Expressions of interest: 53rd Annual Academy Symposium

Citizenship, Diaspora & Belonging

Questions of citizenship and belonging have long featured in Australian public life. From the rights and citizenship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through to exclusionary immigration policies, from internment of ‘enemy aliens’ to citizenship controversies of the Australian parliament, from demands of loyalty from diaspora groups to cancelling the citizenship of terrorists, their widows and orphans.

Citizenship is both an externally protective and projective mechanism, and a marker of ‘who belongs’. Around the world, notions of citizenship are often divided between so called ‘civic’ and ‘ethnic’ principles. Australia’s own experience shows that forms of national belonging are more complex than this binary suggests.

The event will explore themes of loyalty and nationality, internationalism, mobility and how these interact with questions of participation, affiliation and the politics of ‘nativism’. Moving beyond legalistic approaches, it will imagine a new and unique Australian civilisational compact – a substantive kind of citizenship for a multicultural society with deep trans-national and diaspora connections and a reimagined polity negotiated with First Nations concepts and rights.

The 53rd Annual Academy Symposium will be held as a two-day face-to-face program, provisionally scheduled for 17-18 November 2022, location to be confirmed.

We are now seeking expressions of interest from Academy Fellows who wish to present at the Symposium.

We also encourage you to nominate other researchers who you believe would bring an important perspective to the Symposium.

Places are limited, and the convenor will be looking to select presenters from a range of disciplines and career stages to ensure a breadth of new perspectives.

Please complete the form below (150 words maximum) by Wednesday 9 March 2022 or contact the Events Team events@humanities.org.au for further information. Outcomes will be notified by early June.

Title: *

First Name: *

Last Name: *

Email: *

Section(s): *

Please outline your proposed topic for the Symposium and how it connects with the themes outlined in the abstract:

Are you able to travel in November to participate (COVID-willing) or would you wish to participate virtually?

If you wish to nominate another researcher who you believe would bring an important perspective to the Symposium, please provide their name, contact details and area of research that relates to the Symposium theme: