Our identity unquestionably shapes (and can limit) how we interact with the world. But it should not become the only foundation upon which we build our understanding of it.
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Aileen Marwung Walsh's grandparents were sent to the Moore River Native Settlement, of Rabbit Proof Fence infamy, half a century ago. In 2018, 100 years after the settlement's founding, she returned.
Sport is a dominant thread in Australia’s cultural DNA. But it’s also divisive.
Writerly acts of confession are garish, they are vulgar and dazzling, but they are the only form of disobedience at many a woman writer’s disposal.
Shakespeare’s first reputation was as a poet, and particularly as a sex poet. He would later incorporate his bawdy inclinations into his most famous plays.
US president Donald Trump's industrial scale deception has dangerous implications everywhere. What then, can we do to foster a more civilised society?
Australian authorities sent artists to the WW1 battlefields to interpret and commemorate war. But unlike similar schemes in Britain and Canada, ours neglected the war experience at home and the perspective of women artists.
As we enter the age of the Anthropocene, there is a growing recognition of different kinds of 'un-real' storytelling.
Leonard Cohen's final (posthumous) book was released in Australia this week. Another new book sheds light on Cohen's life on Hydra in the 1960s and the relationships he forged with Antipodeans seeking liberation there.
A growing number of parents are making money out of their children by turning them into social media celebrities. But the chimera of corporate branding is no antidote for lives lived in precarious times.
For decades, academics have been portrayed as brilliant, heroic men on our cinema screens. It's time to tell the story of more heroic female scholars. Here are some suggestions.
The enquiry into sacredness is not over, it’s just beginning for the 21st century, and in wildly disparate modes and places. In music, Nick Cave, Hozier and Dr G. Yunupingu have led the way.
In early 20th-century Australia, a series of highly publicised murders of women saw newspapers widely discuss sadism.
We need a new national narrative, for reasons of diplomacy, trade and social cohesion and to grapple with many global challenges. The humanities and social sciences will be vital in shaping it.
In the 1940s, the last initiated Ngadjuri man, Barney Waria, gave a series of interviews to anthropologist Ronald Berndt. Almost 80 years later, Waria's grandson wants to share this material with his family.
The ibis has become an Australian cultural phenomenon. The birds' tenacity and fearlessness as environmental refugees mean they attract love and hate alike.
In the mid 19th century, kangaroo hunting was a sport. Colonial hunting clubs were established across Australia and everyone from Charles Darwin to Anthony Trollope tried their hand at shooting roos.
Food is an increasingly popular ingredient in crime fiction, serving up insights into the character of the detective hero and adding spice to the mystery.
Australian operas have been written about many pressing topics - from the Stolen Generations to the Lindy Chamberlain case - but few have been staged a second time. What is going wrong?
The latest scary shark film, The Meg, opens this week. But fictionalised tales of monster fish blind us to the important role sharks play in maintaining the health of our oceans.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor in Media, University of Notre Dame Australia
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Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies, Monash University
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Research fellow, Deakin University
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Professor of Classics, University of Newcastle
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Senior Lecturer - Urban Planning, University of Melbourne
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Joanna Mendelssohn is a Friend of The Conversation.
Honorary Associate Professor, Art & Design: UNSW Australia. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, UNSW
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Founding Editor of Griffith REVIEW; Professor, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University
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Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), University of Wollongong
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Professor, Indigenous Studies and History, Monash University
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Professor of Geography, Sustainability Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast
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Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University
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English for Academic Purposes Specialist, Anthropologist, Centre for English Teaching, University of Sydney
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Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of the Sunshine Coast
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Doctoral candidate, Macquarie University
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Assistant Archivist, Germaine Greer Archive, University of Melbourne
