After almost a decade of updates we look at what really needs to change to Close the Gap.

Technology will allow us to reconstruct and explore ancient worlds, adding to our understanding of history.

Assoc. Professor Tim van Gelder and colleagues aim to develop a platform that encourages and identifies good reasoning.

Looking to shake up your reading habits? Let the University of Melbourne introduce you to a new set of classics.

Linguists are using new technology to return decades-old recordings of near-extinct languages to the communities where they were made

We pay tribute to many alumni, staff and members of our academic community who received honours in recognition of their outstanding contributions.

Our long-held views on what causes gender differences are wrong. A new book argues it’s more complicated than we think.

Learn about the University's ambitious Sustainability Plan for 2017 - 2020

The Faculty of Arts is accepting applications from suitably qualified candidates to teach into the Skills Program of the first-year Arts Foundation (AF) subjects.

Associate Professor Timothy J. Lynch says that the new President won’t have a completely clear run to do what he wants. There are plenty of checks and balances to rein him in.

April 2016 marked the passing of Shakespeare - for the 400th Anniversary of his death the Fcaulty of Arts in Association with the University of Melbourne played host to a variety of events and presentations.

Object-based learning (OBL) is a mode of education which involves the active integration of authentic or replica material objects into the learning environment.

Sander Bredal was chosen from over 175,000 students as the 'International Student of the Year - Higher Education' in recognition of his community work supporting international students in Melbourne.

It is with pleasure I announce the following staff members have been awarded the title of Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, joining their colleagues announced earlier this year.

The beginning of Semester has bought with it an exciting new era for both the Faculty and humanities education at the University with the opening of the Arts West building to students and staff.

The Australian Centre is piloting a faculty wide research seminar series with the view to extending it to the wider university in the future.

Melbourne School of Government and Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Tuesday 24 May (MSoG) and Thursday 26 May (GSHSS) 2016, 5.30 - 6.30pm.

Dr David McInnis' article "We've found a Shakespeare folio but a swag of original plays are still missing" appears on 'The Conversation' website

Ready to focus on your future? Our Focus on Arts seminar gives you the opportunity to get informed about your study options and choose your pathway to success. Seminar to be held on Tuesday 7th June 2016 6.30-8.00pm.

Dr Sara Bice from the Melbourne School of Government has been awarded one of four inaugural Westpac Research Fellowships, contributing $330,000 towards her research activities.

US President Barack Obama has gone where no American leader has for 90 years, Cuba. Associate Professor Adrian Hearn comments on the visit.

The University of Melbourne has been placed highly in 2016 QS global rankings of courses. University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis was pleased to note significant improvement in UniMelb's performance across the board. "We've seen 16 subjects improve on their 2015 standings, with nearly a third of these coming in the arts and humanities area."

Thanks to the tenacity of Dr Graeme Counsel, an alumnus of the Faculty of Arts at The University of Melbourne, over 9,000 songs from the West African nation of Guinea are now publically available for anyone to listen to worldwide.

As we celebrate International Women's Day 2016, Dr Leah Ruppanner offers five key ideas that could help equalise gender relations and improve the status of families. She draws upon current research and lessons from around the world to provide innovative and novel ideas that could be instituted in the Australian context.

Andrew Trounson talks to Dr Nigel Dick about his PhD thesis Media Mavericks, completed at 87 years old, making him one of the oldest people to complete a doctorate at the university. His thesis argues the Menzies government made a serious mistake in granting too many commercial TV licences in Australian capital cities.

At The University of Melbourne we are transforming lives thanks to the generous support of our donor and alumni community. With your help, we can do even more...

Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) are free weekly study sessions with fellow students led by a high achieving student (PASS Leader) who has successfully completed the subject in a previous year. PASS subjects for Semester 1, 2016 are now online.

Expressions of interest are now open until 13 May, 2016 for this overseas intensive in the city of Florence.

Get involved in the Annual Arts Graduate Coursework Colloquium - April 2016. Showcase your work (or any aspect of your experience), make friends, and learn from each other. Submit an Expression of Interest before Monday 29 February 2016. Apply now...

