Preserving the Past: the Dawkins reforms and the University of Sydney

The Dawkins reforms to higher education in the late 1980s roused passions at many universities across the nation, over fears for the academic enterprise and Australia’s system of free, public university education. What was the impact of the Dawkins reforms, particularly at the University of Sydney? SPEAKERS: - Emeritus Professor Deryck Schreuder, 4th Challis Professor of History at The University of Sydney during the era of the Dawkins White Paper, and then Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Macquarie University, Vice-Chancellor of UWS and a Member of the new Australian Research Council, during its implementation. He was later Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia, President of the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee and Chair of the ‘Australian Universities Quality Agency’. He is now an Emeritus Professor and writes about history and higher education. - Julia Horne was a PhD student during the implementation of the Dawkins reforms. She is now Associate Professor of History and University Historian at the University of Sydney, and writes on Australian cultural and social history, and the history of higher education. - Stephen Garton was a newly-appointed lecturer in History at the University of Sydney when Dawkins announced his reforms. He is now Professor of History and Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sydney. Presented by Sydney Ideas on 29 Mar 2017 : http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/preserving_past_dawkins_forum.shtml