It’s been a successful start to the year for Faculty of Arts academics with several awards and achievements, including a book launch, prestigious documentary award, and an appointment to the ARC College of Experts, among others.
AWARDS
Award-winning documentary Ablaze, co-written and directed by Macquarie University film specialist and film-maker Dr Alec Morgan, has recently been awarded ‘Best Direction in a Documentary Feature’ at the prestigious 2022 Australian Directors Guild Awards ceremony among a category of eight other nominated films.
Ablaze tells the story of first Indigenous filmmaker Bill Onus, a Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta man from Victoria, through the eyes of his grandson, Tiriki Onus. Tiriki journeys across the continent to solve the mystery surrounding a 70-year-old silent film believed to have been made by his grandfather – a film which recorded the birth of the civil rights movement in 1946.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Professor Paul Formosa, Department of Philosophy, has been appointed to the role of Head of Department – Philosophy. Alongside his role as Professor, Paul is also the Director for the Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics (CAVE). Paul joined Macquarie in 2009, and has been a Macquarie University Research Fellow, an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow, and CI of various ARC Discovery Projects. Paul has also been an elected member of the University Senate and the Faculty Board and served as Department HDR and MRes Director.
Professor Bronwyn Carlson, Head of the Department of Indigenous Studies, has been invited by Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland to be a member of the First Nations Digital Inclusion Advisory. This is for a period of 2 years from January 2023. The Australian Government established the Advisory Group to help determine how we can best support progress towards Target 17 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap,, which aims for the goal of equal levels of digital inclusion for First Nations people by 2026. The Advisory Group has been tasked with identifying practical measures to improve digital inclusion, including access to information and services, across the telecommunications, media and broadcasting sectors.
Professor Tiffany Jones, School of Education, has been successfully nominated as a member of the Australian Research Council (ARC) College of Experts. The ARC engages a College of Experts to play a key role in identifying research excellence in order to support the advancement of knowledge and contribute to national innovation. Its members are experts of international standing drawn from the Australian research community, from higher education, industry and public sector research organisations.
More than 50 teachers and education leaders attended a recent professional learning session and launch of a new book ‘Interculturality in Schools: Practice and Research’, written by Dr Robyn Moloney, Dr Maria Lobystyna and Associate Professor John de Nobile from the School of Education. The new book, published by Routledge, explores the design and delivery of a professional learning program in five Sydney schools, providing a practical professional development template for schools wishing the develop their intercultural capabilities. The book was commended in a message of support from the Hon Mark Coure, State Minister for Multiculturalism, Minister for Seniors NSW.
Prestigious art magazine, Hyperallergic, has named 100 Treasures/100 Emotions: The Macquarie University History Museum as one of 2022’s best art books. Edited by Professor Martin Bommas, Director of the Macquarie University History Museum, the book is a thought-provoking, visual feast presenting 100 items from the museum’s extensive 18,000 piece collection. The book has been praised for its ability to extensively explain each object and connect it with an emotion, with Hyperallergic advising “…the prospect of lifting 100 out of such a vast pool is a daunting and impressive experiment in its own right, but the book goes a step further in connecting object histories to emotional reality, subtitling each one-page profile of an object from the collection with an associated emotion.”