Introduction to Australia
Professor Ross Terrill, Harvard University and the University of
Texas at Austin
Distinguished professor Ross Terrill, shown here at lunch with workshop participants, began the workshop with remarks designed to introduce Australia as a topic in the social studies curriculum.
Among the key points he made:
Visions of Australia have changed over time.
Australia takes little notice of its role as the largest and most significant nation in the South Pacific.
Its most significant ties have traditionally been with the United Kingdom with whom it shares a cultural affinity and shared heritage. Today it is playing a larger role in Asia.
Geography has played an important role in the development Australia due to its distance from other places and ensuing isolation, the relative harshness of its environment, and its overall dry environment.
An excellent resource to learn more about contemporary Australia is The Australians: The Way We Live Now, written by Professor Terrill (Doubleday 2000).
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