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Issue 38 * August 1996
Here are a few items of interest and topicality that at one time or another in the past month have impinged on my attention and which need no footnotes: In these hard times 'It is not meet that every nice offence /Should bear its comment' (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar - more or less).
Such is life, my fellow-mummers - just like a poor player, that bluffs and feints his hour upon the stage, and then cheapens down to mere nonentity. But let me not hear any small witticism to the further effect that its story is a tale told by a vulgarian, full of slang and blanky, signifying -- nothing.
Professor Brian Matthews
The next major Menzies Centre conference, generously sponsored by Qantas, The Australian Airline, is entitled 'Ecology and Empire: Environmental History of Settler Societies' and will be held on 19-20 September 1996 in the Downer Room at Australia House. Please come along - and bring your friends! It promises to be a significant international gathering featuring outstanding scholars and speakers from Australia, South Africa, North America and Britain. A provisional programme and a registration form are included in this newsletter.
The conference will be introduced by a special Literary Links evening on Wednesday 18 September from 6.30 to 8.30 pm in the Downer Room at Australia House. This will feature the celebrated Australian environmental writer and poet, Eric Rolls, reading from his work. You are welcome, of course, to come to the Literary Links function even if you do not register for the conference that follows. More details on the work of Eric Rolls can be found inside this Newsletter.
On 12 April, Professor Matthews had consultative meetings with UQP Editor, Ms Rosie Fitzgibbons, and Dr David Coad of the University of Valenciennes - one of the venues on Professor Matthews' 1994 lecture tour in France and a university that has since become an active part of the Menzies Centre's European network. On 15 April he was interviewed by John Thompson of the BBC on Australian Studies in Britain and the impact of the then recent federal election. On 16 April, he hosted a welcoming lunch for prominent Australian historian, Professor Henry Reynolds, a keynote speaker at the Menzies Centre's Native Title conference, and later that same day welcomed Mr Stephen Wood, the WA Government's representative at the conference. On 17 April, Professor Matthews had discussions with Professor John Higley of the University of Texas at Austin and Head of Australian Studies at Austin; and on 18-19 April, he presided at the opening and closing sessions of the Centre's conference on Mabo and Native Title. On 25-28 April, Professor Matthews and his wife joined the delegation led by Victorian Agent-General, Mr Ken Crompton, visiting the Australian War Memorial and war graves at Villers-Brettoneux and environs as part of the Anzac Day observances.
On 1 May he discussed the Centre's work and future with Mr Ian Strachan, Chairman of BTR, and Mr Elwyn Eilledge, Chairman elect, with the result that the Centre was invited to make a formal proposal of various sponsorship options to BTR. On 3 May, he was a guest at lunch with Sharon Connelly of Film Australia, who presented the Centre with valuable and original films on Eddie Mabo and Native Title. On 6 May, Professor Matthews travelled to Vicenza where he gave a discussion seminar in a series on biography to a large group of teachers at the Istituto "Fogazzaro"; from there he went to Venice where he took part as a keynote speaker in a conference marking the re-establishment of Australian Studies at the University of Venice - once a major institution in the field. On 14 May he attended the SRMCAS Management Committee Meeting and on 15 May was the guest of WA Agent-General Mr Bill Hassall to discuss a Scholarship project. On May 20 he was visited by Professor Zhu Jiong-Qiang, Director of English Literatures Research Centre of Hangzhou University. On 22 May he addressed the Overseas Women's Club on "Demidenko and After", had discussions on current conditions in Australian universities with Professor Sol Encel, was interviewed about Australian 'Soaps', and presided at the launch, by Professor David Lowenthal, of Tom Griffiths' Hunters and Collectors. On 30 May he accepted an invitation to attend the New Zealand Studies Conference held for the first time at New Zealand House (the 1994 and '95 Conferences were under the auspices of the Menzies Centre).
On 14 June he joined HE Dr Neal Blewett and Mr Steve Howard of Global Agendas, for a lunch at the High Commissioner's residence to discuss fund raising strategies for the Centre. On 17 June he chaired the annual meeting of the committee awarding Northcote Scholarships and Visiting Fellowships and on June 18 welcomed visitors from ANU, Dr John Docker and Professor Ann Curthoys. On 21 June he was interviewed by Times Higher Education Supplement journalist, Chris Johnston, on the Menzies Centres' funding endeavours and needs - an interview on which, it was said, Senator Amanda Vanstone, the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs, would comment, though in fact she did not. From 1 to 6 July Professor Matthews attended the Australian Identities conference at University College Dublin where he chaired the opening keynote address given by David Malouf, gave a reading from his recent fiction, chaired the poetry session, 'Peter Porter and Friends', and delivered a paper entitled '"Putting in The Boot": Some Recent Australian Cultural Conflicts'.
