AustLit

'This is a story that brings together excellence, research, poets, and scientists to explore their relationships and possible meanings. We examine the requirement for ‘excellence in research’ in an attempt to understand how this is defined, measured and justified, and we wonder if it is possible, meaningful, or even desirable in its current form. We ask if excellence in the Arts and the Sciences is a product or a process, or both. A snapshot of the historical development of the art/science divide leads us to challenge the usefulness of this dichotomy and to conclude that research excellence is poorly served by existing measures. The story unfolds like a Deleuzean map where art and science have the potential to trace each other in a process that creatively evaluates and modifies that thing we call knowledge. ' (Publication abstract)