The University of Melbourne will be visiting regional Victorian centres during March - May 2016 to give students, teachers and parents in the area the chance to talk to our friendly staff and find out more about our courses and career outcomes.

The Faculty of Arts is pleased to offer a staff peer-mentoring program in 2016. (Dyad mentoring will be offered in alternate years, with the next program starting in 2017.)

Papers are invited that focus on British or Australian portraits between 1700 and 1914. The closing date for proposals has been extended to March 18, 2016.

Applications for Faculty of Arts BA Internship and Community Volunteering for Change Internship are now open for Semester 2, 2016. Applications close June 30, 2016.

Christina Stead, The Man Who Loved Children, with Louise Adler, 24 November

Applications are now open for organisations to submit a brief for Bachelor of Arts students to work on a project of your choice during Semester 2, 2016. Applications close March 31, 2016.

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, has announced the successful scholars for the 2016 round of the New Colombo Plan Scholarships, three of whom are Faculty of Arts students.

The University of Melbourne's Faculty of Arts proudly presents Melbourne Masterclass: 10 Great Books. Designed to get you discussing, understanding and engaging the legacy of great books, this monthly series running from February to November explores influential works, guided by leading intellectuals and academics.

The Centre for Advancing Journalism Director Dr Margaret Simons won a Walkley Award, Australia's highest journalistic honour.

Eight Centre for Advancing Journalism students have received honours in the 2015 Ossie Awards.

SOCIUS is a social enterprise that aims to promote a sharing economy. For SOCIUS, the vision of sharing economy involves a holistic approach to promote environmental responsibility where collaborative community is established. That is, being able to engage in reduction of unnecessary waste by sharing resources and providing an educational platform for members and the general community.

SHOUT 2015 is an exhibition which spans three locations and showcases extraordinary Indonesian contemporary art from Yogyakarta and Bandung including paintings and soft sculpture to inflatables and large-scale installations.

Saturday 5 December, 2pm, Meat Market Stables. Dr Edwin Jurriens (Convenor, Asian Studies, Asia Institute, The University of Melbourne) will speak with Indonesian contemporary artists participating in SHOUT 2015, organised by Multicultural Arts Victoria and MiFA Asian Pacific Contemporary Art as part of the 2015 Mapping Melbourne festival.

The Faculty of Arts is pleased to acknowledge some important achievements by three of its academics.

Internationally acclaimed novelist, Richard Flanagan, has been appointed as the Boisbouvier Founding Chair in Australian Literature at the University of Melbourne, the first chair of its kind in Victoria.

For Senior Curator Dr Ted Gott (BA(Hons) 1981, PhD 1987), one of the great pleasures of working at the National Gallery of Victoria comes from the wealth of new experiences provided by the gallery's broad and diverse exhibition schedule. In 2015, over 400 works from the personal collection of Catherine the Great will travel to Melbourne from the Hermitage to present 'Masterpieces from the Hermitage: The Legacy of Catherine the Great'. Dr Ted Gott shares an insight into working with one of the world's most important collections, featuring outstanding works from artists such as Rembrandt, Velasquez and Rubens. The University of Melbourne is proud to be the official learning partner of the Masterpieces from the Hermitage exhibition.

The Faculty of Arts, in conjunction with The Australian Historical Association, is excited to announce the joint winners of the 2015 Ernest Scott Prize are Alan Atkinson and Tom Brooking.

Once again it is my very great pleasure to bring you the latest news and events from the Faculty of Arts.

The Faculty of Arts is committed to recognising alumni who have achieved excellence in their chosen field, and who have made a considerable contribution to the Faculty, the University and their communities through their endeavours.

This year marks the 25th anniversary that art curatorship has been taught at the University of Melbourne.

Explore the fascinating world of the Venice Biennale with Professor Charles Green, an artist, art critic, and eminent scholar of art history and curatorship. Professor Green specialises in the history of international and Australian art after 1960, with a particular focus on photography, post-object and post-studio art. He is currently writing a book that uncovers, maps and analyses the global history of contemporary art's biennials since the early 1950s.

