Teaching U.S. History in Australia

After a brief survey of the coverage of U.S. history in Australian universities and doctoral training in the field in Australia, I will focus especially on the query in the guidelines about whether historical knowledge of American history is a part of public life.  Do academic historians of the United States have a public voice? And is American history a resort for ideological argument? I will compare the situation in Australia regarding professionalisation of academic history, and that in the United States, situating the development and problems of American history within that context. That same context, I will propose, explains both the limitations and the strengths of American historiography in Australia. This also points to an explanation of why and how Americanists in
Australia conceptualize, on occasions, American history differently from those
based in the United States. The special role of American studies in Australia
and of history within the Australian version of American studies would also be
noted as part of this presentation.

Note: Chris Dixon will be presenting a paper by Ian Tyrrell