On 9 July, as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Webster's Multimedia, he attended a meeting of the Board to discuss planning for the World English Editions of Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia, to which he is also a contributor. On 14 July he went gratefully on holiday to Greece with his family . . .
Tom Griffiths completed teaching and examination of the Centre's undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students throughout May and June, and chaired the Board of the Master of Arts in Area Studies (Australia). Due to uncertainty about the Centre's staffing in 1997, teaching of the MA degree will be suspended in 1996-7. However, the Centre's teaching of the History of Australia course at undergraduate level will be maintained. Tom also co-ordinated the Centre's Term 3 weekly Australian Seminar series, and has continued to supervise several postgraduate research students.
On 18-19 April, Tom Griffiths organised and convened the Menzies Centre's conference on 'Aboriginal Land Rights: Australia and the Mabo Judgment', which was held at Australia House with the support of the Australian High Commission, CRA Limited and the Government of Western Australia. A report on this very successful conference appears elsewhere in this issue. On 25-27 April, Tom attended the University of Exeter conference on New Aboriginalities and presented a paper entitled `Keeping places: Aboriginal local histories'. On 1 May, he travelled to the Worcester College of Higher Education and spoke to staff and students about the history of museum collections in Australia. On 2 May he was interviewed for the BBC radio programme, Nightwaves, about his book Hunters and Collectors, and later in the month by ABC Radio National for their Hindsight programme. On 14 May, he attended the meeting of the Menzies Centre Management Committee, and on 20 May presented a paper to the Imperial History Seminar on Australian nature writing. On 21 May, Tom met with Chris Wood, Director of Australians Studying Abroad and Information Age Travel, and discussed some possible joint projects. On 22 May, Tom's book, Hunters and Collectors (Cambridge University Press), was launched by Professor David Lowenthal at a function held in the Menzies Room which drew about 70 people. In June the book was short-listed for the National Book Council's CUB `Banjo' Award for Australian Literature (Non-Fiction). A report on the awards appears elsewhere in the newsletter.
On 6 June, Tom Griffiths attended the launch in Cambridge (by Peter Porter) of John Kinsella's book of new and selected poems, The Undertow, as well as a new book of poetry by Rod Mengham. On 14 June, he attended a meeting of the executive of the British Australian Studies Association (BASA) and participated in discussions concerning the forthcoming conference at Stirling (30 August-1 September, see details elsewhere in this newsletter). On 25 June he attended the Literary Links evening for Robyn Davidson at Australia House.
With Libby Robin, Tom Griffiths has continued to plan the Qantas Conference on Ecology and Empire: Environmental History of Settler Societies, to be held on 19-20 September, and which will be introduced by a special Literary Links evening on 18 September at which the celebrated poet and environmental writer, Eric Rolls, will read from his work. A book from the conference is also planned, and negotiations with a British publisher are now advanced. Tom also continued his fund-raising work for the Centre, in particular through development of the Australian Academic Visitor Program Subscription Scheme.
In June, Tom Griffiths read the proofs and prepared the index of Prehistory to Politics: John Mulvaney, the Humanities and the Public Intellectual which he has edited jointly with Tim Bonyhady of the Urban Research Program, ANU, and which will be published by Melbourne University Press in November this year. The book brings together the papers presented at the Humanities Research Centre conference in Canberra last year entitled `The Making of a Public Intellectual'. Tom also edited the Public Lectures in Australian Studies 1995-6 featuring lectures by Dr Neal Blewett, AC, and Dr Peter Read. This publication is now available (see announcement elsewhere in this issue). He has also edited for publication the proceedings of last year's Menzies Centre conference entitled People and Place: Australian heritage stories. This collection features essays by David Carment, Tony Dingle and Seamus O'Hanlon, Peter Read and Libby Robin, and will be available very soon.
From December 1996, when his two-year contract at the Menzies Centre ends, Tom Griffiths will be taking up a research fellowship in the History Program at the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, Canberra.
