Leading Australian scholars Professor David Carter and Professor Helen Gilbert 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 2016–17 and 2017–18 respectively. The University of Melbourne’s Professor Kate Darian-Smith, Chair of the Selection Committee, has commented on how “important it is that that distinguished scholars in Australian Studies can contribute to the development of the Australia-Japan relationship in and beyond the university sector”.
David Carter is Professor of Australian Literature and Cultural History in the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. His area of research is Australian literature and publishing history, cultural history, periodical studies, and studies in modernity. Professor Carter previously held the position from 2007–08, and is “delighted to have the opportunity to once again engage with the students and academic colleagues at CPAS and to further the development of Australian Studies programs at both Tokyo University and more broadly in Japan”.
Helen Gilbert is Professor of Theatre in the Drama Department at the Royal Holloway, University of London. She is a world-class scholar in postcolonial theatre and performance studies, and her research concentrates on issues relating to race and representation, indigeneity, cultural identity, nationalism, democracy, and the politics and aesthetics of crosscultural engagement. Professor Gilbert taught at the University of Queensland for a decade before taking up her current post. She is looking forward to engaging with students in Japan “in an analytical exploration of the ways in which concepts of Australia and the lifeworlds of its inhabitants are writ large through creative acts”.
The position is supported by the Australia-Japan Foundation (AJF). The AJF is a nonstatutory, 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 2018-19 Professorship will open in mid-2017.
Further details about the position can be found at http://inasa.org/.