Established in 1895, the Venice Biennale is the world's oldest and most prestigious biennale of international contemporary art. The Australia Council for the Arts offers various positions for emerging curators and attendants to volunteer at the Venice Biennale. Among them in 2015 were Faculty of Arts alumnae Pippa Milne (MArtCur 2014) and Philippa Brumby (BA(Hons) 2013, MArts&CultMgmt 2014). Here they share their professional development experiences at one of the most important forums for countries to affirm their nation's artistic and cultural identity.

The Faculty of Arts extends its congratulations and welcome to Dr Claire Roberts, who will be returning to the Faculty in July as an ARC Future Fellow. Future Fellowships support research deemed to be of critical national importance, and are awarded to the best and brightest mid-career researching making outstanding contributions to their field. Claire completed a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at the University of Melbourne, majoring in Chinese and Art History. She has since completed a PhD, curated numerous exhibitions on East Asian material, published multiple articles to peer-reviewed journals and studied as a Research Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Here Claire shares with us an insight into her ARC research project, which will use modern and contemporary Chinese art to understand intercultural communication in the 21st century.

Is art your passion? A vocation? Do you dream of working in the arts, surrounded by beautiful objects? Kirsty Grant (BA(Hons) 1990, PgDip in Art Curatorial Studies 1991) and Nicholas Thompson (MArtCur 2013) share their insights about the Australian art scene, the challenges involved with the notoriously hard-to-crack industry, and how they have built up their careers.

In collaboration with the British Museum, and in partnership with the State Library of Victoria, the Faculty of Arts is excited to announce the S.T. Gill and the Colonial World conference, presented by the Australian Institute of Art History.

Beat the winter chill at a private cinema screening of The Water Diviner, followed by an exclusive Q&A with authors, Faculty of Arts alumni Andrew Anastasios and Meaghan Wilson-Anastasios.

Now that you've heard about the incredible achievements of our academics and alumni, why not share your story? Connect with us on our social media channels to reconnect with your alumni cohort.

The Faculty of Arts Indonesia Initiative is a three year visiting scholar program which aims to further enhance teaching and research relationships with colleagues in Indonesia. The initiative, led by Dr Kate McGregor, Dr Edwin Jurriens and Professor Thomas Reuter will fund three visiting scholars per year for three years from Indonesian universities and will provide opportunities for increased engagement.

During World War I, many Australian women doctors who sought to enlist were turned away by male army chiefs who believed the war was 'no place for women', or that their medical skills were not up to the task. A number of Australian women doctors made their way independently overseas to serve their country and to contribute their skills to the war effort. Faculty of Arts alumna, post-doctoral researcher and historian at the Australian Centre, Dr Heather Sheard, is currently researching the contribution of Australian women surgeons and medical officers in World War I. She shares some of the challenges of researching the ANZAC womens' war efforts.

Faculty of Arts alumnus Andrew Anastasios (BA(Hons), MA) co-wrote the original screenplay for The Water Diviner, an historical drama directed by Russell Crowe in his directorial debut. The script for The Water Diviner was adapted into a novel for Pan Macmillan by Andrew and his wife, Dr Meaghan Wilson-Anastasios (BA(Hons), MArtCur, PhD), who is also a Faculty of Arts alumna and lecturer at The University of Melbourne. ARTiculation interviewed Meaghan and Andrew to learn more about their fascinating background, the origins of The Water Diviner, and why they chose to offer a fresh perspective on the ANZAC legend.

By Professor Joy Damousi, ARC Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellow, Professor of History, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies.

By Dr James Waghorne, Research Officer, History of the University Unit.

Dr Jo Wills (BA(Hons), GradDipMusStud, PhD) is a Museum Development Officer for the Queensland Museum. As part of Queensland Museum's ANZAC Centenary program, Faculty of Arts alumna Dr Wills and her colleague Ewen McPhee have curated an exhibition entitled 'Defending the Pacific' to celebrate and commemorate Australia's first military engagement in World War One.