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The Menzies Centre's Public Lectures in Australian Studies 1995-6 address two controversial and vital issues in Australian political and cultural life today, both of which arouse strong feelings in Britain as well as Australia. They are the debate about an Australian republic, and the Human Rights Commission Inquiry into the removal of Aboriginal people from their families this century. The lectures were presented by the Australian High Commissioner in London, HE Dr Neal Blewett, AC, and the noted scholar of Aboriginal history, Dr Peter Read. The Lectures have just been published and can be ordered from Louise McSeveny for the price of �6.00.
University Subscription Scheme Launched: The Menzies Centre has this year launched an Australian Academic Visitor Program Subscription Scheme. The aim of this program is to maintain and develop the Centre's role as the major overseas base for Australian academics pursuing Australian Studies in an international setting. We are seeking the support of all Australian universities through an annual subscription scheme that will enable the Centre to continue to assist and support the work of travelling Australian academics, particularly those on OSP. The Centre teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Australian Studies, promotes Australian Studies at British and European universities, and operates as the Australian cultural base in London and the UK. It also plays a fundamental role within the Australian university system, as the major centre used by humanities academics from Australia wishing to pursue the study of their country overseas, in a comparative intellectual environment with access to outstanding archives and libraries.
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The Menzies Centre has recently suffered stringent financial cuts and become subject to new accountability provisions. The grant from the Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Trust, which took over full financial responsibility for the Centre in 1988, has been reduced by two-thirds. The Trust's stricture that the Centre not seek other funding support has consequently been lifted. The Australian Government's support for the Centre, now administered through the Australian International Education Foundation, is conditional on the Centre becoming financially self-sustainable. The Centre is now required to tie each funding contribution to particular projects and functions. Funding is now actively being sought from the corporate sector as well as appropriate trusts, professional bodies and institutions in Britain and Australia. The Centre is also moving towards greater cost-recovery in its teaching and outreach programs. We are therefore appealing to Australian universities to fund one of our most important core activities: the services and support that the Centre offers visiting Australian academics.
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The loss of our Visitor Program, which is now left without any designated funding, would seriously affect those Australian academic staff who already find it most difficult to undertake overseas study leave, those who research and teach Australian Studies. Overseas study leave is encouraged by Australian universities and the Menzies Centre is an established, successful, overseas resource for such staff and their institutions. We hope that support for the annual subscription scheme will enable the Centre not only to maintain this service, but to improve on the facilities and assistance it currently offers to its visitors.
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Thank You to the following Supporting Universities
The Menzies Centre warmly thanks the following universities for their generous support of our recently launched annual subscription scheme, as well as the academic staff, Deans and Vice-Chancellors who argued the case for the Menzies Centre within their own institutions. This financial assistance will contribute greatly to the future of the Menzies Centre and to the cause of Australian Studies in Britain and Europe generally.
We also thank those universities that are currently considering our invitation to contribute to the subscription scheme.
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A Personal Subscription! Thank you to John Kinsella and Tracy Ryan An unexpected and heartwarming response to the Menzies Centre's subscription scheme has been the contribution of a personal annual subscription in support of the Centre from the writers John Kinsella and Tracy Ryan. John and Tracy hope that their generous subscription of A$5,000 per annum for as long as they can afford it will inspire other writers, scholars and enthusiasts to pitch in too. As recipients of Australian government support in the past, John and Tracy feel that their subscription is a significant way to 'give back' to the causes they believe in so strongly - the promotion of Australian Studies, the appreciation and understanding of Australian culture abroad, and the strengthening of 'literary links' between Australia and Europe. As John put it recently, 'my work and the work of many Australian writers depends on this Centre being here - and flourishing'. John is continuing to work with the Centre on other fund-raising initiatives.
Supporters of the Centre may be interested to know more of the work of Kinsella and Ryan, and so we requested some biographical information, which is presented below:
Tracy Ryan was born and grew up in Western Australia. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature, and has also studied European languages at the University of Western Australia. She has worked in libraries, taught in the Literature course at Curtin University of Technology, and edited poetry and fiction for magazines. Her first book of poetry, Killing Delilah, was published by Fremantle Arts Centre Press in 1994, and was shortlisted for the 1994 W.A. Premier's Prize for Poetry, and the John Bray Poetry Award, Adelaide Festival, 1996. She received a Category B Writer's Grant from the Literature Board of the Australia Council for 1996. Her second book of poetry, Bluebeard in Drag, is due out with FACP in August, and her first novel, Vamp, will be published by them in February, 1997.
