How Australians Should Live: Historical Perspectives on Current Policy Challenges

A workshop convened by the Museum of Australian Democracy, the Australian Policy and History Network and the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University.

To be held at Australian National University

How Australians Should Live: Historical perspectives on current policy challenges

Date: 1 November 2016

Venue: Lecture Theatre 2, Hedley Bull Building, ANU

Are you working on a research project that deals with the history of public policy and also seeks to contribute to contemporary debates?

Are you seeking ways of increasing the visibility of your research among those currently engaged in policy formation and analysis?

If so, this day long workshop will be of interest to you

We will focus on assisting graduate students and early career researchers in refining historically-informed research projects that address current public policy issues. Discussion will be guided by senior researchers who have worked in or advised governments, and historians who have studied governance, public administration and the intersection of social change and policy. Our aim is to support participants in framing and presenting research projects that demonstrate the importance of an historical perspective on enduring policy debates. Among the themes we are interested in exploring are (not exclusively):

determinants of public trust in the political system/politicians/policy processes
inclusion and exclusion
innovation and resistance
the generation and distribution of wealth

This workshop is open to applications from around Australia. Your application should take the form of a 300 word statement of your research topic and its relationship to current policy debates and a short curriculum vitae. As we are seeking to develop an intensive, focussed discussion, the selection of participants will in part be guided by shared themes and complementary perspectives. Participants will be encouraged to develop presentations for possible publication on the Australian Policy History website.

A small contribution might be made on application to support travelling costs for participants from outside Canberra. For enquires and applications please see details on the Australian Policy and History Network home page.

Applications close on 30 August 2016.

Organisers: Frank Bongiorno and Nicholas Brown (ANU); David Lowe (Deakin); Sean Scalmer (University of Melbourne); Libby Stewart (MOAD).