When Jessie Mary Vasey's husband, Major General George Vasey, sailed for the Middle East in 1939, she dedicated her energies to the war effort, becoming involved with the Australian Comforts Fund, and serving as secretary of the Australian Imperial Force Women's Association.

There are innumerable events and exhibitions happening around Australia to mark the Centenary of the First World War. For further information about events in your area, visit your State's ANZAC Centenary website:

Welcome to another edition of the Faculty of Arts Alumni newsletter, ARTiculation.

The annual Aurora Indigenous Scholars International Study Tour takes place in October or November of each year, taking Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university undergraduates who have completed at least two years of their course of study to visit overseas institutions in the United States or United Kingdom. This initiative gives participants who are interested in graduate study an insight into the realities of undertaking graduate study overseas.

Directed by Arts alumnus Sam Strong, and starring master craftsman Colin Friels, this most recent production of Beckett's renowned black burlesque masterpiece brings classic absurdist theatre back to the mainstage.

The Boisbouvier Founding Chair in Australian Literature has been established at the University of Melbourne to advance the teaching, appreciation and public profile of Australian literature. The professorship has been made possible through the very generous donation of $5 million by Mr John Wylie AM and Mrs Myriam Boisbouvier-Wylie to Believe - the Campaign for the University of Melbourne.

Dr Toby Ord (BA/BSc(Hons) 2002 UMelb, BPhil 2005, DPhil 2009 Oxford) was awarded the 2014 Rising Start Award for Young Alumni.

The Graduate Ambassador Program in the Faculty of Arts provides the opportunity for student leaders to play an integral role in developing a strong graduate student community. Masters by Coursework students elected to the Graduate Ambassador team serve a period of 12 months, during which time they share their advice and experiences with prospective students and provide leadership and mentoring to both prospective and current students.

A team of undergraduate students from the University of Melbourne were finalists in The Big Idea 2014, an Australia-wide undergraduate student social enterprise competition. Out of the 40 student teams representing nine universities from across the country, the University of Melbourne team with their project 'M Power' made it to the top six.

Welcome to the first edition of ARTiculation for 2015. This edition highlights some of the significant achievements of our alumni and looks ahead to what is the beginning of an exciting and eventful year in the Faculty of Arts.

As another year draws to a close I would like to say thank you to all alumni for your continued engagement with the Faculty of Arts. We have had an extremely successful year and it has been a pleasure to meet with so many of you through our public programs, our Melbourne Masterclasses series and through our reunions and alumni events.

Faculty of Arts alumna Ms Ellen Sandell made headlines earlier this month when she was elected as State MP for Melbourne, leading the Greens' to their first ever lower house state seat. Since her time at the University of Melbourne, she has worked in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, served as CEO of a national climate change non-profit organisation, and has received numerous awards for her environmental activism, including the Faculty of Arts' inaugural Rising Star Award in 2013. Following her election victory, we caught up with Ms Sandell to learn more about her journey to the lower house and her plans for the new role.

A deep belief in the value of critical thinking, human rights, positive psychology and social wellbeing have resulted in Bachelor of Arts students Rosie Hingston and Jessie Sun being awarded the 2014 Faculty of Arts Excellence Scholarships for outstanding academic achievement.

In December, construction work commenced on the Arts West Building marking the start of the Faculty of Arts' most significant infrastructure project in recent years. The Arts West Redevelopment Project will enable the creation of new and dynamic teaching and learning spaces for staff and students and will provide a signature building in the Arts Precinct.

Nominations for the 2015 Faculty of Arts Alumni Awards are now open.

Holly Jones-Amin and Carmela Lonetti, objects conservators from the University of Melbourne's Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, travelled to Çanakkale, Turkey in 2014 to preserve objects uncovered in an historic tri-national interdisciplinary archaeological survey of the ANZAC battlefield.

December brings to a close the hugely popular Melbourne Masterclasses 10 Great Books for 2014. In its inaugural year, this much anticipated, sell-out series presented some of the most influential works in history, guided each month by leading academics and celebrated public intellectuals from the Arts Alumni community.

