.AMERICAN STUDIES WITH AN AUSTRALIAN ACCENT:
Towards an Australian Website for Secondary Teachers and Students.

On July 15, the Australian and New Zealand American Studie

s Association held in
conjunction with the ANU and the American embassy a conference, organized by Dr Douglas Craig. Representatives of the HTA’s from around Australia and academics attended.

SESSIONS INCLUDED:
Introduction and chair: Dr. Douglas Craig

Keynote address: Professor Edward L. Ayers, University of Virginia

Roundtable Discussion #1: “Raw Materials” (Denis Mootz, HTA, NSW)

• What commonalities in curricula are
  there?
• What topics would be most useful?
• What materials would be most useful?
• What approaches would be most useful?

Roundtable Discussion #2: “Making a website” (Chair: Bruce Dennett)

• Exemplars
• Content
• Developing an Austral(asi)an accent

Roundtable Discussion #3: “Mechanics’ (Dr Stephen Robertson, History, University of Sydney)

• Getting the website started
• Keeping it going
• Issues of ‘ownership’ and longevity
• Cooperation between secondary and
  tertiary educators
• Bringing the students in – secondary and
  tertiary
  

Summation: Professor Ian Tyrrell, University of New South Wales and President
of ANZASA.

Committees were established to look at a variety of topics.

A number of topics were chosen to provide web materials for teachers—up to 20
documents to be entered for each topic and historiographical introductions on
each topic, and a historiographical contextual introduction. The topics chosen
were:

• American revolution
• Indigenous history
• Interwar-1919-41 including the great depression and New Deal
• Cold War
• Civil rights.

The web page will be hosted by ANZASA