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Poetry Reading: On May 15, a lively audience at the Menzies Centre was privileged to hear two Australian poets, John Kinsella and Graeme Kinross Smith, working creatively in tandem. Taking it in turns, the two read superbly from their work with an exhilarating contrast in styles. Kinsella, the West Australian poet whose recent book won the John Bray Poetry Award, has a staccato, edgy explosiveness, and Melbourne poet and short-story writer Kinross Smith is laconic, dryly witty and unobtrusively moving. Kinross Smith took us imaginatively to the beaches and forests of Victoria's Otway coast, as well as to the humid, childhood world of suburban swimming pools, and Kinsella powerfully evoked the pastoral landscapes of Western Australia and read energetically from his sizzling, breathless cascade of poems, Syzygy. In introducing the two poets, the Head of Centre, Brian Matthews, said that while he would like to ascribe the dramatically successful pairing of these two poets to meticulous planning, the Centre's finances were such that `crude opportunism and outrageous serendipity' were more often the favoured strategies. (Adapted from Jill Neville's report for The Australian)
A poem read by Graeme Kinross Smith at the Menzies Centre on 15 May:
Will they kiss there at the plainwood
table provided by the Shire under
the suitable pines beside the
swinging rubbish bin and
picnic fire-place?
Unlikely. As they lean towards
each other over the Thermos
flask a bullant every
colour of the rain-
bow has entered
the recess
between
his
straining
belt and the
sweaty small of
his back while their
can of Aeroguard left far
too close to the hearty blaze
of the barbecue is about to explode
-Graeme Kinross Smith
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Menzies Centre Features In 'Banjo' Literary Awards: The Menzies Centre followed up its good form in the `Age' Book of the Year awards for 1995 with an outstanding performance in the National Book Council 1996 `Banjo' Awards for Australian Literature. Winner of the 'Fiction' category was Rod Jones' American frontier novel, Billy Sunday, which was published just before Rod became the Menzies Centre's inaugural Writer-in-Residence late last year. Billy Sunday is now getting rave reviews in America, where it has just been released to headlines like `The great American novel - by an Aussie!'
The 'Non-Fiction' prize was shared by Menzies Centre stalwart and regular star performer, Henry Reynolds, and by Abraham Biderman, whose holocaust memoir, The World of My Past, was rejected by innumerable publishers before Biderman decided to publish it himself. Reynolds' book, Fate of a Free People, is a compelling and lucid account of Aboriginal Tasmanians which turns the conventional story of their passive capitulation completely (and satisfyingly) on its head, revealing the political intelligence of Aboriginal resistance on the Tasmanian frontier. Also shortlisted for the 'Non-Fiction' prize were The Death of William Gooch, written by a good friend of the Menzies Centre, Greg Dening, and Hunters and Collectors by Menzies Centre lecturer, Tom Griffiths.
The 'Poetry' prize was awarded posthumously to Philip Hodgins. Commended in this category was John Kinsella's The Silo: A Pastoral Symphony - for more on John's association with the Menzies Centre, see elsewhere in this newsletter.
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Eric Rolls - Literary Links: On Wednesday, 18 September at 6.30 pm, come to the Downer Room at Australia House to meet and hear one of Australia's finest writers - and to catch a glimpse of his country that may surprise you. Eric Rolls is a farmer, poet and historian whose prose masterpiece, A Million Wild Acres, has been described as one of the great books about Australia, rivalling Voss, Such is Life or Capricornia as the `ultimate statement about national experience'. We feel privileged to be able to present Eric Rolls to a London audience.
Eric Rolls is a remarkable and versatile writer. He was born at Grenfell in western New South Wales in 1923, and spent his childhood on a farm outside Narrabri. During World War II he joined the 24th Light Horse, and then went to Papua New Guinea with the New Guinea Air Warning Wireless Company to report movements of Japanese troops and aeroplanes. His first published poem, written when he was fifteen, was sent to Douglas Stewart at the Bulletin from New Guinea, and was later broadcast by the ABC and the BBC. After the war, Eric Rolls farmed at Boggabri and later Barradine near the Pillaga forest in NSW. He continued to write, and his books have won readers and prizes everywhere. They include Sheaf Tosser, his first book of poetry, They All Ran Wild, a history of pests on the land in Australia, Running Wild, a version for children, The River, a beautiful account of the long-awaited, fabled rising of the fish in the Namoi River, A Million Wild Acres, his history of the Pillaga forest, Celebration of the Senses, a frank and personal celebration of life, Doorways: A Year of the Cumberdeen Diaries, a reflective journal of a year of farming, writing and travelling, Selected Poems, bringing together new and previous verse, From Forest to Sea, a collection of many of his prize-winning essays on the Australian environment, and Sojourners: Flowers and the Wide Sea: The epic story of China's centuries-old relationship with Australia. The sequel to Sojourners, called Citizens, is due to be released later this year, as is his book Celebration of Food and Wine.