How has digital impacted on contemporary marketing models? Is social media is really changing things, or are we just seeing the same problems on a different platform? Is television still the pre-eminent medium for brand building? These were just some of the key issues covered at the launch of the new Master of Marketing Communications program, "The Future of Marketing Communications - a panel discussion".

The Melbourne School of Government offers a range of programs for those working in and with government in Australia and internationally. From short courses and workshops, to full degree programs, there are a range of ways we can help you further develop your skills in 2015.

It has been an eventful few months in the Faculty of Arts and this edition highlights some of the key achievements and events that have taken place.

School of Historical and Philosophical Studies' Professor Joy Damousi has been awarded an Australian Laureate Fellowship, joining 15 other illustrious professors around the country. Awarded by the Australian Research Council, and allowing five years of full-time research, the position also brings capacity for team building and student scholarships within the Faculty's History Program.  It is a remarkable achievement, capping an exceptional research career.

The Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences is excited to announce the launch of two new Masters programs in 2015; the Master of Marketing Communications and the Master of Translation. Like the other 12 professionally oriented degrees offered by the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, these programs were developed in consultation with industry to equip graduates with the knowledge, skills and experience necessary to succeed in the workplace.

Tangled Up in Black was the title of alumnus Dr Gary Foley's public lecture delivered to a packed theatre in Old Arts on Wednesday 15 October.  Presented by theResearch Unit in Public Cultures, and based on his Chancellor's Medalwinning doctoral dissertation, Dr Foley's lecture provided an extraordinary journey through black history and education, combining personal reflection with a broader history of social injustice but also remarkable individual and community achievement across five decades.

Let the academics and experts from the Melbourne School of Government keep you informed about the latest G20 news and developments.

The great-niece of artist Hugh Ramsay, Patricia Fullerton, and other members of the Ramsay family have honoured the artist through a major gift to the University of Melbourne, establishing the Hugh Ramsay Chair in Australian Art History.

The University of Melbourne has recently received a gift to establish a History Trust - a gift that will allow new teaching and learning initiatives in one of the University's oldest and most prestigious programs.

The Faculty of Arts' Melbourne Masterclasses has teamed up with one of the best food tours in the world (Sunday Times UK) for ten glorious days of food, culture, history and scenery in spectacular Catalonia.

The winner of the 2014 Affirm Press Creative Writing Prize, Suzanne Hermanoczki, reflects on the creative process and finding an opportunity to sit down and write.

In conjunction with the international conference Contemporary Outsider art: the global context, presented by the Faculty of Arts, the University of Melbourne and Art Projects Australia and held from 23 - 26 October at the University of Melbourne.

The Australian Centre and the Faculty of Arts celebrated the writing achievements of our community on Saturday 23rd August as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival.

Once again it is my very great pleasure to bring you the latest news and events from the Faculty of Arts.

Australian literary legend and Faculty of Arts alumna Helen Garner delivered the opening night address at this year's Melbourne Writers Festival.

On one of the coldest Saturdays in July, an inquisitive and hungry crew assembled to explore the flavours, culture and meteoric rise of Peruvian cuisine, in a special Masterclass given by renowned chef Alejandro Saravia and the University of Melbourne's Dr Lara Anderson. The venue for the morning was Pastuso , situated in the iconic ACDC Lane, where guests were treated to an advanced preview of Saravia's latest project and Melbourne's newest Peruvian grill, cevicheria and pisco bar.

The 17th Triennial Conference of the International Council of Museums Committee for Conservation (ICOM-CC), will attract leading international keynote speakers and up to 700 delegates, including conservators, scientists, historians and art historians, curators, librarians, archivists, students, collection managers and directors from the world's leading cultural institutions and the private sector. Taking place from September 15 – 19, the ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Conference, 'Building Strong Culture Through Conservation' will be supported by the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, with Director of the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, Associate Professor Robyn Sloggett chairing the Opening Session.

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) is Australia's oldest public art gallery and one of its most important cultural institutions. As part of the University of Melbourne's Learning Partnership with the NGV for 'Italian Masterpieces – From Spain's Royal Court, Museo del Prado', the Faculty of Arts collaborated with the NGV to present a number of successful events.

