Our newly elected Fellows in 2020

We are delighted to announce the election of 22 outstanding researchers and practitioners to the Australian Academy of the Humanities, which is the highest honour for achievement in the humanities in Australia.

‘I am honoured that my first duty as the new President of the Academy is to welcome our new Fellows, elected in recognition of their distinguished achievement in the humanities and arts disciplines and to Australian cultural life,’ said Professor Lesley Head FASSA FAHA.  

The election is the first since the launch of the Academy’s new Strategic Plan earlier in the year.

‘Among other objectives, the Strategic Plan commits us to diversifying the Fellowship, including better recognising the work and contribution of Indigenous researchers and knowledge custodians,’ said Professor Head. ‘To that end we are honoured to welcome 5 Indigenous scholars in this year’s round of elections.’

‘The broad-ranging research fields of the 22 elected Fellows demonstrate the richness and diversity of expertise in the humanities in Australia,’ she said.

These include Indigenous archaeology, identities and histories; Islamic intellectual, scientific and cultural history; digital media technology and social surveillance; philosophy of mind and cognition; cultural studies of sexuality; digital humanities; history of science and medicine; and language, literature and diplomacy in South East Asia and China:

  • Samer Akkach, architectural and intellectual history; Islamic intellectual, scientific and cultural history: University of Adelaide
  • Mark Andrejevic, social and cultural implications of digital media technologies; surveillance, monitoring, and social control: Monash University
  • Katherine Bode, digital humanities, literary studies, and book history; quantitative and digital methods for literary studies: The Australian National University
  • Bronwyn Carlson, Indigenous identities, digital Indigenous humanities and global Indigeneity: Macquarie University
  • Sarah Collins, relationship between music and aesthetics; intellectual and political currents in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: Conservatorium of Music, University of Western Australia
  • Bronwen Douglas, ethnohistorian of Melanesia; regional histories of Oceania; the global history of the human sciences: The Australian National University
  • Victoria Haskins, Indigenous, women’s and labour history; histories of domestic labour, interracial contact, and state intervention in Indigenous affairs: University of Newcastle
  • Jakob Hohwy, philosophy of mind and cognition; perception, consciousness, and representation: Monash University
  • Carolyn James, late-medieval and Renaissance European history; women’s participation in politics and commerce from 1380 to 1600: Monash University
  • John Maynard, Aboriginal activism; cultural and intimate relations between Aboriginal and settler Australians; Aboriginal people in sport and war: University of Newcastle
  • Jo McDonald, archaeology of Indigenous Australia; rock art research in arid and temperate zones: University of Western Australia
  • Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Native Title law and Aboriginal land rights; race and whiteness studies and Indigenous feminism: RMIT
  • John Newman, cognitive linguistics, corpus linguistics, typology; cross-linguistic research on verbal concepts: Monash University
  • Hans Pols, history of science and medicine in Indonesia; development of global psychiatry: University of Sydney
  • Kane Race, cultural studies of sexuality; interactions between stigmatised bodies, sexuality and the politics of public health: University of Sydney
  • Jack Reynolds, analytical and Continental philosophy, bridging the divide between the two philosophical traditions: Deakin University
  • Evelleen Richards, sociology of medical knowledge; history of science; history and historiography of evolutionary theory: University of Sydney
  • Paul Roche, Latin literature of the first two centuries AD: University of Sydney
  • Claudia Sagona, archaeology of the Maltese Archipelago, household and funerary archaeology; concepts of ethnicity: University of Melbourne
  • Jane Simpson, Australian Indigenous languages; the development of Indigenous children’s language: The Australian National University
  • Jon von Kowallis, Chinese language and literature; poetics, orientalism, cinema and translation: UNSW
  • Tim Winter, critical heritage and museum studies; cultural tourism, diplomacy and geocultural power in South East Asia and China: University of Western Australia

Honorary Fellows

Our 5 new Honorary Fellows have made significant contributions to the humanities and the arts, and to Australian cultural life:

  • Marie Louise-Ayres, Director-General of the National Library of Australia
  • Genevieve Bell, cultural anthropologist, technologist and futurist
  • Stan Grant Snr, Wiradjuri elder and language reclamation expert
  • Michael Harvey, pianist and composer
  • Djon Mundine, arts leader, curator, writer, artist

Corresponding Fellows

We are also delighted to announce the election of 5 Corresponding Fellows from the US, the UK, the Netherlands, and South Africa, elected in recognition of their close connection with outstanding contribution to the humanities in Australia:

  • Philip Deloria, Native American history; Indigenous survival; creativity and social action: Harvard University
  • Chris de Wet, Foucault, De Certeau and gender issues; slavery and asceticism in Late Antiquity and Early Christianity: University of South Africa
  • Simon Goldhill, ancient Greek literature, culture; tragedy, gender and literary theory: University of Cambridge
  • John Heil, metaphysics; philosophy of mind and general ontology: Washington University
  • Stephen Levinson, relations between language, culture and cognition; language diversity; interactive uses of language: Radboud University Nijmegen

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Acknowledgement of Country

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.