The Australian Academy of the Humanities

The Humanities in Australia: Taking Stock

19-20 November 2009

National Library of Australia, Parkes, Canberra

Convenor: Professor Mark Finnane FAHA, Griffith University

The 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Academy of Humanities in Australia is an opportunity for reflecting on the significance of the humanities in research, in intellectual debate and in cultural life.

How have research agendas altered over the last four decades, and how have the disciplines that address them changed? Are national frameworks any longer adequate for understanding social and cultural life and experience? Have we changed the way we answer leading research questions, or altered the ways we communicate with our various audiences?

The 2009 Symposium will bring together a cross-spectrum of leading scholars in the humanities in Australia to consider the major developments in the humanities over recent decades and the consequences of these for future research and teaching in the humanities.

The programme of the 40th Symposium is available. Please note that changes may still occur. For a PDF copy of the programme, please click here (144KB).

Discussion texts by panellists and abstracts of the main lectures are now available. Please click on each title individually to download.

Session 1 – What were the dominant research agendas in 1969 and how have they changed?
Session 2 – How do disciplines change?
Session 3 – Do national contexts still matter?
Session 4 – Have we changed the way we answer questions?
Session 5 –How have we changed the way we communicate the results of research to our audiences?
Abstracts of Lectures - Abstracts of Main Lectures

Text of Keynote Address by Professor Ian Hunter FAHA - Theory Time: On the History of Poststructuralism, 200 KB

Academy Lecture: Professor Ian Donaldson FAHA, FBA, FRSE, President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, University of Melbourne

Keynote Address: Professor Ian Hunter FAHA, University of Queensland

Hancock Lecture: Professor Glenda Sluga, University of Sydney

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