Sana Nakata and Russell Goulbourne
Dean’s Forum: Associate Professor Sana Nakata
As a student at the University of Melbourne, Associate Professor Sana Nakata felt acutely aware that ‘a door had been kicked open’ for her, and that the onerous responsibility of holding it open for others was on her shoulders. Now, as a scholar and the Faculty’s newly-appointed Associate Dean (Indigenous), she’s working to ensure that current students don’t feel that pressure. In this conversation, Sana sits down with Dean of Arts Professor Russell Goulbourne to discuss how we can transform our Faculty – and the Humanities and Social Sciences more broadly – to be a more inclusive, supportive space for all students.
About Associate Professor Sana Nakata
Associate Professor Sana Nakata is Associate Dean (Indigenous) and co-director of the Indigenous Settler Relations Collaboration at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne. Trained as a lawyer and political theorist, her research is centred upon developing an approach for thinking politically about childhood in ways that improve the capacity of adult decision-makers to act in their interests. She has recently completed an ARC Discovery Indigenous Research Fellowship examining Representations of Children in Australian Political Controversies (2016-2019). She is the author of Childhood Citizenship, Governance and Policy (2015), and along with co-director Sarah Maddison, edits the Springer book series: Indigenous Settler Relations in Australia and the World.
About Professor Russell Goulbourne
Professor Russell Goulbourne is Dean, Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne and a noted French literature scholar. He was previously Professor of French Literature at King’s College London, where he also served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities from 2014 to 2018. Prior to this, he taught for more than a decade at the University of Leeds, after education at Keble College, Oxford. Professor Goulbourne has published and taught extensively on major figures in French intellectual culture of the 17th and 18th centuries including Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau. His research interests include the history of the book and textual editing, and reception of classical antiquity in early modern France.
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