Announcements of Interest

Listed here are special announcements of interest to the Australian Studies community.

• July 2003: This network is no longer maintaining a listing of announcements.

• The mirror sites served from Canberra, Australia and from Lampeter, Wales will no longer be maintained.

• November 2000: Regular users of this site will notice a general lessening of activity. I have been working on this project for five years now. The lack of support from the academic/business/government community is remarkable. There is only so much a person can accomplish as a volunteer and without peer support. My current employment is outside of the Australian Studies field making this project even more difficult. The network will continue, but expansion will be rare. I'll try to update pages when possible. If anyone is interested and has any useful ideas please let me know. ([email protected])

• Support for Australian Studies in the academic community is less than we might hope. Rather than expand, most programs are either closing or reducing their activities. The shortage of announcements on this page is one result.

• As of 1 July 1998 the senior Australian Studies center in North America is closing. The Australia-New Zealand Studies Center at Pennsylvania State University has been directed by Professor Henry Albinski for almost two decades. The (very slight) support from the Australian Government, and the (very generous) support from Penn State has ended. The center was never a profit-making business, but rather a significant academic body. Unfortunately it seems that today survival only comes to those who make a profit. Those of us involved with Australian Studies - or any other area studies for that matter - should pause for a moment and reflect upon just what this closure really means.

• From 27 August 1997 a copy of the Australian Studies Network will be served from the University of Wales at Lampeter. This should help our visitors from that part of the world.

• From 23 April the Australian Studies Network is proud to have a "mirror" site located at the Australian National University SunSITE. This should make life a bit easier for our Australian based friends.