Julia Horne – författare

The Dawkins reforms of the late 1980s and the creation of the Unified National System roused passions at many universities across the nation over fears for the academic enterprise and Australia’s system of free, public university education. With much at stake, the Dawkins reforms became a hot topic of discussion across university campuses, and even between vice-chancellors and state education ministers. Vice-chancellors were threatened with motions of no-confidence, staff argued furiously against change and students protested against fees, yet mostly to no avail. The reforms were introduced and universities became subject to new ways of funding by the Commonwealth that changed the way higher education was organized in Australia.This volume tells the story of the Dawkins reforms at Australia’s oldest university, the University of Sydney, and the unlikely alliance between the University’s vice-chancellor and the New South Wales government in the scramble for more students. Between 1988 and 1996, the University grew exponentially. At the same time it strove to preserve its honoured past despite profound change. Did this desire to preserve an older tradition compromise its effort to master the future?

How has higher learning been shaped by people, ideas and knowledge? In a work that spans 2,500 years, 67 experts chart across the social and cultural dynamics of higher learning and education across the centuries.Exploring higher learning rather than universities, the authors examine the full range of the effects of advanced education on their societies. Readers will discover ancient academies, monasteries, temples to professional and technical schools as well as universities. Together the volumes describe the remarkable drama of societies trying to organize knowledge for humanity, with many conflicts, reversals, and triumphs along the way.Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole, and to make it as easy as possible to use, chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six.The six volumes cover: 1. Antiquity (500 BCE-500 CE); 2. Medieval Age (500-1400); 3. Renaissance (1400-1600); 4. Age of Enlightenment (1600-1760); 5. Age of Industry (1760-1900); 6. Modern Age (1900-present)Themes (and chapter titles) are: cultures; geographies; authorities; teaching; disciplines; communities; materialities; contestations and epitome.The total extent of the pack is approximately 1712 pages. Each volume opens with notes on contributors and an introduction and concludes with notes, bibliography, and an index.

A classic of Australian literature, The Education of Young Donald Trilogy combines Donald Horne's three autobiographies – The Education of Young Donald (1967), Confessions of a New Boy (1985) and Portrait of an Optimist (1988) – in one volume. Describing his formative years as he strays far from home, it tells how Donald moved among the social classes, strolled from one milieu to another, visited foreign lands, flirted between intellectual perspectives, had successes that were failures and failures that were successes and ends up, with an in increasing sense of exile.With a keen intellect and a sharp wit, Horne portrays the rough and tumble world of journalism.

Australian Universities: A conversation about public good highlights contemporary challenges facing Australian universities and offers new ideas for expanding public good.More than 20 experts take up the debate about our public universities: who they are for; what their mission is (or should be); what strong higher education policy entails; and how to cultivate a robust and constructive relationship between government and Australian universities. Issues covered include:– How to change a culture of exclusion to ensure all are welcome in universities, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students as well as those from low socio-economic backgrounds.– How "educational disadvantage" in Australia often begins in school and is still the major barrier to full university participation.– The reality that funding for research and major infrastructure requires significant additional funds from non-government sources (e.g. international student fees).– A lack of policy recognition that international university students increase Australia’s social, cultural and economic capital.– Pathways to making policy decisions wide-ranging, consultative, inclusive and inspired rather than politically partisan and ideologically driven.– The impact of COVID-19 on universities, and particularly how the pandemic and governmental responses exacerbated extant and emerging issues.Australian Universities rekindles a much-needed conversation about the vital role of public universities in our society, arguing for initiatives informed by the realities of university life and offering a way forward for government, communities, students and public universities – together – to advance public good.