The Faculty of Arts is excited to announce it has recently received a grant under the Australian Awards Fellowships Program for a project on Reconciliation and Cultural Recovery.

Do you have a keen interest in language? Perhaps you have considered studying linguistics in the past, but couldn't quite find the specialisation you were after. Well, the wait is over…

An awards ceremony and celebration of our brightest students

we are thrilled to announce that the 2014 Dean's Graduate Leadership Program is now in its second year.

The Faculty of Arts received a total of $2.5M in ARC project funding for Discovery and DECRA projects commencing in 2015. This success will see five new Discovery projects and four new DECRAs commence in 2015, with the Faculty's DECRA success rate above both the University and G08 average.

The Faculty of Arts, in conjunction with The Australian Historical Association, is excited to announce the winner of the 2014 Ernest Scott Prize is Angela Wanhalla, for Matters of the Heart. A History of Interracial marriage in New Zealand, Auckland University Press, Auckland, NZ 2013.

In celebration of the Melbourne School of Government's first Term in Office, following its launch in 2013, the Faculty of Arts Alumni Relations team and Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) will hold a special networking opportunity in July combining wine, canapés and scintillating political satire.

Arts, film culture and moving image lovers of Melbourne will be excited to see what's in store for this year's Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). MIFF is one of the oldest film festivals in the world and an iconic Melbourne event which occurs annually across venues right in the heart of the city.

Since the last edition there have been many exciting developments in the Faculty of Arts and this edition of ARTiculation brings you some of the key highlights.

Over the past 12 months the Faculty of Arts has significantly expanded its professional development, executive education and community education offerings.

The Rising Star Award for Young Alumni is awarded to individuals aged 35 and under who have demonstrated an outstanding level of professional achievement and community involvement since graduating from the University of Melbourne. They may also have been recognised by colleagues and peers for their outstanding leadership and impact as a global citizen. This year, the Rising Star Award for Young Alumni was jointly awarded to Ms Jenny Taing and Dr Toby Ord.

Igor Meshakov-Korjakin Russian Scholarship recipient Nicholas Baxter reflects on his Russian experience

In exciting news for Russian Studies, the Faculty of Arts has recently received a bequest of over a quarter of a million dollars to enhance the teaching of Russian language and literature.

The following publications have been short-listed for the 2014 Ernest Scott Prize. The Ernest Scott Prize is awarded to work based upon original research which is, in the opinion of the examiners, the most distinguished contribution to the history of Australia or New Zealand or to the history of colonisation.

We have some very exciting news in store for this edition of Articulation.

Four experts from the School of Languages and Linguistics at the Faculty of Arts will undertake research as part of the new $28 million ARC Centre for Excellence for the Dynamics of Language.

A rejuvenation project by historian Professor John Murphy and Master of Art Curatorship student Anneliese Milk has transformed the interior of the Old Arts building from a typical university corridor to an exhibition of historical treasures.

The Faculty of Arts recently opened its new state of the art Macmahon Ball Theatre in the Old Arts building.

As a recent recipient of a prestigious ARC Future Fellow grant, historian Dr Kate Mcgregor is conducting research into how human rights activists use memory of human rights abuses to fight for justice.

The University of Melbourne has welcomed a major philanthropic gift of $6.9 million to support the practice and teaching of art conservation.

Diana is studying the Bachelor of Arts (Extended), a unique program for Indigenous students including foundational studies, support services and accommodation at one of the nearby colleges.

Story and photos by Masterclass participant Purnima Ruanglertbutr.

The Faculty of Arts is committed to increasing our recruitment and retention of Indigenous staff and students and believes that Indigenous Australians bring a wealth of experience, expertise, knowledge and skills that will inform, enrich and fundamentally improve the Faculty. In line with the University of Melbourne's Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) developed in 2010, the Faculty has developed an Indigenous Employment Plan and an Indigenous Student Recruitment Plan, both of which specify targets and strategies for the period 2012-2015.