He is currently writing The Growth of Australia: The Shaping of a Country, about which he will speak at the Ecology and Empire conference on 19-20 September. Eric Rolls was made a member of the Order of Australia for services to literature and environmental awareness on Australia Day 1992, and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.
The work of Eric Rolls reminds us how misleading, at times, is the distinction between fiction and non-fiction, for real life - as he has said himself - has to be imagined to be understood. The Australian poet Les Murray called Rolls' regional- ecological history, A Million Wild Acres, `a deeply disobedient book'. It exhibits, says Murray, a `golden disobedience ... that is disobedience of the dominant literary sensibility itself'. Rolls' writing is organic, sensuous, honest - and highly original. He believes that `soil is the perfect background for a writer ... it has supported all my books; it has encouraged me with wonders.'
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Monash Lecturer: We are delighted to confirm that Monash University plans to continue its support of the Menzies Centre through its appointment of a visiting lecturer to the Centre. Following the important work of David Lowe in 1993-95, and Nick Economou in 1995-6, a Monash Lecturer will be working at the Centre for several months in early 1997.
A conference organised by the Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies in association with the Australian High Commission, and with financial assistance from CRA Limited and the Government of Western Australia, London 18-19 April 1996
A major international conference on Aboriginal Land Rights was organised by the Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies and held at Australia House, London, on 18-19 April. It could hardly have been more timely. This was the first full discussion of the issue since the election of the new conservative federal government led by John Howard in early March. Hence a conference initially conceived as a forum to explain the implications of the Mabo judgment to a European audience, became also an urgent political occasion where strong anxieties were expressed about the future of native title in Australia. The audience, described in Australian Associated Press reports as 'Britain's opinion leaders', actually consisted of about one hundred business people, anthropologists, archaeologists, lawyers, activists for indigenous rights in many countries, ex-patriate Australians, and even 'members of the British public'.
In the week before the conference, the two Aboriginal leaders who had planned to travel to London for the occasion, Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton, became embroiled in a mounting crisis over Aboriginal affairs back home and were unable to attend. These events included a government enquiry into the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), an impending High Court judgment on a land claim by the Wik people of Cape York, and rumours of government amendments to the Native Title Act. Noel Pearson's prepared speech, which was read to the gathering by Senator Margaret Reynolds, conveyed 'the deep sense of panic and dismay amongst indigenous people about the current developments', and reluctantly predicted that 'the progress made by the country in forging a legal and philosophical framework for a future relationship between the colonists and the colonised of Australia, founded on reconciliation, will be stalled and likely reversed'.
Another notable absence at the conference was any representative of the Howard Government. By contrast, the Government of Western Australia paid for its Acting Chief Executive of the Native Title Policy Unit, Stephen Wood, to fly to London to explain that 'apart from a balanced budget, native title is the number one policy issue' in his state, which is the biggest user of the Native Title Act. And the Queensland Labor Senator Margaret Reynolds described the exciting and tense negotiations which, in 1993, led to the passing of the Native Title Act, and she regretted 'the inherent racism' of Australians which she feared was again receiving official encouragement. Paul Wand, who was appointed last year to the new position of Vice President - Aboriginal Relations in the Australian mining company CRA Limited (and who was wearing a black, red and yellow tie), spoke of CRA's determination to change the corporate culture of the mining sector 'for the better', and hoped for a time when 'Aboriginal people and mining companies would go hand in hand to government'.
