Symposium: Regions, Humanities, Wellbeing: The Relationship Between Humanities and Communities in the Regions

Wednesday 17 July
Throughout Wednesday - Participants arriving in Cairns.

5:30pm, JCU Cairns, City Campus
Pre-Symposium Regional Stakeholders’ Meeting
With thanks to chair: Assoc. Prof. Lisa Law.

Day 1: Thursday 18 July

Attendees make way to symposium venue.

9:00 - 9:25am, Cairns Institute
Registrations at the Cairns Institute, Building D3, JCU Cairns, Smithfield campus

9:30 - 9:50am, Cairns Institute Boardroom
Session 1 -  Opening
Assoc. Prof. Victoria Kuttainen (JCU) and Prof. Kylie Message-Jones (ANU)
Acknowledgement of Country
Program introduction, rationale and overview
Housekeeping

9:50 - 10:40am, Cairns Institute Boardroom
Session 2 – Keynote
Prof. Javier Duran, Director, Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry, University of Arizona
Chair: Dr Victoria Kuttainen (JCU)
Presented via Zoom. Password: 497634

10:45 - 11:45am, Cairns Institute Boardroom
Session 3 – Panel: Community Arts – Not a Luxury (especially in the regions)
Chair: Dr Tully Barnett (Flinders)
Dr Holly Arden, Townsville Galleries Director
Dr Tony Castles, Regional Manager, Regional Arts Services Network Cairns
Dr Simon Spain, Chair of Regional Arts Australia and Director Tasmania?
Regional arts practitioners Victoria Ryle and JCU Adjunct Assoc. Prof. Robyn Glade Wright
Session presented in person and by Zoom. (Password: 563977)

11:45am - 12:15pm, Lunch Break

12:15 - 1:40pm, Cairns Institute Boardroom
Session 4  - Writing the regions
Chair: Dr Nicole Crowe (JCU)
12:15 – 12:30, Dr Threasa Meads (Federation) Fostering Creative Ecologies for Students and Community
12:30 – 12:45, Dr Elizabeth Smyth (JCU) JCU connects with Cairns Tropical Writers Festival 2024
12:45 – 1:00, Dr Adelle Sefton-Rowston (CDU) Supporting Community Initiatives: Prison Writing
1:00 – 1:15, Yvette Holt Supporting Regional First Nations Writers through FNAWN
1:15 – 1:40, Discussion
This session will be recorded.

1:45 - 2:45pm, Cairns Institute Boardroom
Session 5 - Spotlight Session: Transdisciplinary futures and the place of the regions
Chair: Dr Victoria Kuttainen (JCU)
Prof. Jo Winning (Monash)
Transdisciplinary futures: working creatively in the 21st C university for cross-unit collaborations.
Presentation followed by moderated Q&A and open questions
This session will be recorded.

2:45 - 3:30pm, Cairns Institute Boardroom
Session 6 – Roundtable: Critical regionalism and literary studies
Chair: Assoc. Prof. Roger Osborne (JCU)
Assoc. Prof. Julieanne Lamond (ANU)
Dr Brigid Magner (RMIT) via Zoom
Prof. Emily Potter (Deakin) via Zoom
Session presented in person and by Zoom. (Password: 619882)

4:00 - 5:00pm, Cairns Institute Lobby
Roderick Centre Launch Celebration
Welcome to Country - Aunty Jeanette Singleton
Welcome from the Director
RCALC Vision - Dr Victoria Kuttainen and Assoc. Prof. Roger Osborne
Poetry Reading – Yvette Holt (Chair of First Nations Australia Writers Network, FNAWN), reading from new poetry collection Fitzroy North
Deadly Poets Project – Vicki Saunders, Research fellow, Jawun Research Centre (formerly the Centre for Indigenous Health Equity) CQU
Paul Hardisty Reading/Launch of In Hot Water: The Battle for the Great Barrier Reef (Affirm, 2024)

6:30pm Vivo, Palm Cove
Symposium Dinner - optional
Venue: Vivo, Palm Cove 49 Williams Esplanade
(Pre-booked. Outdoor large table, adjacent to hotel Mantra Amphora)
Participants to pay for themselves

Day 2: Friday 19 July

6:30am, Palm Beach
Optional Beachwalk at Palm Beach
Meet in Front of Vivo for prompt 6:30am departure.

9:00 - 9:40am, Cairns Institute Boardroom
Session 7 - Spotlight Session
Valuing Cultural Infrastructure and the Regions
Prof. Kylie Message-Jones (ANU)

9:40 - 11:05am, Cairns Institute Boardroom
Session 8 - Humanities in the Regions Post the Universities Accord: The State of the Sector
Chair: Assoc. Prof. Roger Osborne (JCU)
9:40 - 9:55, Dr Victoria Kuttainen (CQU)
9:55 - 10:05, Dr Erika Kerruish and Dr Mandy Hughes (SCU)
10:05 - 10:20, Dr Jessica White (Uni SA)
10:20 - 10:35, Dr Wayne Bradshaw and Jade Croft (JCU)
10:35 - 10:50, Dr Tully Barnett and Prof. Robert Phiddian (Flinders)
10:50 - 11:05, Dr Adelle Sefton-Rowston (CDU)

11:05 - 11:15am, Coffee Break, biscuits and fruit

11:15 - 12:00pm, Cairns Institute Boardroom
Session 9 – Keynote
Final reflections and ways forward for creative and critical regionalism
Chair: Prof. Kylie Message-Jones (ANU)
Prof. Alistair Noble (UNE)
30 min presentation followed by open discussion.
This session will be recorded.

12:00 - 12:30pm, Cairns Institute Boardroom
Session 10 - Further Reflections: Next Steps toward Community Impact
Prof. Kylie Message-Jones (ANU) and Assoc. Prof. Victoria Kuttainen (JCU)

Working Lunch

12:45 - 2:45pm, Cairns Institute Boardroom
Session 11 - Breakout Working Groups
Chairs: Prof. Kylie Message-Jones (ANU) and Assoc. Prof. Victoria Kuttainen (JCU))
Humanities in the Regions group and Critical Regionalism group will hold separate workshops in this final session to reflect within their communities of practice on the previous program and their ongoing work.

3:00pm, Program concludes. All participants depart.