January 18, 2019

Progress apace toward new western civilisation degree

PVC (Inclusion & Outreach) appointed to advisory board. 

Since the December 2018 announcement of a partnership with the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation to deliver a new Bachelor of Arts in Western Civilisation, UOW staff have been busy over the Christmas/New Year period preparing to welcome students for the degree in 2020.

The School of Liberal Arts has been formally established in the Faculty of Law, Humanities and Arts, with Senior Professor Dan Hutto appointed as Head of School and preparations underway to recruit the school’s academic and professional staff.

Senior Professor Hutto, who designed the course proposed by UOW in its Ramsay Centre bid, has consulted with eminent academics from world-leading universities, foundations and Liberal Arts Colleges while making refinements to the curriculum.

Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law, Humanities and Arts, Professor Theo Farrell (left) and Head of the newly created School of Liberal Arts, Senior Professor Dan Hutto (right).

Advisory board established

Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law, Humanities and Arts, Professor Theo Farrell, has directed the establishment of an independent advisory board for the new School of Liberal Arts, to be comprised of international liberal arts academics and scholars of high standing, selected local community leaders and other external advisers as required.

The board will provide an expert resource for teaching staff seeking advice on learning and teaching matters and help UOW benchmark its new course and school against similar long-established overseas schools and programs. It will also facilitate ongoing engagement with stakeholders.

“An independent advisory board is crucially important as we establish a new school and degree that, while unique in Australia, has several successful peers in other countries. We want to learn from their experience as we strive to deliver the quality program we envisage.

“Its membership and role are both global and local; specialised and diverse.

“As well as gathering advice from internationally acclaimed liberal arts academics, it will also provide a forum for local stakeholders, particularly the indigenous communities from regions in which UOW operates,” Professor Farrell said.

The Executive Dean said the University recognises there are many stakeholders who are interested in the school and eager to contribute to it and that the advisory board will facilitate consideration of their views.

“I am very pleased to announce Pro Vice-Chancellor (Inclusion & Outreach), Professor Paul Chandler, among the initial advisory board appointees.

“Although Professor Chandler has not been involved previously, I look forward to him providing a vitally important indigenous perspective and connections with multiple indigenous communities as we move forward.

“The board will also be engaging other local indigenous representatives as required to assist Professor Chandler, further strengthening the school’s connections with indigenous communities,” he said.

More advisory board appointments will be announced in the coming weeks.

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Inclusion & Outreach), Professor Paul Chandler, has been appointed to the new School of Liberal Arts Advisory Board. 

Course marketing commences

Meanwhile, preparations continue to promote the new degree as a flagship program among UOW’s 2020 course offerings.

Because the partnership with the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation was not established until Friday 14 December 2018, finalisation of the course curriculum has had to be expedited to enable marketing of the new degree for next year’s Autumn Session student intake.

Staff acknowledged

UOW Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Wellings CBE, acknowledged the efforts of staff over the normally quiet holiday period.

“This is an outstanding opportunity for the University and I appreciate the significant work done by staff over the Christmas and New Year holidays, and which continues in early 2019, to bring this vision to fruition,” he said.

Further information about the new Bachelor of Arts in Western Civilisation is .