Leading public intellectual Professor Julianne Schultz AM, FAHA, presented a public lecture at the State Library on September 18 to mark her appointment as Professor of Media and Culture in the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research.
As editor of Griffith Review for 15 years, Professor Schultz recently stepped down from her role and into a new one as publisher of the quarterly publication.
She said the academic position would allow her to pursue the writing and research that was not possible while managing the production of four editions of Griffith Review each year.
Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research Director Professor Susan Forde said it was a great honour to have someone of Schultz’s calibre now a part of the Centre.
“Julianne Schultz has been a key figure in national discussions about the importance of Australia’s creative sector and our cultural industries, and has advocated for the importance of these institutions in Australian society for decades.
“She was co-Chair of the ‘Creative Australia’ panel for the 2020 Summit, which she carried out with actor Cate Blanchett; she’s been a long-term member of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation board and has developed Griffith Review in to a sought-after record of creative and intellectual thought.
“Julianne has a significant contribution to make to the national conversation, especially in these times when the public has lost faith in political and media institutions. We look forward to supporting her work and feel lucky that our humanities and social science researchers will be able to work alongside her from this point on.”
Following Professor Schultz’s speech, the evening also featured a selection of 21 books written by researchers across the Centre. The books were produced in the past 12 months from the fields of history, media, linguistics, sociology, literature, migration and security studies, and Islamic studies.
Professor Forde said the publication of so many books across a diverse range of topics highlighted the depth and breadth of knowledge that Griffith’s humanities and social science scholars were creating.
Read Professor Schultz’s speech at The Conversation.