Speakers:

Liam Prince & Professor Melissa Crouch

In this talk Melissa Crouch will consider the importance of mainstreaming the study of Asia as a complimentary strategy to support language studies. She will use the example of Asian legal studies and its history in Australia, particularly its strengths in Indonesian studies, to explore lessons that we can learn to build a new future for Asia-literate graduates in Australia.

Liam Prince will discuss the fitful nature of Australian public policy towards – and government funding for – Asian language learning. He will discuss the historical challenges to the Australian Government’s maintenance of policy focus and funding continuity in this area with reference to the three most significant Commonwealth initiatives of the past 30 years – namely, the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools Strategy (1995-2002), the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program (2009-2011), and the New Colombo Plan (2014-present).