Achievements by academics in the Faculty of Arts

The Faculty of Arts is pleased to acknowledge some important achievements by three of its academics.

2015 Woodward Medal in Humanities and Social Sciences

Associate Professor Barbara Keys, of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, has been awarded the 2015 Woodward Medal in Humanities and Social Sciences for her book Reclaiming American Virtue: The human rights revolution of the 1970s (Harvard University Press, 2014). The book tackles a timely and important topic: the origins of the contemporary obsession with the international promotion of human rights. Associate Professor Barbara Keys commenced her academic teaching career in 2003 after receiving her PhD from Harvard University. Prior to coming to Melbourne she held highly regarded posts at California State University, UC Berkley and Harvard. She is highly skilled teacher, researcher and contributor to the History Discipline within the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies . She has an excellent research profile, with a highly regarded recent book from Harvard UP and several high quality articles. She teaches a number of successful subjects in History, including a large subject in MIR plus teaching into a very successful breadth subject, Human Rights, along with Law. Her collegial and professional nature make her an asset the School and the Faculty.

National Citation for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching

Associate Professor Lesley Stirling, of the School of Languages and Linguistics, has been awarded a national citation for excellence and innovation in teaching for sustained commitment to promoting a faculty culture of mentoring, for both students and staff, to create an environment where students can thrive.

Associate Professor Lesley Stirling is world-renowned expert in Semantics and Descriptive Linguistics. She has published extensively on autism, communication patterns in medical settings, place descriptions, Australian indigenous languages, and aspects of English grammar. Associate Professor Stirling is President of the Australian Linguistic Society and a member of the Australian Autism Research Reference Group. She has served the Faculty of Arts as Assistant Dean (Equal Opportunities and Diversity) and the School of Languages and Linguistics as Acting Discipline Chair of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics.

Redmond Barry Distinguished Professorships

Congratulations to Professor Barbara Creed who was successfully nominated by the Faculty for the first of these new distinguished professorships. Professor Creed has an extraordinary range of academic achievements including in cinema studies and gender studies. More recently she has helped develop important work in the studies of human-animal ethics. She served with distinction as Head of the School of Culture and Communication. My personal thanks also go to the University for nominating me for this award and to all of you for the kind congratulations. We look forward to more Redmond Barrys in the coming years.

Professor Mark Considine
Dean, Faculty of Arts