The conference provided evidence of the enduring moral power of Mabo, but also assessed the judgment's strength as a political and cultural watershed. Historian Bain Attwood, whose edited collection In the Age of Mabo was launched at the conference by Dr Howard Morphy, analysed the backlash to Mabo, particularly that on the Western Australian frontier. He scrutinised what he called 'the dreamtime of conservatives', their `failure to imagine sharing the country' or to come to terms with the deep historical challenge thrown out by the High Court's judgment. Henry Reynolds warned that extinguishment of native title on pastoral leases would be a devastating blow to small communities across Australia and would complete the process of dispossession. It would also deny the original Colonial Office intentions for pastoral leases as well as the profound contribution of Aborigines to the Australian pastoral industry. Archaeologist Tim Murray studied the impact of Mabo on notions of heritage and national identity and questioned the implications of an Aboriginal ownership of heritage.
The London audience was shown the land claims process in action, as anthropologist Deborah Bird Rose described the experience of wading across crocodile-infested rivers with the Aboriginal Land Commissioner, and evoked the dignity of dusty outdoor 'courts'. She explained some of the images of `Big England' held by Aboriginal people. Anthropologist Bob Layton described the differences between claims under the Northern Territory Land Rights legislation and those under the Native Title Act.
Although the political nature of the subject matter dramatically shaped and enlivened the conference, the occasion was also notable for gathering together an unusual range of expertise and perspectives, and for enabling rare dialogue. Sometimes it is easier to discuss sensitive issues from afar; sometimes it is easier to gather in the one room in London (albeit an imposing and imperial one) people who might avoid one another at home. In any case, as Henry Reynolds powerfully reminded the conference, Britain is a most appropriate place to hold such a meeting. It is here in London, in the Colonial Office records, that many of the secrets of the Australian frontier are to be unearthed. It is those records, for instance, that hold the key to an accurate historical understanding of whether or not pastoral leases extinguish native title. It is in `Big England' that Reynolds' final question really hurts: 'Will Australians of the late twentieth century have less respect for Aboriginal rights than the aristocratic Englishman who ran the Colonial Office 150 years ago?'
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A new report prepared by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Austrade confirms that the European Union is Australia's largest source of foreign investment, its major host for foreign investment, its largest source of imports, and its second largest market for exports of both goods and services.
The report, which is entitled Australia-European Union: Trade and Investment - Towards 2000, documents the total trade and investment relationship between Australia and the EU, reappraises the way the Australian Government and business community perceive and conduct business with the EU, and outlines the agenda for advancing these critically important relationships.
One way to do so is through cultural diplomacy, the careful explanation of historical and contemporary ties, the promotion of Australian Studies in European schools and universities, and the intelligent exchange of information - literary, political, economic - between the two hemispheres. The Menzies Centre is the heart of Australia's network of academic and cultural relations with Europe. Let's make sure it doesn't fade away even as the economic relationship strengthens.
A copy of the report can be obtained from the Commonwealth of Australia, Parliament House, Canberra.
Rodney Mace's interest in Australia proper began when he started researching the life and work of the Tasmanian born Frederick Matthais Alexander (1869-1955). Alexander gives his name to the 'Alexander Technique' frequently described as 'an effective way of physical and mental re-education' and now widely taught as an alternative therapy in the USA, UK and Australia. Although Alexander settled in London in 1904 and never returned he is included in the ADB and the bicentenary publication The Two Hundred People Who Made Australia Great.
This research is now being turned into the first ever critical biography of this Australian charismatic who counted among his students and admirers Alexander Leeper, Billy Hughes, G.B. Shaw, Aldous Huxley and the American philosopher John Dewey.
In March Rodney gave a paper in the SRMCAS seminar series titled 'Calvinism and Anxiety; the Case of Sir George Arthur'. And in May Rodney gave a plenary paper 'The Alexander Technique and the Magic of Mirrors' to the 4th Annual Conference on Contemporary and New Age Religions in Bath.
Rodney has published widely on many aspects of London history, particularly as the first city of Empire. He has also written for television and the theatre and is currently completing a book with John Gorman on two hundred years of British Trade Union posters. For some years he has worked with the performance arts and environmental group Platform and took part in the 'Reclaim the Streets' closing of the M41 on July 13.
Alison Palmer was appointed as a Research Associate following her involvement with the Centre's conference, Aboriginal Land Rights: Australia and the Mabo Judgment, held at the Australian High Commission in April. Alison's interest in the conference stemmed from her doctoral research on Colonial genocides which she did in the Research Associates cont...
Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In particular, she focused upon the nature of racial contact in Queensland and in South West Africa and then contrasted these to more modern cases of genocide - the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide of 1915-1917. During this time she spent six months (1990) in Australia conducting archival and scholarly research for her thesis. She completed her thesis, entitled Colonial genocide?: the Aborigines in Queensland 1840-1897 and the Heroes in South West Africa, 1884-1906, in 1993 and was successfully awarded her PhD in early 1994. On the basis of her thesis she was awarded the 1995 Sir Robert McKenzie Award (LSE) for outstanding postgraduate achievement.
Between 1990-3, she was actively involved with the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN), based at the London School of Economics, and was appointed chair of ASEN for 1992-3.
In 1994-95 she was tutorial Fellow in Comparative Politics in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics. This last year, she took a break from academia in order to spend time with her young daughter. From September 1996 she will be a part-time lecturer at the University of East London, where she will teach the course Nations and Nationalism in Africa and Asia, for the degree in Third World Studies.
She has continued her work on the Editorial Committee of the journal Ethnicity and Racial Studies and on the International Advisory Board for the journal Nations and Nationalism. She also referees articles for the journal Morality. She was a delegate at the 1996 annual conference of ASEN 'Nationalism and Religion', and at the 1996 conference 'The Nature of National Identity: Theoretical Interrogations', both at the London School of Economics.
She is currently working on a number of projects, including an article 'Colonial and modern genocide: explanations and categories', a book on threatened tribal peoples to be published by Pierian Press, USA, a book comparing the impact of colonialism upon different indigenous peoples, and two volumes on indigenous peoples, which she is co-editing. She is currently discussing the publication of her doctoral work.
On 14 May, Libby Robin spoke at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for Environmental History in Norwich about national parks and the rhetoric associated with them. In July, she attended and spoke at the `Australian Identities' Conference in Dublin. Her subject was `Urbanising the Bush: environmental disputes and Australian national identity'. [Her paper is available on the World Wide Web, through the Centre for Australian Studies, Dublin]. Libby has also been preparing her paper for the British Association for the Study of Australia (BASA) conference in Stirling, 29 August-1 September. The subject of the conference is `Comparing Australia', and her paper is entitled `What's national about national parks?'.
The `Ecology and Empire' project is developing well. In addition to the Qantas Menzies Centre conference at the High Commission on 19-20 September, Libby has been working with Tom Griffiths on the preparation of a book. The pre-conference work on the book will ensure real coherence between papers, as well as a fine publication. She has also been working on her own paper for the project: `Ecology: a science of empire?'.
Libby continues to work (electronically) on the editorial board for the journal Metascience, an international review journal for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science sponsored by the Australasian Association for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (AAHPSS).
Libby Robin's article `Radical Ecology and Conservation Science: An Australian Perspective' has recently been accepted by the journal Environment and History. Her essay review `Educating the Activist: Natural and Unnatural Visions' [Review of William Cronon (ed), Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature], will be published in Social Studies of Science later this year.
The `Australian Identities' conference at Dublin in early July, organised by Professor David Day at the Irish Centre for Australian Studies, was physically and intellectually a huge event. It brought a great range of people to Dublin, especially Australians, and included a wide range of papers across the whole spectrum of Australian studies. A particularly successful dimension was the Australian writers' week, which resulted in a number of impressive readings and literary events. And for those lucky enough, there was a memorable meeting with the President of the Republic of Ireland, Mary Robinson, who insisted on personally meeting and speaking with each delegate at the Presidential residence. David Day is to be congratulated on conceiving and organising such an ambitious and successful occasion which was held just two weeks before the completion of his term as Professor of Australian History at Dublin. He has adorned this important chair, and received glowing compliments from his academic colleagues as well as from the Australian Ambassador to Ireland. We wish him well on his return to Australia.
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All those who attended or heard about EASA's very successful conference in Copenhagen in October 1995 will be keen to contribute to the next one in Klagenfurt in 1997. The centre of a very lively Australian Studies group, Klagenfurt will be hosting the conference on the theme of Maintaining the National: Policies, Fictions and Discourses in Contemporary Australian Culture.
The conference will seek to put nationalism, particularly Australian nationalism, under the microscope. In the era of horrible European wars in Croatia, Bosnia, Chechnia or Georgia, is nationalism dead, or is it too vigorous a concept to simply fade away? How has Australian nationalism been revived or maintained? The conference will seek to address issues of policy-making and policy implementation; historic contexts encouraging discourses of nationalism; discursive practices in political debates, journalism, literature, film and TV; constructions and utilizations of the national in popular culture, how Australia negotiates with its nationalist histories and established mythologies; and finally, future prospects - if any - for Australian nationalism in an age of cultures and multiple ethnicities. The organizers would like to encourage contributors to examine topical issues in the light of past or present uses or policies of the national. Proposals for papers (approx. 300 words please) should be sent to Adi Wimmer no later than 15 March, 1997. Institut fur Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Universitat Klagenfurt, A-9020 Austria, fax: 0043 463 2700 333, e-mail: [email protected].
