“The energy of grace alone can make a soul strong in age.” - John Henry Newman

Purpose and method of the project

Because of its access to and relationship with elders of the ANU, Emeritus Faculty is in a unique position to gather accounts of the origins and development of the ANU, aspects of which might be little known. Such stories potentially provide an opportunity for the pioneers to identify and record their place and role in the life and development of the university since its founding 60 years ago, and for them to make comment on what was happening around them.

Emeritus Faculty’s Oral History Program aims to provide an opportunity, through audio interviews carried out under comfortable, informal conditions, conducive of recall and elaboration by interviewees. The venue is usually the Emeritus Faculty office, though it may be the subject’s home or office. The interviews are minimally structured, with the aim of letting the interview unfold as it will. Interviewees are encouraged to be as candid and speculative as they wish.

Two collections of recordings and transcripts

The interviews have two different origins. ANU Emeritus Faculty began its Oral History Project in 2008, and by year’s end had accumulated the interviews listed in the catalogue. Emeritus Faculty intends to continue conducting interviews on a regular basis during coming years, adding these to the catalogue as they are completed. Abstracts are available for these interviews, and audio MP3 recordings. Transcripts will be generated at a later date.

ANU Emeritus Faculty Interviews may be accessed at - ANU Emeritus Faculty Oral History Project

ANU Archives has a collection of approximately 50 interviews produced in the 1980s and 1990s, when ANU had its own Oral History Program, discontinued some time ago. These are mostly tape recordings, and not easily accessible. Transcripts were made of about half of these, and copies of the transcripts can be accessed through the ANU's Digital Collections.

The ANU interviews may be accessed at - Australian National University Oral History Project

Legal aspects

After they have given their interviews, interviewees are asked to assign copyright for the recordings to Emeritus Faculty, but with conditions of access decided by individual interviewees if they wish. Interviewees have not generally applied conditions to use of the audio or written material in this project, but should you, the listener or reader, want to reproduce or use the information in any way, you should check with Emeritus Faculty for any limitations on use, and for help in contacting the interviewee should that be necessary.

Coordinators

The convenor of the Oral History Project now is Fyfe Bygrave.