Students as agents of change in the modern Australian university
It is axiomatic that Universities change the students who enrol. Education at its best is transformative, both personally and in providing important credentials. It is also axiomatic that, over the past fifty or so years, Australian universities have changed in ways often described in negative terms as ‘corporatised’, but much has also changed for the better. The role of student expectations and the experiences they brought with them have challenged and changed universities in ways insufficiently considered in much contemporary discussion of Australian universities. A close look at the University of Melbourne from 1965-2015 can offer some insight into the influence of students on changes in the learning environment.
Dr Carolyn Rasmussen
Honorary Fellow School of Historical and Philosophical Studies University of MelbourneCarolyn Rasmussen completed post-graduate studies in labour history and the peace movement at the University of Melbourne where she is currently an Honorary Fellow. Her work as a public historian since 1985 has ranged over the history of Victorian public institutions, the history of science and technology, education history, the involvement of women in all of the above, and biography. In parallel with this work she has maintained a deep engagement with Victorian labour history. Her publications associated with education include Poor Man's University: Seventy Five Years of Technical Education in Footscray; A Place Apart, The University of Melbourne: Decades of Challenge (with John Poynter); Increasing Momentum: Engineering at the University of Melbourne 1861-2004; Lauriston 100 Years of Educating Girls; ‘A Whole New World’ 100 years of Education at University High School and Shifting the Boundaries: The University of Melbourne 1975-2015. She is a member of the National Editorial Board of the Australian Dictionary of Biography and chair of the Victorian Working Party. Her most recent book is a joint biography of progressive politicians, Maurice and Doris Blackburn: The Blackburns; Private Lives, Public Ambition.