 | Dear ~~first_name~~,
It was a great honour to assume the role of CHASS president in November 2023. That honour is all the greater as CHASS celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. I am deeply grateful to my predecessor, Professor Dan Woodman, for all his work over four years. Dan was responsible for many initiatives during his time as President and one of them, the CHASS Congress of HASS – the third of which will be held in Perth, 25-29 November 2024 – is now recognised as a major week in the national calendar for the arts, humanities and social sciences in Australia. So is Social Sciences Week, 9-15 September – and CHASS is looking forward to being involved once again in that promotion, and celebration, of the public impact and cultural role of our work.
CHASS is also heavily involved in advocating for the arts, humanities and social sciences with government, and we have already provided a submission this year to a Senate Committee dealing with the Australian Research Council Bill. CHASS welcomes the passage of that legislation, and especially the end of the right of ministers to veto projects on spurious grounds under cover of ‘the pub test’. The HASS disciplines were the main targets of these culture wars, and the government is to be congratulated in responding to the many representations from academics, including from CHASS.
CHASS is also pleased that we now have the Universities Accord, another matter on which our organisation has been active and vigilant. It is a detailed document that defies any simple response, but we are gratified at its recognition of the critical role that universities – including the HASS disciplines – play in both strengthening democracy and building workforce skills. We also welcome the confirmation that the drastic increase in student fees that resulted from the last government’s Job-ready Graduates package is to go. It imposed an unreasonable financial burden on many humanities students and was based on the false premise that graduates in these disciplines did not learn skills needed in the modern workforce. The research never supported such a proposition, and CHASS has been active over its twenty-year history in countering this persistent stereotype.
Nonetheless, few would doubt that the arts, humanities and social sciences remain under considerable financial pressure in Australia, as elsewhere. Alarming news of plans for cuts to British universities reach us on a regular basis, while many of our own colleagues have experienced similar turmoil over the last few months. The task of advocating for the HASS disciplines remains, and this will be among CHASS's leading priorities in the coming year.
Frank Bongiorno AM FRHistS FASSA FAHA
CHASS President
| CHASS held a Board election in 2023 and we were heartened by the level of interest from HASS academics and related industry leaders. We are excited about the collective body of expertise the below academics and industry leaders will bring to the CHASS Board. They are:
- Professor Frank Bongiorno, University of Canberra (President)
- Professor Dimitris Vardoulakis, Western Sydney University (Vice-President: Congress)
- Professor Ilana Mushin, University of Queensland (Treasurer)
- Alec Coles OBE, Western Australia Museum
- Dr Matthew Champion, University of Melbourne
- Professor Jean Fornasiero, University of Adelaide
- Professor Sandra Gattenhof, Queensland University of Technology
- Dr Noriko Iwashita, University of Queensland
- Associate Professor Rachel Hendery, Western Sydney University
- Professor Alphia Possamai-Inesedy, Western Sydney University
- Dr Juliet Watson, RMIT
| | Congress of HASS: November 25th - November 29th, 2024 | We are once again hosting the Congress of HASS. This year, the event will be held at the University of Western Australia. Many associations are already involved in the planning. If you would like your association to be involved, please contact CHASS Vice-President (Congress) Dimitris Vardoulakis.
Currently confirmed participating associations:
- Australasian Association of Philosophy
- Australian and New Zealand Association of Medieval and Early Modern Studies
- Applied Linguistics Association of Australia
- Australian Academy of the Humanities
- Australian Anthropological Society
- Academy of Social Sciences in Australia
- Australian Historical Association
- Australian Political Studies Association
- The Australian Sociological Association
| This year the CHASS Board has made the following two submissions:
- CHASS Submission to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee
This submission was authored by Matthew Champion, Ilana Mushin, Dan Woodman and Frank Bongiorno on behalf of the Board of CHASS.
