The Australian Academy of the Humanities

November 14-15, 2002, Canberra

Evidence, proof and truth are concepts that have primary currency in the professions of both law and humanities scholarship. They are ideas that inform the practices and missions of both the lawyer and the humanities researcher, yet their meaning is not always the same for each. Indeed, lawyers and scholars are often talking about quite different processes and aims when they speak of evidence, proof and truth – sometimes with serious practical implications in areas such as indigenous land ownership, heritage, and social and health policy issues.

Proof and Truth: The Humanist as Expert will examine the problematic nature of humanist expertise. Using the widest possible lens, the symposium will investigate key issues relating to intellectual, cultural and legal views of the humanities scholar, and assess the different disciplinary and institutional approaches to the fundamental concepts of evidence, proof and truth.