The Friday Forum is a monthly panel discussion hosted by the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences involving colleagues from within ACU and beyond.

We hope you enjoy the discussions, debates and dialogue each month as we explore a topical issue of the day. The programme is sure to generate lively conversation about contemporary questions of our time.

All forums to be held via video link. Subscribe to IHSS events via EventBrite. For any enquiries or for links to events, contact: IHSS@acu.edu.au


2023 Program

Building Community and Bushfire Resilience

24 November 2023

10.30am - 12.00pm AEDT

Chair: Dr Anh Nguyen Austen (ACU)

Speakers: Ms Celeste Young (Victoria University), Ms Rhonda Ayliffe (University of Canberra), Associate Professor Jessica K. Weir (Western Sydney University)

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In-person venue: room 11, level 7, building 421, 115 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy


Remembrance Day: Who and How We Remember in 2023

27 October 2023

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEDT

Chair: Professor Andrew Condon (ACU)

Speakers: Dr Margaret Hutchison (UNSW), Dr Anthea Gunn (Australian War Memorial), Dr Alex Little (ACU)

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In-person venue: room 11, level 7, building 421, 115 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy


Teach Well, Be Well: Education and Mental Health since the Pandemic

1 September 2023

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEST

Chair: Professor Amanda Telford (ACU)

Speakers: Associate Professor Theresa Dicke (ACU), Dr Matthew Morgan (ACU). Dr Debra Philips (ACU)

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Digital Humanities: Global South Perspectives Post Pandemic

4 August 2023

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEST

Chair: Dr Anh Nguyen Austen (ACU)

Speakers: Professor Haiqing Yu (RMIT), Associate Professor Adrian Athique (UQ), Dr Dang Nguyen (RMIT)

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Shakespeare's First Folio-Four Centuries On

26 May 2023

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEST

Co-chairs: Peter Holbrook and Lisa O'Connell (ACU).

Speakers: David McInnis (University of Melbourne), Johanna Harris (ACU), Sophie Tomlinson (University of Auckland), Hugh Craig (Newcastle University).

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Voice. Treaty. Truth. A First Nations Voice to Parliament

28 April 2023

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEST

Guest chair: Bridget Cama (UNSW)

Speakers: Eddie Synot (Griffith University); Kate Fullagar (ACU); Amanda Nettelbeck (ACU); Heidi Norman (UTS)

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Prospects for a credibility revolution in Australian policymaking: A conversation with the Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP

31 March 2023

3.30pm - 4.30pm AEDT

Chair: Dr Kyle Peyton

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Past forums

2022 Program 

Cruelty, desertion and the family: Converging histories of marriage and domestic violence

25 November 2022

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEDT

Chair: Dr Ellen Warne, ACU.

Speakers: Professor Ann Curthoys AM, FASSA, FAHA; Associate Professor Catherine Kevin, Flinders University; Dr Zora Simic, UNSW.

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The violent state: From surveillance to mass atrocity

28 October 2022

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEDT

Chair: Dr Margaret Hutchison, ACU.

Speakers: Professor Philip Dwyer, University of Newcastle; Professor Mark Edele, University of Melbourne; Dr Ebony Nilsson, ACU.

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An Amazon effect? How new technologies, new markets and new management are changing the world of work

30 September 2022

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEST

Chair: Dr. Hannah Forsyth (National School of Arts, ACU).

Speakers: Dr Jim Stanford (Centre for Future Work, The Australia Institute), Dr Kendra Briken (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow), Dr Lutfun Nahar Lata (University of Queensland), Dr Alex Veen (University of Sydney).

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India—75 years after independence: Past, present, future

26 August 2022

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEST

Moderator/Chair: Dr Tom Barnes (IHSS, ACU).

Speakers: Dr Priya Chacko (University of Adelaide), Professor Devleena Ghosh (University of Technology), Professor Ernesto Noronha (Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad), Professor Jeemol Unni (Ahmedabad University).

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James Joyce’s Ulysses: 1922 to 2022

27 May 2022

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEST

Chair: Professor Peter Holbrook (IHSS, ACU).

Speakers: Professor Paul Giles (IHSS, ACU), Professor Ronan McDonald (University of Melbourne), Dr Sascha Morell (Monash University).

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Have we seen ‘peak democracy’?

25 March 2022

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEDT

Chair: Professor Paul Kenny (IHSS, ACU).

