instrumental in inaugurating proceedings which led to the setting up of a committee, under the chairmanship of the Vice-Chancellor, to investigate the possibility of holding a seminar in eighteenth century studies to celebrate the acquisition by the National Library of books belonging to the late David Nichol Smith . Plans are now well established for the seminar, which will be held in CanbGrra in August 1966 under the joint sponsorship of the Australian National University, the National Library of Australia and the Australian Humanities Research Council . Professor Hope is Chairman of the Seminar Committee . During bis absence this position is being occupied by Dr . Brissenden. General Remarks In the Annual Report for 1963 Professor Hope included a para graph under the heading of ' General Remarks'. Since what be said is even more applicable now than it was then, bis statement (with minor adjustments) is herewith reproduced: The Department bas continued to grow in size and the range of its activities during 1964, but it is clear that it suffers in comparison with those departments which have matching departments in the Institute of Advanced Studies. The library is not so well able to call on senior scholars for advice and occasional help. In consequence, the honours and post-graduate work is not developing as it should. English, of course, shares this disability with several other departments in the School of General Studies . R.F . Brissenden Acting Head 4. 36/1965 Publicat ions Hope, A.D . - ' Dunciad Minimus ' (extracts), Southerly, XXIV,ii,1964, 104- 115 . Moore, T. Inglis - Poetr in Australia Vol . I : From the Ballads to Brennan (ed . with an Introduction and biographical Index of Authors Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1964) . Henry Kendall: Australian Poets (ed . with Introduction and Select Bibliography) Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1964. Brissenden, R.F . - ' Five Senses: Judith Wright' . The Australian Quarterly, XXXVI,i,1964, 85- 91 . ' The Plays of Patrick White '. Meanjin Quarterly, XXIII,iii, 1964, 243 - 256 . Southern Harvest: An Antholo of Australian Short Stories edited, with an Introduction, MacMillan & Co . , Melbourne, 1964 . Mean·in Quarterl : S ecial Theatre and Drama Issue, XXIII,iii, 19 4 . Guest editor, with H.P. Heseltine • Ramson, W.S . - ' Aboriginal Words in Early Australian English '. Southerly, I, 1964, pp . 50- 60 . ' Australian Aboriginal Words in The O. E. D. '. Notes and Queries, N. S . , II,ii, pp. 69- 70. ' The Currency of Aboriginal Words in Australian English' . Australian Language Research Centre, Occasional Paper, No . 3. ' Primary Sources for the Study of thG Vocabulary of Australian English '. Australian Literary Studies, I,iv, pp . 251- 259 . Hewitt, A. Hope - Coming to Terms with Poetry. (In press). Langman, F .H. - Edited with an notes. A.N.U. Press) . 'Examinations in English'. The Australian University, II, iii, 1964 . ' The Lyrical Ballads '. (Review), AUMLA, Nov . 1964 . Green, D. - ' Labour Saving' (poem). Meanjin Quarterly, March 1964. ' The Lament of Brangane' (poem) . The Australian, September 1964. ' The Pouched Mouse ' , Orpheus, Monash University, 1964 .