Humanities Research Institute Advisory Board
The Humanities Research Institute has established an Advisory Board to advise and monitor the research outcomes of the Institute according to the Humanities Research Institute Strategic Plan 2011 – 2013. The Advisory Board meets annually to discuss progress on the Institute’s strategic goals. The Advisory Board consists of representatives from academia; publishing; and political arenas. Members for the Advisory Board include:
Professor Iain McCalman – Chair
Iain is a Professorial Research Fellow and ARC Federation Fellow in the Department of History at the University of Sydney. His research interests include: Eighteenth-century and early-nineteenth British and European history; Popular culture and low life and Uses of media for history. Iain received an Order of Australia in 2007 for service to history and the humanities as teacher, researcher, author and through advocacy, advisory roles in academic and public sector organizations.
Mr Gareth St John Thomas
Gareth is the owner of Exisle Publishing. He has a degree in History from the University of Sussex. He worked as a sales representative for Kogan Page publishers, based in London and moved to David Charles where he ended up as Publishing Director. He then moved to New Zealand, trying to avoid publishing, but formed Exisle initially as a hobby business while he took his MBA in Auckland. Gareth has provided consultancy work for various publishing groups and this included a period living in the United States. Gareth believes that book publishing must remain personable and publishing companies exist to facilitate ideas and talent.
Ms Sharon Grierson, MP
Sharon was first elected in 2001 - the first woman to represent the federal seat of Newcastle - and was re-elected in 2004, 2007 and 2010. Before entering Parliament, Sharon served as a teacher and Principal in the Hunter region. In her professional career she completed extensive management and financial training and studied Arts and Law. Sharon was also a board director of the Honeysuckle Development Corporation and a member of the management committee of the Tinonee Multicultural Village for Aged Care.
Dr Bernard Curran
Bernie is currently the Executive Officer for the University of Newcastle Foundation, Vice President of the University Alumni, and a member of the NU Sport Board and co patron of the Uni Rugby Club. He is a also a member of several community organisations. He has enjoyed and, so far, has survived four lives at the University. In his first, as a student of Classics, he eventually suppressed his passion for sport to graduate with a PHD in Classics and a Rugby Blue. In his second he joined the academic staff in the Classics Department where he dedicated himself to the teaching of Latin and research in Greek and Roman religion, politics, values and literature, especially Virgil. He also became a great advocate for the Classics in the schools. In his third life he became Foundation Warden of Evatt House, co residential colleges at the university campus and in his fourth he was responsible for establishing the University’s Development Office for Community, Alumni and Fundraising.
Professor Hugh Craig – Director, Humanities Research Institute
Hugh Craig's research interests are in Renaissance literature and humanities computing. He has been Head of the Department of English, Head of the School of Language and Media and Head of the School of Humanities and Social Science. He is Director of the University's Centre for Literary and Linguistic Computing, and is involved in a number of collaborations beyond Newcastle in computational stylistics. Earlier books are on Sir John Harington and Ben Jonson. He is interested broadly in the application of statistics and computer science to literary texts and his recent publications deal with questions of authorship and literary history in the Renaissance from this perspective.