Speakers: Professor John Dyrzek (Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, University of Canberra), Dr Adele Webb (School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology), Professor Vedi Hadiz (Asia Institute, University of Melbourne), Professor Carolyn Hendriks (Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University).

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Public broadcasting: Impacts, legacies, future directions

4 March 2022

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEDT

Chair: Dr Rachel Stevens (IHSS, ACU).

Speakers: Professor Bridget Griffen-Foley (Centre for Media History, Macquarie University), Associate Professor Daniel Ryan Morse (Department of English, University of Nevada, Reno), Associate Professor Emma Robertson (Department of History, LaTrobe University), Associate Professor Anna Potter (School of Business and Creative Industries, University of the Sunshine Coast).

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2021 Program

Speaking up about sex and gender: Histories/futures

26 March 2021

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEST
 
Chair: Prof. Susan Broomhall (Gender and Women’s History Research Centre, IHSS, ACU).

Speakers: Dr Jessica Lake, (Gender and Women’s History Research Centre, IHSS, ACU), Professor Jenny Morgan (Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne), Dr Zora Simic (History and Gender Studies, UNSW), Professor Noah Riseman (National School of Arts and Humanities, ACU).

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Trust in government in the era of COVID

30 April 2021

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEST

Chair: Professor Paul Kenny (IHSS, ACU).

Speakers: Dr Kyle Peyton (Yale University [joining ACU in mid-2021]), Dr Annika Werner (Australian National University), Dr Sarah Cameron (University of Sydney), Dr Jill Sheppard (Australian National University).

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Disasters, pandemics, and social turbulence: The study of uncertain times

21 May 2021

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEST

Chair: Dr Michael Thompson (National School of Arts and Humanities, ACU).

Speakers: Professor Angus Cook (School of Population and Global Health, UWA), Associate Professor Shino Konishi (IHSS, ACU), Professor Charles Green (School of Culture and Communications, University of Melbourne), Professor Joy Damousi (IHSS, ACU).

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Racism in sport

25 June 2021

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEST

Chair: Professor Michael Ondaatje (IHSS, ACU).

Speakers: Professor Karen Farquharson (University of Melbourne), Associate Professor Gary Osmond (University of Queensland), Dr Matthew Klugman (Victoria University), Dr Demelza Marlin (University of Sydney).

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Historical lessons for post-COVID capitalism

16 July 2021, 9.30am AEST / 15 July 2021, 7.30pm EDT, 6.30pm CDT

Chair: Dr Hannah Forsyth (National School of Arts and Humanities, ACU).

Speakers: Dr Elizabeth Shermer (Loyola University, Chicago), Professor Sven Beckert (Harvard University), Dr Yves Rees (La Trobe University), Professor Paul Kenny (IHSS, ACU).

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2020 Program

Bushfires a year on: Environmental humanities and the future of the planet

11 December 2020

3.30pm - 5.00pm

Chair: Associate Professor Ruth Morgan (ANU).

Speakers: Professor Lesley Head (University of Melbourne), Associate Professor Andrea Gaynor (UWA), Dr Mike Thompson (School of Arts, ACU), Professor Iain McCalman (IHSS, ACU).

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Black Lives Matter: Monuments and memories of the racial past

27 November 2020

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEDT

Chair: Associate Professor Nick Carter (School of Arts, ACU).

Speakers: Associate Professor Shino Konishi (UWA), Professor Kate Fullagar (IHSS, ACU), Professor Amanda Nettelbeck (IHSS, ACU), Professor Barry Judd (University of Melbourne).

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Looking back, looking forward: The US presidential election in perspective

30 October 2020

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEDT

Chair: Dr. Rachel Busbridge (School of Arts, ACU).

Speakers: Professor Paul Kenny (IHSS, ACU), Professor Michael Ondaatje (IHSS, ACU), Associate Professor Clare Corbould (Deakin University), Professor James Curran (University of Sydney).

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75 years on: Legacies and aftermaths of World War II

25 September 2020

3.30pm - 5.00pm AEST

Chair: Professor Joy Damousi (IHSS, ACU).

Speakers: Professor Sheila Fitzpatrick (IHSS, ACU), Dr Jon Piccini (School of Arts, ACU), Dr Reto Hofmann (UWA), Associate Professor Andrew Bonnell (UQ).

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Fitzroy, Victoria, 3065