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Graduation
addresses
On this page are transcripts of speeches delivered at graduation (conferring)
ceremonies in 2005:
14 December 2005: Professor Vijoleta Braach-Maksvytis
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Innovation and Development), University of Melbourne
Transcript (Microsoft
Word, 60 kb)
Key points:
- The principle of Knowledge Transfer, citing some practical examples
- The diverse cultural backgrounds of the student body
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13 April 2005: Professor Peter McPhee
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), University of Melbourne
Transcript (Microsoft
Word, 54 kb)
Key points:
- Changes in Melbourne University's character, from the "small,
mediocre, élite institution of the 1920s" to today's large
"comprehensive research university of international standing"
- Characteristics of the 'Melbourne Experience', especially the quality
of campus life
- Voluntary student unionism (VSU) legislation will make providing
the Melbourne Experience financially difficult
- Notable alumnus Charles Hoadley, whose brother Archibald invented
the Violet Crumble
Further reading:
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9 April 2005: the Honourable Susan Crennan QC
Judge, Federal Court of Australia
Council Member, University of Melbourne
Transcript (Microsoft
Word, 68 kb)
Key points:
- Cardinal Newman's "The Idea of the University Defined"
as a community of scholars and teachers whose teaching efforts were
mainly directed to the training of the intellect and the pursuit of
knowledge for its own sake
- Competing modern concepts of what a university should be
- "...all intellectual challenges to received ideas... even if
flawed, are somehow oxygen to the world of ideas and reinvigorate
a healthy intellectual life."
- A healthy intellectual life enables graduates to "resist all
that is minatory and false in our present culture and to create your
own space in the world"
Further reading:
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9 April 2005: Mr Gregory Burgess
Architect, Gregory Burgess Architects
Accepting a Doctor of Letters degree, honoris causa
Transcript (Microsoft
Word, 65 kb)
Key points:
- Architecture as a vehicle for creating community out of difficult,
sometimes traumatised social, spiritual and natural environments
- Practice of architecture can't be taught entirely in classrooms:
opportunities for practitioners and universities to collaborate in
education process
- "I would like to see the qualities which define my practice:
collaboration, social engagement with community and the integration
of cultural and environmental sustainability, taken up in the civic
precinct of my own city of Melbourne where the same care in process,
sensibility and rich materiality, might nurture a more responsive,
more deeply human environment."
Further reading:
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2 April 2005: Professor Warren Bebbington
Dean of Music, University of Melbourne
Transcript
(Microsoft Word, 71 kb)
Key points:
- Endowed scholarships help financially disadvantaged students enter
university
- Federal government funding for higher education is lessening, more
students likely to incur HECS or similar long-term debt as result
of their studies
- Philanthropy, in the form of bequests and endowments to universities,
can help prevent financial burdens falling on individual students
Further reading:
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23 March 2005: Professor John Mulvaney
Foundation Professor of Prehistory, Australian National University
Accepting a Doctor of Letters degree, honoris causa
Transcript (Microsoft
Word, 65 kb)
Key points:
- Archaeological evidence of indigenous cultural diversity and complexity
- Balanced view of Australian history
- Indigenous access to education
- Concepts of national identity
Further reading:
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16 March 2005: Ms Sylvia J Geddes
Executive Officer, The R E Ross Trust
Transcript (Microsoft
Word, 68 kb)
Key points:
- Formal education as a foundation for developing values and ethics
- Migrant experiences in 1950s
- Using professional skills and experience to contribute to society
- New graduates face choices about how to continue developing their
moral frameworks and intellectual abilities
Further reading:
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12 March 2005: Professor David Clarke
Director, International Centre for Classroom Research, University of
Melbourne
Transcript (Microsoft
Word, 62 kb)
Key points:
- All education is experience and all experience educates
- Teaching and learning are cultural activities: different societies
teach their children in different ways
- Japanese concept of Yamaba, a climactic moment of learning
Further reading:
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5 March 2005: Ms Fay Marles
Former Chancellor, University of Melbourne
Accepting Doctor of Laws degree, honoris causa
Transcript (Microsoft
Word, 59 kb)
Key points:
- Common bonds between Australians across racial and cultural boundaries
- Friendship with Yolngu people of Yirrkala
- Development of Melbourne University's indigenous programs
- "All of you here this morning are likely to be in leadership
positions in some form, either in your chosen field or in your communities.
How well informed you are in this area is becoming increasingly important
because of the recognition of the damage that result from prejudice
and active discrimination against people on account of their aboriginality."
Further reading:
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