Make a gift
Your generosity makes an enormous difference to the development of our students, providing them with the opportunities to enrich and extend their learning.
For over 150 years, the Faculty of Arts at Melbourne has been at the forefront of teaching and research in the humanities, social sciences and languages. Committed to excellence and innovation, the Faculty is recognised as among the best in the world. We are proud of these achievements, and also our role in the development of many of Australia's leading cultural and social institutions, as well as our partnership activities and community engagement.
Yet we are also aware that there is sometimes a gap between our aspirations and our resources, and thus a vital role for friends and alumni who help us so generously to fill that gap. Such generosity makes an enormous difference to the development of our students, providing them with the opportunities to enrich and extend their learning, and the support and self-belief that comes with financial help.
A gift to the Faculty can also support new and existing fields of research and teaching, and attract the best teachers and researchers in the world to Melbourne. By providing a gift, you are expressing your belief in our mission to set a standard of excellence in teaching and research in Arts, and enabling students to flourish.
We are grateful for your friendship and support.
How can I give?
There are a number of different ways in which you can make your gift to the Faculty:
- Make a gift online
- Contribute to the Faculty of Arts through the University Annual Appeal
- Make a bequest to the Faculty of Arts in your will
- Establish a newly endowed scholarship or academic position named after your family or company. Contact the Faculty to discuss this option
- For information on international gifts and tax benefits for tax-payers based in the UK, USA or Canada, please visit the Believe website
Contact
| Monica Hanns, Development Officer | The University of Melbourne |
The Faculty of Arts welcomes gifts that support our commitment to excellence, opportunity and innovation across the humanities, languages and social sciences. In particular, we welcome support that enables the best and brightest minds to benefit from a world-class education.
The Melbourne Humanities Foundation
The Melbourne Humanities Foundation was established in 2012 by the Faculty of Arts in partnership with the Melbourne Humanities Foundation Board. The Foundation Board is chaired by prominent lawyer and philanthropist Mr Allan Myers AO QC.
The primary role of the Foundation is to assist the Faculty of Arts to develop support for humanities programs and in particular to seek and honour acts of benefaction for key areas such as classics, history, literature and philosophy.
The Foundation will raise funds to support and establish teaching and research positions in the humanities, ensuring students at Melbourne have the opportunity to learn from the world's most talented humanities staff.
Classics Trust Fund
At Melbourne we believe Classics has great relevance across the University - whether in the Arts and Humanities, Law or Science, Medicine or Engineering. One of the founding disciplines of the University, Classics provokes deep intellectual engagement with the foundations and fabric of our society and connects us to our global history.
For this reason, the Faculty of Arts supports the Classics Trust Fund, which enables the community to assist Classics to flourish. The Fund supports the study of the Ancient Greek and Latin languages and the literature, history and philosophy of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Emeritus Professor Frank Sear was the University's most recent Chair in Classics until his retirement in 2010. There is currently no Chair in Classics at Melbourne, hence building an endowment for a new Chair in Classics is the Fund's key priority. The Chair in Classics is being championed by the Melbourne Humanities Foundation, chaired by Allan Myers AO QC and has already attracted commendation and support from noted figures such as Sir James Gobbo, Governor Alex Chernov and the Hon Justice Susan Crennan.
The Faculty is seeking to build a permanent endowment through a new Classics Trust Fund, ensuring our students can always benefit from an education in Classics. We are actively seeking the support of philanthropists - lovers of humanity - who share our vision. Determined and committed to the future of Classics, we invite you to contribute to the Classics Trust Fund.
The Faculty of Arts 110 anniversary project and scholarship
2013 marked the 110th anniversary of the Faculty of Arts, providing us with a moment to reflect on how we have nurtured the intellectual and creative life of students as well as the community at large for more than a century. The Bachelor of Arts was the first degree offered at the University in 1855, but it was not until 1902 that Council accepted a proposal for the establishment of a distinct faculty, with Arts granted its own administrative form and powers to commence in 1903. Study in the fields of anthropology, classics, history, languages, literature, philosophy and politics transforms students' lives, giving them the confidence to participate fully in their wider community and make a lasting difference. We have built a reputation for national research excellence across the Arts and our teachers are renowned for their innovation and commitment to the sharing of knowledge.
We want to ensure that as many students as possible are able to access a high quality Arts education at the University. We want to nurture a new generation of thinkers and leaders through The Faculty of Arts and we are committed to increasing access and equity and assisting students who may struggle to find the means to come to the University. While we do all we can to support our students, funding is limited and cannot always stretch to the provision of scholarships for all who deserve support.
It is for this very reason that we have established The Faculty of Arts 110 Scholarship Fund to increase community support for those students who have demonstrated the skill and creative acumen to excel, but who struggle to afford a university education or are hampered by circumstances beyond their control. The Faculty of Arts 110 Scholarship Fund will facilitate and promote access and equity for students enrolled or enrolling in The Faculty of Arts, and provide support for undergraduates and graduates who struggle financially, have relocated from rural areas and/or are Indigenous Australians.
