Festival of Ideas focus on identity

The University of Melbourne is pleased to host the biennial Festival of Ideas 2011, which follows the inaugural 2009 festival. In response to the University’s strategic plan Growing Esteem, which recognises that the University of Melbourne occupies a public space, with community expectations of a broader contribution to intellectual, social and economic life, the Festival will be the platform for the University to discuss and debate an issue of major social importance and great public interest – the pursuit of identity.

The search for an Australian identity in thought, literature, history, art and architecture, politics, foreign policy and education has been a positive element in Australian culture. The Festival will review how the distinctive landscapes of Australia have shaped national identity, both in its bio-diversity and in the brilliant way it has been imagined and depicted by artists through the ancient art of aboriginal culture to how it is represented in the present day.

Another question that will be addressed is how much does Australia’s idiosyncratic history continue to shape Australian identity today? What aspects of our past play a creative role in giving us a sense of identity and what aspects play a negative role will be a major focus of discussion. Both the past and present will be explored.

Australians are more globally aware than ever before, they are more attentive to what a fraught and difficult world Australia exists in. The Festival will thus consider how national identities become a source of conflict and tension in the world. What can be done to reconcile the seemingly irreconcilable in the Middle East, on the Indian sub-continent?

Overarching these concerns is the effect of the genetic revolution from medicine to food production and sustainable energy. For many, there is an immense and urgent curiosity about how the genetic revolution is going to change our view of the human body, of human life and our view of the natural world – our very identity will be changed and questioned by this revolution. Does the genetic revolution re-direct the path of evolution? While the general public appears to endorse and be excited by the health and medical prospects opened up by the genetic revolution, there is a deep divide when it comes to the issue of genetically modified food and genetically engineered cropping or animal husbandry, despite the world’s need for a secure food supply.

To answer such questions, debate and discuss these complex issues, The Festival is separated into five sections: The Genetic Revolution, Past and Present, National Identities/Global Conflicts, Australian Identity Today and Australian Landscape into Art. The Festival will bring together an exceptional group of leading scientists, historians, writers, public affairs commentators, art historians and artists. The University of Melbourne is also proud to present an impressive international guest list to deliver keynote speeches, including science author Matthew Ridley, historians from Princeton University Linda Colley and Sir David Cannadine, novelist Thomas Kenneally, academic and former Foreign Affairs Minister Gareth Evans and art historian from UC Berkeley Timothy J Clark.

For further information on the schedule and list of speakers please visit
http://ideas.unimelb.edu.au

Whilst admissions to Festival events are free of charge, registrations must be lodged in advance online in order to secure tickets.