Distinguished Australian Academics Appointed Visiting Professor in Australian Studies, University of Tokyo
Leading Australian scholars Professor Melanie Oppenheimer (Flinders University) and Professor David Lowe (Deakin University) have been appointed to the annual Visiting Professor in Australian Studies position at the Centre for Pacific and American Studies (CPAS), University of Tokyo, for 2018–19 and 2019–20 respectively.
‘Australia and Japan have important historical, economic and cultural ties, with more Australians visiting Japan now than ever before. The Visiting Professor in Australian Studies contributes to deepening academic co-operation between the two nations, and enabling Japanese students to learn in depth about Australian society’, says Professor Kate Darian-Smith (University of Tasmania), Chair of the Selection Committee.
Melanie Oppenheimer is Professor and Chair of History in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Flinders University. Her research on twentieth century Australian history has concerned voluntary action, volunteering, gender and war. She has expertise on humanitarianism and the history of the Australian Red Cross and the broader Red Cross Movement. She will use her time in Japan to develop research involving the development of international humanitarianism and the role played by the Japanese Red Cross in the evolution of the League of Red Cross Societies, formed in 1919. Professor Oppenheimer is delighted to be appointed to the Visiting Chair and is very much looking forward to engaging with students and academics to enhance relationships between Japan and Australian studies in the humanitarian field.
David Lowe is Professor and Chair of Contemporary History in the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University in Victoria. He is Australia’s leading historian of Australia’s international relations in the Asia-Pacific, and has published several books in the area including a biography of Percy Spender and other studies of the Cold War and Australian public diplomacy. Professor Lowe’s research program will focus on the connections between Australia and Japan in the realm of foreign aid. He is looking forward to engaging Japanese students on the changing composition of Australia’s population, Australia’s involvement in postwar decolonisation, and Australians’ encounters with atomic energy.
Contact for interviews:
Professor Melanie Oppenheimer
Chair of History
Flinders University
Telephone: +61 8 8201 2322
Email: melanie.oppenheimer@flinders.edu.au
Professor David Lowe
Chair in Contemporary History
Deakin University
Telephone: +61 3 5227 2691
Email: david.lowe@deakin.edu.au
The position is supported by the Australia-Japan Foundation (AJF). The AJF is a non-statutory, bilateral foundation in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It was established in 1976 with the aim of strengthening and further developing Australia-Japan relations. The AJF provides funds in support of a range of projects that help advance Australia’s engagement with Japan. The International Australian Studies Association (InASA), the peak global Australian Studies organisation, manages the selection process on behalf of the Australia-Japan Foundation. Applications for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 Professorship will open in mid-2020.
Further details about the position can be found at:
http://dfat.gov.au/people-to-people/foundations-councils-institutes/australia-japan-foundation/Pages/australia-japan-foundation.aspx