- Letter to Professor Cramer regarding Professor Hage
On behalf of the CHASS Board, CHASS President Frank Bongiorno expressed great disappointment at the decision to dismiss our HASS colleague, Professor Ghassan Hage.
| CHASS will be offering a few prizes again this year. We will include details in a subsequent newsletter. For now, we would like to highlight the winner of our 2023 Distinctive Works Prize:
- Vic McEwan for 'Face to Face: The New Normal': The panel selected Vic's work due to its ‘distinctiveness’, the cross over between HASS and medical science together with the significant, beautiful and tangible outcomes of the project. "Face to Face: The New Normal" evolved through four years of artistic research with patients experiencing facial nerve paralysis due to conditions like cancer, brain tumours and Bell’s Palsy. It explored the intersection of medical science and the arts, addressing human experiences of illness, trauma and identity.
In other Prize news:
- The Academy of the Social Sciences Australia's Paul Bourke awards will open nominations for 2024 in May. For more details, visit their site.
- The Australian Academy of Humanities currently has an array of awards and grants open for applications, including:
- Max Crawford Medal: recognising early-career scholars for achievement and promise in the humanities.
- Medal for Excellence in Translation: recognising outstanding achievement in translation.
- Humanities Travelling Fellowships: promoting humanities research that strengthens international research alliances.
- John Mulvaney Fellowship: Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early-career researchers.
- Ernst & Rosemary Keller Fund: Supporting scholars concerned with German studies.
- Publication Subsidy Scheme: Supporting quality scholarly publications in the humanities.
Applications for the Australian Academy of Humanities' awards and grants listed above
close on May 5th, 2024.
| Applications are now open for the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Rechnitz Fund with grants of up to $20,000 available to support early and mid-career Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scholars working in any field of the social sciences.
The grants program will provide funding for research projects of up to two years across all social science disciplines, from anthropology, history and sociology to economics, psychology and law.
Applications are open until 13 May and will be assessed by an expert panel comprising both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous scholars. Applications are open to established social science researchers within 15 years of their most recent research qualification, higher-degree research students enrolled in Masters or PhD programs and experienced professional researchers who may not have formal academic qualifications.
To be eligible, applicants need to confirm their status as an early- or mid-career researcher (which includes consideration of relevant career gaps) and provide a letter of support from their supervisor (for students) or head of department or school.
Applications for the 2024 program are due by COB Monday 13 May. Application guidelines and an application form are available on the Academy's website. | Symposiums
Everyday Heritage and Difficult Legacies - Congress of HASS
Everyday Heritage & Australian Historical Association
The Everyday Heritage Symposium is a partnership event with the Australian Historical Association (AHA), the Congress of the Humanities, Arts, and Social Science (CHASS), University of Canberra, University of Western Australia, and Business Events Perth (BEPerth).
The ‘Save-the-Date’ flyer for the symposium can be accessed here.
The ideas & ideals of Australia: The Lucky Country turns sixty
Australian Academy of the Humanities
Canberra
Thursday 14 - Friday 15 November 2024
Conferences
Living Now: Social Worlds & Political Landscapes - Congress of HASS
The Australian Sociological Association
Held, once again, in conjunction with the Council for the Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences Congress of HASS, TASA’s 2024 annual conference will be held at Curtin University, Perth, from 25-29 November 2024. This five-day gathering, will provide a jam-packed program, which will include: panel-based sessions, general paper sessions relevant to a TASA thematic group, plenaries, social events, and TASA’s AGM and awards presentation.
Abstract submission deadline: June 3rd (panel submission deadline is April 26th).
Home Truths
Australian Historical Association
Flinders University
Monday 1 - Thursday 4 July 2024
Australasian Association of Philosophy
University of Western Australia
Sunday 7 - Thursday 11 July 2024
Abstract submission deadline: May 10.
