
Senate election for academic staff
News 19 FebruaryNominations are now open to appoint two members of our academic staff to the university Senate for a term ending in 2028.
17 March 2021
Share
The first scholarship students to embark on ACU’s Bachelor of Arts (Western Civilisation) were celebrated in a scholarship presentation ceremony in North Sydney on Tuesday 16 March.
The new degree is offered in partnership with the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation, which has generously provided funding for the academic program, academic hires and scholarships over a period of eight years.
Based at the North Sydney Campus, this program has been developed through significant efforts from staff both within the Faculty of Education and Arts and beyond.
Members of the Ramsay Centre, including CEO Professor Simon Haines, and Chairman the Hon John Howard OM AC, ACU Vice-Chancellor Professor Zlatko Skrbis, Director of the BA Western Civilisation Program Professor Robert Carver, and Deputy Provost Professor Meg Stuart led the formalities at a presentation for the inaugural scholarship students in North Sydney last night.
Professor Carver welcomed the scholars and their families and guests and spoke warmly of the opportunity to discover the rich dialogue and interdisciplinarity of a genuine liberal arts program. Mr Howard and Professor Skrbis presented each student with their certificate and a biography of benefactor Paul Ramsay.
In his address, Professor Haines remarked that the scholarship gave recipients access to “a dazzling galaxy of star thinkers from multiple fields of thought and art … from Homer to T. S. Eliot, Machiavelli to the Federalist papers, Burke and Mill and Marx and de Tocqueville, Dostoevsky, Austen, Orwell, and Woolf, Michelangelo, Picasso or Darwin, Einstein and Newton, Plato, Kant, or Wittgenstein.
“The real magic of the thing, we hope, for you, is that by meeting these stars in the company of these very gifted teachers and your small group of fellow students, you will have an experience few others can have, of direct contact with the greatest minds of our shared past, not as if they were distant inaccessible mountain peaks or buried monuments or weird dead celebrities, but as real thinking people speaking to you, who have thoughts you can actually understand and work with yourself, that you can respond to, making their thoughts your thoughts.”
Professor Skrbis thanked the Ramsay Centre for its generosity in partnering with ACU to provide scholarships in the name of benefactor Paul Ramsay and bring to reality the vision of creating a place for scholars to draw on history as a foundation for the future.
“As a specifically Catholic institution, we are part of an intellectual tradition that goes back almost two thousand years to St Paul, and the theologians and philosophers who succeeded him. But as an Australian university, we inevitably draw on the intellectual capital of the classics – we are reliving their legacy on a daily basis, even when we are not consciously aware of it.
“As one of our mottoes puts it: ‘It’s your future. Make an impact. Welcome to Australian Catholic University, where tradition sparks new beginnings.’
“The establishment of this new degree program in Western Civilisation is one of those ‘new beginnings’.”
Mr Howard reiterated the theme that it is vital to have a true comprehension of those who came before us in order to understand our own world.
The degree covers a structured and integrated humanities curriculum from antiquity to the present and includes an optional honours year.
Learn more about ACU’s Bachelor of Arts (Western Civilisation) on the ACU website.
Nominations are now open to appoint two members of our academic staff to the university Senate for a term ending in 2028.
You’re invited to celebrate the accomplishments of our graduates and participate in the upcoming graduation ceremonies held in Ballarat, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney.
A message from Vice President Fr Anthony Casamento csma: I encourage you to attend the Welcome Ceremony on your campus in the first week of March. Join us as we mark the beginning of the academic year...
Meet Associate Professor Niusha Shafiabady - one of ACU's remarkable female scientists
ACU Library’s Research Engagement team are running their Research Essentials skills sessions again in 2025. Reserve your place to learn more about research data management.
We're streamlining access to library resources based on student feedback.
Get ready to embark on an exhilarating journey into the mysterious world of enrolments. Register now for upcoming Semester 1, 2025 enrolment information sessions.
The Stakeholder Engaged Scholarship Unit (SESU) is now accepting expressions of interest for research projects from organisations supporting people experiencing disadvantage.
ACU Library’s Research Engagement team are running their Research Essentials skills sessions again in 2025. Register now.
Service Central phone support will be extended and available from 8am to 5:30pm from Monday 17 February to Friday 14 March, to support ACU staff as they begin Semester 1.
Yesterday was International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be hearing from some of ACU’s remarkable female scientists to learn about their paths into science. This ...
ACU Library was due to transition to the new EBSCOhost user interface on 4 February. Based on feedback, EBSCO has delayed the migration until July 2025.
A message from Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise), Professor Abid Khan: A warm welcome back to all our ACU colleagues with best wishes for the new year.
The library provides access to most of the resources you will come across in your teaching and research, including newspaper articles, images and videos. Make it your first stop for all your informati...
The library has expanded its support for affordable learning.
Congratulations to ACU Honorary Professor David Runia who was named a Member of the Order of Australia in this year’s Australia Day honours.
During the first week of February every year we celebrate World Interfaith Harmony Week.
The Centre for Education and Innovation (CEI) is offering six one-hour professional development sessions to prepare academics for the start of Semester 1. Register for the webinars here.
A message from the Executive Dean of Theology and Philosophy, Professor Richard Colledge: A new year provides opportunities to nurture what has been planted, and bring buds to bloom.
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Council has been established to guide ACU’s adoption of AI in its teaching, research and engagement, and to influence good practice with university partners and stakeh...
Visit Service Central to access Corporate Services.