Culture in overseas embassies: Buildings that evoke Australia

Professor David Lowe is Chair of Contemporary History and Director of the Centre for Contemporary Histories in the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University. He has published widely on the history of Australia in the world and on international history and memory, including  Australian between Empires: The Life of Percy Spender (2010), and three edited histories of Australian embassies overseas with ANU Press, Australia Goes to Washington (with David Lee and Carl Bridge, 2017), Rising Power and Changing People: the Australian High Commission in India, (with Eric Meadows, 2022), and The Australian Embassy in Toyko and Australia-Japan Relations, (with Kate Darian-Smith, 2023).

David is co-founder of the Australian Policy and History network (https://aph.org.au) and was Visiting Professor in Australian Studies at the University of Tokyo, 2019-20.

Professor Anna Johnston is President of the International Association of Australian Studies (InASA) and was the AJF Chair of Australian Studies at the University of Tokyo in 2014-15. Her new book The Antipodean Laboratory: Making Colonial Knowledge, 1770-1870 will by published by CUP in September 2023.

Professor Kate Darian-Smith is Executive Dean and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Arts, Law and Education, University of Tasmania and has published widely on Australia’s history and cultural heritage. A former President of the International Australian Studies Association, Kate has contributed to the promotion of Australian Studies internationally, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, and served two terms on the Board, Australia-Japan Foundation, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She recently co-edited, with David Lowe, the volume The Australian Embassy in Tokyo and Australia-Japan Relations (ANU Press 2023); see https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/australian-embassy-tokyo-australia-japan-relations

The seminar is part of an ongoing series, Making Public Histories, that is offered jointly by the Monash University History Program, the History Council of Victoria and the Old Treasury Building. Each seminar aims to explore issues and approaches in making public histories. The seminars are open, free of charge, to anyone interested in the creation and impact of history in contemporary society. Click HERE to learn about other events in the series.

We thank the series sponsors, Monash University Publishing, the Monash University History Program and the Old Treasury Building.