Introduction
The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established under Royal Charter in 1969. It
succeeded the Australian Humanities Research Council, founded in 1956. We are one of the four Learned Academies in Australia (the other three are the Academy of Science, the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia).
The Academy aims to advance knowledge of, and the pursuit of excellence in, the Humanities.
The general disciplinary areas of the Academy include: Archaeology;
Asian Studies; Classical Studies; English; European Languages and Cultures; History;
Linguistics; Philosophy, Religion and the History of Ideas; Cultural and
Communication Studies; The Arts.
The Australian Academy of the Humanities is governed by a Council, elected from among its Fellows. Its day-to-day operations are managed by its Secretariat, based in Canberra.
For further information please have a look at some of our other pages which details the history of the Academy, its Council, its Secretariat, and the core of the Academy's existence, the Fellows. For some of the legal framework that underpins the work of the Academy, please have a look at the various parts of the Charter and the By-Laws.
Goals of the Academy
Spelled out in the Charter and in the By-Laws, the specific goals of the Academy are as follows:
- to advance knowledge of the Humanities
- to encourage and support scholarship in the Humanities
- to promote studies therein and to assist the publication of any such studies
- to establish and maintain relations with international bodies concerned with the Humanities
- to correlate and assist in correlating the efforts of other bodies in the Humanities
- to arrange or assist in arranging meetings of humanists in Australia
- to encourage and assist the visits of humanists from other countries to Australia
- to assist Australian humanists in scholarly pursuits in Australia or elsewhere
- and to assist in exchanges of scholars between the Commonwealth of Australia and other countries
- to administer or assist in administering funds for the purposes of research in the Humanities
- to assist and promote the development of libraries in Australia in the field of the Humanities
- to act as a consultant and an advisory body in matters concerning the Humanities
Council The Academy's Council directs the Academy's business, its policies, and is responsible for selection of grant recipients, organising the Symposia, and many other important functions. |
Secretariat The Secretariat is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Academy's business. It collects applications, develops reports, organises Symposia, edits Academy publications and so on. |
By-laws and Royal Charter The by-laws and the Royal Charter are the legal documents which control how the Academy is run. |
History The history of the Academy, from its beginnings as the Humanities Research Council, its metamorphosis into the Academy of the Humanities in 1969 and everything since. |
Insignia What would a Learned Academy be without Latin, a coat of arms and other arcana? |
Benefaction If you would like to help with the development of the Humanities in Australia and around the world, then you might consider making a donation to the Academy as a bequest. |
The Australian Academy of the Humanities