Applied linguistics for a just society: Advancing equity, access, and opportunity
Applied Linguistics Association of Australia
25-27 November 2024, Tasmania
Abstract submission deadline: May 31st
Public Lecture
Shape the Nation
Academy of Social Sciences Australia
Chief Scientist Dr Cathy Foley is confirmed for the Academy’s ‘Shape the Nation’ lecture as part of the CHASS Congress of HASS on Thursday 28 November from 5-7pm. More details to follow soon.
Marriage, family and work in an age of rising gender equality
Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia's Cunningham Lecture presented by Professor Betsey Stevenson will cover marriage, family and work in an age of rising gender equality.
April 11, NSW
| All of the below articles are available on open access:
Smith, G., Licata, G., & Rustagi, I. (2024). Empowering Product Teams to Advance Inclusive Language and Mitigate Hateful Speech on Social Media Products. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294906231226211
Marsden, G., Reardon, L., Campbell, M., Gupta, S., & Verma, A. (2024). Tightly Bound, Loosely Interpreted: Meta-Governance and Local Institutional Adaptation in the Implementation of the Smart Cities Mission India. Administration & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/00953997241237531
Harff, D., & Schmuck, D. (2024). Who Relies on Social Media Influencers for Political Information? A Cross-Country Study Among Youth. The International Journal of Press/Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612241234898
Weikmann, T., Greber, H., & Nikolaou, A. (2024). After Deception: How Falling for a Deepfake Affects the Way We See, Hear, and Experience Media. The International Journal of Press/Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612241233539
Tulin, M., Hameleers, M., de Vreese, C., Aalberg, T., Corbu, N., Van Erkel, P., Esser, F., Gehle, L., Halagiera, D., Hopmann, D. N., Koc-Michalska, K., Matthes, J., Mihelj, S., Schemer, C., Stetka, V., Strömbäck, J., Terren, L., & Theocharis, Y. (2024). Why do Citizens Choose to Read Fact-Checks in the Context of the Russian War in Ukraine? The Role of Directional and Accuracy Motivations in Nineteen Democracies. The International Journal of Press/Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612241233533
Anna Halafoff, Rosie Clare Shorter, Enqi Weng, Yin Paradies, William Abur & Monika Winarnita (2024) Decolonising Studies of Religion in So-Called Australia: Truth-Telling, Collective Reflections and Future Trajectories, Journal of Intercultural Studies, DOI: 10.1080/07256868.2024.2317152
| Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics Public Humanities podcast series: 'Think Through This!'
Episodes can be found here.
| Applications are now open for the 2025 Fellowships offered by the National Library of Australia. We would appreciate it if you could distribute this information to researchers or creative artists/writers connected to your organisation who may be interested in these opportunities. There are several new Fellowships available this year, including a Fellowship in Asian Studies and a Fellowship in Australian rural, regional or environmental history.
| | HASS Employment Opportunities | Lecturer, Sociology
Full time, ongoing Level B position
University of Wollongong
2024-25 Australia-Korea Chair in Australian Studies
Contract/Temp
Seoul National University
Director, Western Civilisation
Australian Catholic University
| We encourage you to support the HASS sector by sharing details about your discipline/department via this newsletter. No news is too small of too big. Any mention of HASS is of value to our sector and we plan on continuing to extend the reach of our newsletter overtime. Please submit all content to CHASS Digital Publications. Suggested content includes, but is not limited to:
- Awards and Prizes
- Call for Papers (journals/conferences)
- Call for Book Chapters
- Competitions
- Discipline/Department news
- Industry connections
- Funding Opportunities
- Job and/or scholarship opportunities (these will also be listed on our publicly searchable website directory)
- Publications, especially those with free full access
- Social sciences week events
- Other upcoming events
- Submissions
- Social gatherings
| | Increasing our Newsletter Reach | You can help increase our newsletter's reach by sharing the below link with your friends and colleagues. The link will enable them to be added to the mailing list for our newsletter.
| Contact CHASS Digital Publications:
digitalpublications@chass.org.au | |