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This three-day international conference, organised by Dr Edesio Fernandes, has been designed to complement the Ecology and Empire conference, thereby offering a stimulating week of historical and contemporary considerations of environmental politics and history. For further information, please contact the Seminar Secretary, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, 28 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DS, tel: 0171 580 5876.
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Come to Scotland for a grand perspective on Australian Studies.
The British Australian Studies Association (BASA) will hold its biennial conference at the University of Stirling from 29 August to 1 September 1996. It promises to be a stimulating and enjoyable event. There is still time to register - please feel welcome to join us!
The conference committee has received abstracts of papers covering a wide variety of disciplines: history, fine art, ecology, politics, literature, anthropology, architecture, law, popular culture, economics, gender studies, education, technology and society, sport, sociology, experience of war, and geography. There were too many abstracts for all to be accepted but prospective participants were notified in January about whether their papers had been accepted; registration forms have been mailed to BASA members and to all those who have expressed an interest in the conference. It is expected that a conference issue of Australian Studies, the BASA journal, will be published including amplified versions of the papers. Anyone interested in receiving further information should contact: Angela Smith, BASA Conference Organiser, Centre of Commonwealth Studies, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland. Phone: (44) 01786 467503; Fax:(44) 01786 466210; Email: [email protected].
The following are confirmed plenary speakers:
Accommodation will be provided in a university residence, John Forty's Court. The rooms are small en suite bedrooms at the cost of �12.50 per person per night. Continental breakfast can be provided at a cost of �5.50. Other accommodation, for instance for families, can be arranged on request.
On the day the conference begins, 29 August, there will be a conference trip to the Burrell Collection or to the Charles Rennie Macintosh exhibition in Glasgow, or to the Scottish Maritime Museum at Irvine, where the world's oldest clipper ship, The Carrick/City of Adelaide, which used to take emigrants and cargo to Australia (but brought more back!), is being restored. A bus will take everyone to the Burrell Gallery and leave those who wish to visit it there, going on with the others to the Macintosh exhibition and then to Irvine. The bus will leave at about 10 am and return by 5 pm; please note that, if you go on the trip, you need to arrive on Wednesday 28 August. Lunch is available at all venues, but is not included in the price of the trip, which is �10.
The conference dinner will be held on Friday 30 August in Culcreuch Castle Hotel, Fintry, at 8:30 pm. The castle dates from 1296, and stands in parkland on a small loch overlooking the Campsie Fells. Transport will be provided and included in the overall price which is �25.
Because the reconstruction work on Argyll's Lodging has fallen behind schedule, the venue of the conference has changed. The opening reception will be in the Queen's Apartments at Stirling Castle, where there will be supper and a ceilidh. Conference sessions will be held at the University of Stirling, which is a modern campus university, with good sports facilities. Airthrey Castle, an Adam building from the original eighteenth century estate, now houses part of the university; the extensive grounds and lochs were part of its parkland.
OUT SOON:
Order now from Louise McSeveny at the Menzies Centre (�8)
People and Place: Australian Heritage Stories
This Menzies Centre publication, based on a conference held at the Centre late last year, draws together some recent narratives and perspectives of heritage in post-war Australia. How have settler Australians become emotionally attached to their adopted land? What places have they created, defended and lost? How have they shaped their living environments in a rapidly urbanising society? Edited by Tom Griffiths, the collection includes the following essays:
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A Guide to Australian Universities
Magabook Pty Ltd based in Sydney publishes each year two main publications for prospective international students to Australia. 'Study and Travel in Australia' and 'A Guide to Australian Universities' are now distributed in over 110 countries worldwide. These publications are available upon request free of charge. For information or copies of these publications please contact Agnes Beugnon, Marketing Executive, Magabook Pty Ltd, P.O. Box 444, Rockdale, NSW 2216, Fax: +61 2 567 0399. Please note that the 1996 Editions are now available on the internet at http://www.Magabook.com.au A CD-Rom version will be officially released for the Hong Kong Austrade Education Promotion in August.