Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

23 April 2009

In May the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS) will host a new discussion on international collaboration in research. It will bring North American, European and Asia Pacific humanities and social science groups together. Funding organisations, advocacy groups, academies and research institutions will discuss common issues and exchange experience.

The Federation, working with the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, expects important insights and collaboration will come out of the day long meeting at its annual Congress in Ottawa.

CHASS President Professor Linda Rosenman and representatives of Council and its member organisations the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and the Australian Academy of Humanities will attend this ground breaking event.

It is the result of a meeting of Canadian scholars and HASS advocates with United States and European and Australia colleagues which took place earlier this year in Canada. CHASS's Board member Dr John Byron attended for the Council and following is his first report to members.

Several months ago, the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences invited CHASS to participate in its 2009 Annual General Meeting, held in May in Ottawa. The CFHSS is, more or less, the equivalent body to CHASS in Canada, comprising 69 scholarly societies, 75 universities and colleges, and 7 affiliate members all with an interest in advancing and promoting the humanities and social sciences in Canada.

The CFHSS was planning an international panel at its AGM, to discuss common issues surrounding debates on the value that the humanities and social sciences return to society. The CFHSS had observed that many of the arguments, resistances and furphies they face about the place of the humanities and social sciences were constantly arising elsewhere in the world as well. Additionally, they had been impressed to see that the Australian Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, had made explicit claims for the role and value of our disciplines, and had introduced programme changes to reduce the systematic exclusion of the humanities and social sciences from public support.

The meeting also capitalised on a trend over recent years of several of us working at the national level in humanities and social sciences advocacy and policy, to improve our exchange of ideas, data, models and successful strategies. International exchange and collaboration is fruitful but difficult to organise, so the Canadians are to be congratulated for taking the initiative to put together the panel. In a happy coincidence, I was to be en route to Washington DC for the Australian Academy of the Humanities, so I agreed to take the side trip to Ottawa to represent CHASS, in my capacity as a Board member.

I joined three other international leaders in humanities and social sciences advocacy. From the USA came my friend Steven Wheatley, Vice-President of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), with whom I have been discussing for some time the idea of putting together a more cohesive international network and perhaps even holding a summit. Europe contributed Rüdiger Klein, Executive Director of ALLEA, the Federation of 53 National Academies of Sciences and Humanities in 40 European countries: until recently Rüdiger worked in the Humanities Unit at the European Science Foundation. The UK was represented by the Chair of the Council of the UK Academy of Social Sciences, Miriam David.

The four of us sat in on the CFHSS Board meeting on Friday 6 March, which proved to be an illuminating experience. The Board was very generous in opening their confidential proceedings to us, and I think it paid handsome dividends to them - it certainly did to us. The overwhelming sensation we visitors all experienced was recognition: as agenda item after agenda item rolled by, we saw in our own travails the echo of all of the challenges, opportunities, issues and debates they discussed. It became increasingly apparent both to we interlopers and to the locals that the matters they raised, which seemed so local and contingent to them, were in fact common to us all, in one form or another. The feeling was a lot like déjà vu, with enough specific differences to mark things out as local, but with a deep structural similarity to issues that we all face at home. At several points they sought and received our observations and even advice, which came, I think, as a surprise to them as much as to us. But the penny had dropped that we are all in the same game - or a pretty similar one, at any rate - and that our experiences and insights could be a valuable contribution to the consideration of tough issues, and it took them no time at all to decide to exploit that additional resource.

The following day we interlopers attended the AGM, which repeated our experience of recognition and familiarity, only deepened this time due to the increased breadth of participation of the many member associations, institutions and affiliates. By the time our panel assembled for the last session of the day, the feeling of camaraderie and active engagement in their agenda was quite profound.

Ably chaired by the CFHSS President, Nathalie Des Rosiers, we each gave an initial presentation, outlining the position at home as it bore on the interests of our hosts. We spoke in particular about attitudes towards the humanities and social sciences among the general public, the media and within government. We aired strategies for addressing challenges and for putting the case for our active participation in governance, policy making and public life. During the discussion, these themes were developed further in partnership with the very active engagement of the member participants, who asked perceptive and pointed questions. It was a session of great value to all who attended, I think, not least because it offered each of us innovative insights into enduring problems. Perhaps most importantly, however, it completely convinced all who participated of the immense value to be gleaned from constant interaction with our peers at work in similar arenas elsewhere in the world.

One very practical outcome of the session pursues this line. As a direct result of the success of this panel session, the Federation has amended the programme of its Congress in May this year, to incorporate a day-long meeting of international colleagues. The Congress is unlike anything we hold here, and brings together the leading public intellectuals, authors, artists, researchers, scholars and students in the humanities and social sciences from across the nation. It is the largest multidisciplinary academic gathering in Canada.

Recognising the growth of opportunities for international, interdisciplinary research, the CFHSS and the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council are taking the initiative to bring together from Canada and other countries researchers and representatives of granting councils, non-governmental organisations, academies, governments, research institutes, to foster collaboration on research in the humanities and social sciences.

CHASS has been invited to participate, along with representatives of the Australian Academies of Social Sciences and Humanities. Also present will be senior representatives of many of the key national advocacy and policy bodies in the humanities and social sciences from North America and Europe. It is crucial that Australia has a presence. It is an unparalleled opportunity for us to initiate an incredibly useful exchange of ideas, experiences, insights and resources. It is my hope that we will be able to establish a regular meeting, perhaps even here in Australia some time soon, and with an expanded membership to include Asia and other regions, to entrench a virtuous habit of global interaction to our significant national advantage.

 

John Byron
23 April 2009

John Byron, Executive Director of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and Board member of CHASS, 2003-5 and 2007-9.