The North American Speaker Series (NASS) is a program that brings Australian speakers to your organization.
The NASS was designed to encourage interchange between Australian and North American institutions while increasing awareness of Australia in the US and Canada. The NASS was specifically developed to provide support for individuals and institutions throughout North America with an interest in Australia, but limited financial resources. As a low-cost, grass roots project, the NASS has supported these individuals and institutions by bringing excellent speakers to their campus or organization. In the long-term, the NASS is seen as a key component to building a critical mass of individuals interested in Australian Studies at institutions in the US and Canada as well as furthering all forms of academic, research and cultural links.
The NASS is based on a nomination and selection process. Once a year individuals, mostly academics, in North America and Australia nominate speakers using the Speaker Nomination Form. Some individuals are self-nominations. A committee evaluates the speakers' area of expertise, level of experience, speaking ability and flexibility to travel during the North American academic year. All speakers must be permanent residents of Australia. The committee has tried to select speakers with a variety of backgrounds. While most speakers have not been well known Australians, their schedules have filled very quickly and demand for speakers has exceeded the ability of the Series to provide speakers.
Once the individuals have accepted their offer to participate, a list of the speakers with their area of expertise and their dates of availability is sent to interested parties throughout North America. Interested parties are asked to submit a Host Site Application indicating their interest in a speaker and what types of activities will be planned. To date most applications have been accepted with a few exceptions due to lack of speaker availability.
The AEO works with all host sites to organize a two-week tour that satisfies all requests. Host Sites are expected to organize a one or two day program for the speaker including class visits, a public speech and/or meetings with faculty. The hosts are responsible for the local expenses including one or two nights of accommodation, all meals and local transportation. The AEO covers international and domestic airfare, the cost of obtaining a visa, miscellaneous expenses and a small per diem.
Over the past two years fourteen speakers have been to North American
where they have visited sixty-eight locations. The speakers address an average
of seventy people per visit. Most host sites have been universities, but
other hosts include art galleries, Australian Diplomatic Missions, "think
tanks", US government bodies, conferences and national research laboratories.
1999-2000 Speakers |
1998-1999 Speakers |
1997-1998 Speakers |