AustLit

'The Australian advertising industry took steps to improve its efficiency and reputation in the interwar period. These steps included restricting entry to the industry by means of a national accreditation system based on standardised courses and examinations. This article examines the development and application of this system by tracing the background and career of Edward Perugini, Australia’s leading advertising educator and the architect of the industry’s scheme. It finds that, under Perugini’s guidance, the industry tempered its embrace of the ‘science’ of advertising – the dependence on research and sweeping psychological ‘insights’ – with attention to art in advertising, anticipating the ‘Creative Revolution’ of the late 1960s.'  (Publication abstract)

'This article discusses the personal factors which influenced my decision to become a historian. It traces the impact of my family background and the diverse cultural and parental influences of my childhood on my growing awareness of social, racial and political issues. These, I suggest inspired my later focus on social, political and gender history. The piece then goes on to discuss the impact on my historical interests and perspectives of my education at Oberlin College and the University of Wisconsin and of my experience living and teaching in Paris while researching and writing my PhD. It concludes with my choice to come to the University of Melbourne and my arrival there in 1974.'  (Publication abstract)

 (Introduction)

'Mary Tomsic’s important and interesting book examines 70 years of women’s participation in Australian filmmaking and film culture. Rather than focusing on women as movie stars or movie fans, this book demonstrates the multiple dimensions of women’s ‘film-work’. A useful concept, film-work encompasses ‘work directly involved in the production of films’ and ‘work involved in supporting, controlling and valuing film in society’ (3). Women’s film-work in Australia spanned the production of feature, documentary, government, independent, and feminist films, distribution and exhibition activities, as well as social reform and educational efforts. To convey this breadth, Tomsic structures her book effectively, using her chapters as case studies to explore different dimensions of women’s film-work across time, beginning with early women filmmakers, such as the McDonagh sisters, and ending with film-school trained directors, such as Gillian Armstrong. Each chapter also contains biographical sketches of and interconnections among significant women film-workers, producing in the end a valuable collective biography alongside an appreciation of women’s contributions to film-work in Australia.'  (Introduction)