The Australian Centre aims to develop innovative research projects in the Australian arts and humanities across a range of disciplines, including Art History, Theatre Studies, Literary Studies, Cultural Studies, Media and Communication, Cinema Studies, Indigenous Studies and Creative Writing.
In light of the emerging COVID-19 situation and continuing policy statements from the State and Federal Government, the University is adopting a series of changes to reduce rates of infection in the community. The health and wellbeing of our community is of paramount importance. Therefore, all University events have been postponed or cancelled from midnight, Tuesday 17 March. Thank you for your understanding as we endeavour to keep our community members safe during this uncertain time. More information.
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Thursday 6:00pm - 7:00pmNavigating Our Future: Melbourne Writers Festival
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Alexis Wright in conversation with some of Australia’s finest storytellers
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Peter Blazey Fellowship
$15,000 approx. (annual), for a work in progress in the non-fiction fields of life-writing, biography or autobiography. NOW OPEN. Applications close 24 Aug 2020.
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Kate Challis RAKA Award
$20,000 approx. for Aboriginal writers and artists, presented in a five-year cycle of creative prose, drama, the visual arts, scriptwriting and poetry. NOW OPEN. Applications close 7 Sep 2020.
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Truganini: Journey through the apocalypse
2018 Peter Blazey Fellow Cassandra Pybus has examined the original eyewitness accounts to write Truganini's extraordinary story in full.
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Rachael Weaver discusses the kangaroo hunt with Amanda Vanstone on Counterpoint.
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Olive Cotton: New book by Helen Ennis
Congratulations to the 2012 Peter Blazey Fellowship recipient Helen Ennis on the publication of this new biography.
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The decline of Australian studies? Ken Gelder on RN
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The Colonial Kangaroo Hunt
Forthcoming publication from Ken Gelder and Rachael Weaver.
The Australian Centre is based in the School of Culture and Communication, with Professor Denise Varney as its director. It aims to develop innovative research projects in the Australian arts and humanities across a range of disciplines, including Art History, Theatre Studies, Literary Studies, Cultural Studies, Media and Communication, Cinema Studies, Indigenous Studies and Creative Writing.
History
and other Australian short stories' John
Fairfax and Sons, Sydney, 1907, 254 pp.
The Australian Centre was founded in January 1989 with the assistance of a grant from the Hugh Williamson Foundation. Its directors have included Professor Chris Wallace-Crabbe (founding Director 1989-1994), Professor Ruth Fincher (1995-1996) and Professor Kate Darian-Smith (1998-2005 and 2010-2012). Professor John Murphy, Dr Fay Anderson and Dr Sara Wills have also served as directors. During this time the Centre achieved national and international recognition for its undergraduate and graduate level teaching in Australian Studies, interdisciplinary doctoral program and a distinguished record of ARC and other external funding for research projects and fellowships that fostered an appreciation and critical examination of Australian society, culture and history. The Australian Centre also administered a suite of national cultural and literary awards and continues to do so.
Research
The Australian Centre aims to develop research capacity in two key areas:
The Colonial Australian Archive
Contemporary Australian Cultural Practices
Contact
Professor Ian McLean
Hugh Ramsay Chair in Australian Art History, the University of Melbourne
Email: i.mclean@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Julie McLeod
Professor of Curriculum, Equity and Social Change
Email: j.mcleod@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Marc Mierowsky
McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow
Natural Born Subjects: A Cultural History of Naturalization in Britain and the Australian Colonies, 1660-1850 (2019-2021)
Email: marc.mierowsky@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Rachael Weaver
Senior Research Fellow, ARC Discovery Project
Eco-Colonial Australian Literature: Environment, Species, Climate (with Ken Gelder 2017-2020)
Email: weaverra@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Sandra D'Urso
Researcher
Patrick White and Australian Theatrical Modernism (2014-2018)
Australian Poetry Today (2015-2018)
Email: sandra.durso@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Justin Clemens
Associate Researcher, ARC Future Fellowship
Australian Poetry Today (2015-2018)
Email: jclemens@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Anne Maxwell
Associate Researcher, ARC Discovery Project
'The Complete Craze': Women's Photography and Colonial Modernity in the Asia-Pacific, 1860-1930 (2014-2017)
Email: emaxwell@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Mark Davis
Associate Researcher, ARC Discovery Project
New tastemakers and Australia's post-digital literary culture (2017-2019)
Email: davismr@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Beth Driscoll
Associate Researcher, ARC Discovery Project
New tastemakers and Australia's post-digital literary culture (2017-2019)
Email: driscoll@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Sybil Nolan
Associate Researcher, ARC Discovery Project
New tastemakers and Australia's post-digital literary culture (2017-2019)
Email: sybil.nolan@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Rachel Fensham
Associate Researcher, ARC LEIF Grant
Visualising venues in Australian live performance research (2017-2018)
Email: rachel.fensham@unimelb.edu.au
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The Colonial Australian Archive
This field of research will bring together current and new work across the following areas: colonial literary studies/print culture, theatre and performance, early cinema, visual art and design, migration and settlement, 'contact' studies, colonial typologies, frontier settler violence, law and order, race, and gender.
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Contemporary Australian Cultural Practices
This field of research will bring together current and new work across the following areas: literary studies, creative writing, theatre and performance studies, cinema, television, visual art, dance, publishing, new media, and social media.
The Australian Centre administers a series of prizes for outstanding endeavour in the visual arts, creative writing and biographical studies. The awards are presented on an annual or biennial basis.
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Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL)
ASAL promotes the study, discussion and creation of Australian writing and seeks to increase awareness of Australian writing in the wider community. ASAL holds conferences and maintains a directory of graduate research on the website.
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AusStage
AusStage is The Australian Live Performance Database.
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Humanities Networked Infrastructure (HuNI)
HuNI combines data from many Australian cultural websites into the biggest humanities and creative arts database ever assembled in Australia. HuNI data covers all disciplines and brings together information about the people, works, events, organisations and places that make up the country's rich cultural landscape.
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Trove
Trove is a National Library of Australia search engine that can help find and use resources relating to Australia. Trove brings together content from libraries, museums, archives and other research organisations.
Journals
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Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature (JASAL)
JASAL is a peer-reviewed journal, published in at least two volumes each year by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature.
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Meanjin
Celebrating its 75th anniversary, Meanjin is one of Australia's oldest literary journals. Based at The Universitty of Melbourne since 1945, Meanjin reflects the breadth of contemporary thinking.
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The Canary Press
The Canary Press is an Australian story magazine. Founded in 2013, it features writers that no one had ever heard of, alongside some of the finest short story writers in the world.
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Kill Your Darlings
Kill Your Darlings (KYD) was founded in 2010 and comprises a quarterly edition. Publishing essays, commentary, fiction and reviews, KYD is committed to feisty new writing across all genres.
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Mascara Literary Journal
A bi-annual literary journal founded in 2007, Mascara is particularly interested in the work of contemporary migrant, Asian Australian and Indigenous writers. Mascara specialises in platforms for subaltern writing and human rights, cultural cohesion and participation.