With your help, we can create a permanent endowment to sustain and increase access to an Arts education for those talented and aspiring students who would otherwise struggle to acquire a tertiary education.
History Trust Fund
Since 1854, the University of Melbourne's History program has been at the forefront of the study of history in Australia. In terms of the size of its graduate research school, the number of postdoctoral fellows, the level of competitively-awarded research grants and the specialist knowledge and practical experience of its staff, it remains one of the most significant programs in Australia. Teaching and supervision is offered for undergraduates and postgraduates across a range of periods and geographic and thematic areas. The program is proud of its diverse and international student body. Areas of specialisation include ancient history, medieval and early modern history, and modern history, with specialists in European, Asian, African, American and Australian studies.
In 2014 a fund was established to receive donations and bequests that support the activities of the History program at Melbourne, including the establishment and endowment of positions, teaching and research projects and the support of general History initiatives. Developed as an initiative of the Melbourne Humanities Foundation, especially the Deputy Chair of the Foundation Mrs Fay Gilbert, the fund aims to ensure that the study of History remains at the forefront of teaching in the Faculty of Arts at Melbourne. Recognising that there is sometimes a gap between a program's aspirations and resources, the Fund has been established to enable friends and alumni to help the program to fill that gap. With your help, the program can sustain and increase its efforts to ensure that students at Melbourne have access to the best that History can offer - to teaching, research and scholarship in this crucial field of study.
What are the humanities?
The humanities are a broad set of academic disciplines and intellectual projects that encompass some of the most important fields of teaching and research in any university. They are fundamentally concerned with creativity, innovation and rigorous debate - with the life of the mind, the opportunities and challenges that connect and divide society.
The humanities include fields such as history, literature, languages, philosophy, classics, art history, as well as a range of new media and digital humanities. These are fields of study that transform peoples' lives and give them the confidence to go into the wider community and make a difference. Support for the humanities is, therefore, a commitment to deepening our engagement with critical traditions of thought available to us from the ancient world through to our most contemporary experiences - and to addressing the big issues of our time.
The Faculty of Arts at The University of Melbourne
The Faculty of Arts at The University of Melbourne is one of Australia's most vital intellectual assets and is widely recognised as Australia's premiere Arts faculty. The Times Higher Education world rankings reflect our commitment to excellence, with our humanities disciplines ranked among the very best.
In the Faculty of Arts at The University of Melbourne, there are over 20 fields of humanities study available to students, comprising over 200 subjects - from Ancient World Studies to Medieval Art History and Modern Asian Languages. We have the most popular Bachelor of Arts degree in Australia, with over 6000 students and 400 staff. For over 150 years we have provided the intellectual foundations for thousands of professionals and community leaders, and fostered innovative teaching and research in the interpretive, analytical and creative disciplines of the humanities.
Why do the humanities need support?
We are a publicly funded institution, yet government support represents a limited portion of our income. This funding model does not facilitate the level of diversity and opportunity we aspire to provide, and in the last decade this model has hit the humanities disciplines particularly hard. In 2011 the Australian Academy of the Humanities noted that the 'disincentives and inequities in the current system have led to the marginalization and under-funding of humanities disciplines', with a potentially 'profound impact on the sustainability of courses'. In 2011 the Commonwealth course contribution for the humanities was less than half of the average funding of other areas across the system.
While The University of Melbourne has been able to commit extra funding to the humanities, these forms of internal investment are limited and the humanities can only flourish with additional external support. At the best universities around the world, such additional support for the humanities has become critical for the prosperity of these disciplines. Even as the University continues to provide an outstanding education in the humanities, we cannot ignore the challenges ahead: we require help to build and extend our work in an era of unprecedented change.
How will your gift support the humanities at The University of Melbourne?
With your help, we aim to create a permanent endowment so that the Faculty of Arts at The University of Melbourne can continue to be a place where the best traditions of the humanities are carried forward. This endowment will help us to invest in a new generation of humanities teachers and researchers, and to secure the future of the humanities at Melbourne.
Our ambitions are high. We want to appoint the best, and in particular we want to appoint new 'chairs' - highly distinguished academic positions held by senior researchers and teachers that aid the attraction and retention of other world-class teachers, researchers and students. We aim to support and establish new positions in classics, philosophy, history and literature - and all those areas of study in the humanities that enhance and enrich our society.
Our vision
Our vision of the future for the humanities is ambitious and outward looking. In the 21st century, Australia and the world faces a range of pressing issues that will define human life and society well into the next century. Education in the humanities at Melbourne can inform and inspire students and the community to tackle these issues with confidence. The humanities can ensure future generations understand the legacy of the world's great thinkers, writers and artists.
We seek support for a range of new research, teaching and learning initiatives in fields crucial to Australia's future.