American Studies in Australia Symposium
Teaching Programs and Initiatives

On Friday, 5 December, 2003, 9.00am – 4.30pm an American Studies in Australia Symposium was held at the Australian National University.

The Symposium was supported by the U.S. Embassy, the Australian-American Fulbright Commission and the Australian National University, and attendees came from all mainland states, the ACT, and New Zealand.

The aim of the Symposium was to focus attention among key Australian academics and postgraduates on the challenges and opportunities in teaching about the United States in Australia. The key note speaker was Professor Robert Allen from the University of North Carolina who presented a perspective on the teaching of American Studies in the United States, as well as his experience in collaborative and interactive teaching programs between US and Australian university courses.

The meeting heard expositions on the use of new technology in interactive teaching for virtual classrooms; new ideas about postgraduate coursework; the subject matter of comparative topics of Australia and the United States; the need to include new disciplinary areas such as cinema studies and film history courses in American studies; new and prospective programs and courses; the Flinders University internship program in the US Congress; and the need to recruit more material from the social sciences as well as humanities disciplines.

The different methods of organizing American studies in Australia were widely canvassed; these ranged from the departmental model of Flinders through multidisciplinary American Studies programs to the University of Sydney approach with course materials delivered within separate disciplines.

Speakers included Don De Bats, Flinders University; Pat Buckridge, Griffith University; Doug Craig, ANU; Diane Kirkby, LaTrobe; Richard Waterhouse, University of Sydney; David Goodman, Melbourne University; Kate Bowles, University of Wollongong; Joy McEntee, Adelaide University; John Hart, ANU; Michael Ackland, Monash University; and Ian Tyrrell, UNSW.

The meeting was attended by teacher representatives from New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT. Paul Kiem, President of the New South Wales History Teachers Association outlined opportunities for interactions between academics and school, teachers.

A Message from the New President [October 2002]

Dear ANZASA member,

I am writing as the new President of ANZASA. Many of you were at the Biennial Conference in Geelong in July and will already know this but some may not. Over the next two years I am looking forward to working with you to improve the position of American Studies in Australia and New Zealand.

We have a very good platform left by the last executive and at the conference I gave my thanks to Heather Neilson as outgoing president, to Greg Bowen, who has served us so well as Treasurer, and to all of the executive.

ANZASA produces a very good journal as you all know, but now there is in addition an ANZASA official web site. We are very lucky to have Stephen Robertson of Sydney University in charge of the web page. A website newsletter is planned, and the table of contents of AJAS and notices will be included as well as links to other sites

This is a most important and interesting time to be involved in American Studies. The events of September 11, which were discussed at the Geelong conference, still influence us (and will be the subject of a Symposium in the December AJAS). These events and the response to them by the American government and our own governments in the region show once again how important it is to have a better understanding of the history and cultural traditions of the United States.

The position of American Studies is strong as revealed in the record of research and publication which our colleagues have attained. Just recently it came to my attention that a group of researchers at the University of Sydney headed by Shane White have won a larger ARC grant for an in-depth study of Harlem, one of the largest grants ever given in the Humanities. This is an index of the kind of the regard with which our researchers are held internationally.

But in the area of membership, the picture is mixed. As was made clear at the conference session on the future of American Studies in Australia and New Zealand, post graduate membership has been healthy, but members of long standing are retiring or soon to retire. The next few years will be crucial for the future of American Studies in Australia. It is especially important for individuals to seek to have American Studies continued within their universities. It is all too easy for administrations to cut faculty simply through attrition. This would be strategically unwise for Australia and New Zealand and we should tell administrators soŅand why. Not only is the United State is more important than ever in international affairs. Student demand for courses in American and American related subjects is strong in many universities, and rising. It would be interesting and important for us to hear of these new developments in courses and demand for American content. We should share this important information via the web site, so as to make the case for American Studies as a vital and sought after field.

One noticeable trend is that many people do study and teach American topics, for example in film, drama, and cultural studies, but are not currently and in some case never have been members of the Association. Our Association has been strong in history and literature, but has not reached out effectively to include representatives of new media and cultural studies, as well as to established fields such as law and politics where American topics have long been done.

How we could make the membership and its activities more inclusive is an important but difficult question. Any suggestions would be welcome. However on each campus, it would be helpful if members could recommend the journal as a source of publication, and suggest membership in the Association to suitable people. If you could bring colleagues in the under-represented disciplines to the attention of member of the executive we would see what can be done.

The next conference is about 20 months away; it is being held in Auckland, New Zealand for the first time since 1996. I am personally looking forward to this event, but in the meantime we should seek to strengthen our Association and our interactions in the ways that I have indicated.

Best wishes, Ian Tyrrell