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With legislation currently before Parliament, debate is intensifying about the proposed role of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC). In the second reading of the ATEC bill this week, we welcomed the contribution of Labor MP Tim Watts, Chair of the House Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training, whose speech highlighted the opportunity for ATEC to play a strategic role in strengthening national capability through our university system.
Desire, passion, yearning, and grief — the ancient Greeks wrote and sung love stories that define the ages. Professor Marguerite Johnson FAHA, a cultural historian of the ancient Mediterranean shows how, though millenniums later, love songs endure.
As the Winter Olympics & Paralympics take place in Italy this month, Emeritus Professor David Rowe FAHA FASSA, scholar of culture studies and sports media, considers the history of sports diplomacy surrounding mega sporting events like the Olympics, and whether their social licence is running thin.
Australian linguists help us understand how language works, and solve real-world problems across fields of law, public health, and communication. Emeritus Professor Pam Peters FAHA from Macquarie University shares how her research helps develop effective and inclusive communication for all Australians.
New research published by AAH Fellow Professor Adam Brumm FAHA , and co-authors Professor Maxime Aubert, Professor Renaud Joannes-Boyau and Adhi Oktaviana reveals cave art found in Sulawesi, Indonesia, is over 67,000 years old — making it the oldest cave art found anywhere in the world. The findings provide insight into the lives and origins of early humans.
A snake winding around a goblet, poised at its rim as if about to drink, has become a well-recognised symbol of pharmacy in the intriguing motif of the “Bowl of Hygeia”. In the 2026 Trendall Lecture, celebrating distinguished research in Classics, Associate Professor Gina Salapata explores ancient stories of snakes and their cups that link them to gods, demi-goddesses, heroes, sorceresses and pharmacology.
Summer is the perfect time to whittle down that “to be read” list — or pick up something new. Check out our selection of summer reads by AAH Fellows and Academy grant recipients, from award-winning historical non-fiction to thought-provoking essays on issues of national importance.
Meet some of the brightest stars across the humanities, as recognised by our Academy Fellows.
Julia Kindt FAHA, Professor of Ancient History at the University of Sydney, considers the role of the humanities in today’s increasingly complex society. This article was originally published in The Sydney Morning Herald on 17 December 2025.
The Australian Academy of the Humanities welcomes the Australian government’s National AI Plan and supports its ambition to strengthen Australia’s capability to develop, adopt and govern artificial intelligence in ways that advance productivity, inclusion and social trust.
Four AAH Fellows will lead world-first research on human origins as a part of a new Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence, which aims to transform our understanding of why and how our species, Homo sapiens, is the only surviving human on our planet.
The Australian Academy of the Humanities recognises Australia’s First Nations Peoples as the traditional owners and custodians of this land, and their continuous connection to country, community and culture.
