AustLit

'This is the 10th issue of Humanities Australia and appears in the 50th anniversary year of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. It is not, however, directly a commemorative issue. Rather it continues to display some of the strength and diversity of writing and research in the humanities both by Academy Fellows and by other scholars who have given some of the Academy’s lectures. The Academy’s 50th anniversary has been celebrated in a range of events throughout the year and will also be commemorated in the online publication 50 Discoveries which describes some significant Australian discoveries in the humanities over the 50 years of the Academy. However, although it is not a commemorative volume as such, the essays and poetry in this issue of Humanities Australia all refer, in different ways, to the theme of the Academy’s 50th anniversary celebrations: ‘Humanising the Past, Present and Future’. This theme reflects the Academy’s determination that a celebration of its 50th anniversary should not simply look back on past and present achievements, although that is a very important part of the activities during this year, but also look forward to where the humanities might go in the future. In keeping with this determination the culminating point of the year’s celebrations is the Annual Symposium which is on the theme ‘Humanising the Future’. A number of the essays in this issue look forward explicitly to how the humanities can play their role in fostering a truly human future despite the challenges which both the humanities in particular and the world in general will face in the next 50 years. Closely related to this is another persistent concern: how do we convey to the wider world the excitement we feel about research in the humanities and its potential to address important issues?' (Graham Tulloch, Editorial introduction)