Editorial
ACUADS CONFERENCE 2014: THE FUTURE OF THE DISCIPLINE
Victorian College of the Arts and RMIT University
2 – 3 October, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9942868-0-2
The annual ACUADS Conference was held in Melbourne from 2 – 3 October, 2014 and was jointly hosted by the Victorian College of the Arts and RMIT University.
The Future of the Discipline Decline and fall; disaster and defense. The questions of ‘what is the future value of art and design?’ have been asked before. And they’ll be asked again. But the present and future ecologies of art and design higher education have taken on new sets of coterminous conditions: the current state of practice-led research; impact and engagement in global markets & mobility; transnational pedagogies. We are here to report, discuss, disagree, collaborate and ultimately move forward. But this is not a call for arms, nor is it is a platform for cynic. We are here to consider the future of what we do in all its forms and in all its potential scenarios. In this, ACUADS 2014 is for contents, discontents and malcontents.
We welcome a range a responses that might broadly or specifically dwell on ‘the future of the discipline’. We welcome project reports, curriculum models, discussion papers, historical reflections and speculative curricula. We aim to construct debate surrounding the following themes:
Future ecologies – what will we call ourselves in 2020? What will the discipline look like? How do we negotiate between ‘industry preparedness’ and preparing our students for an industry that is continually being redefined?
Heritage models – how do we determine what is useful to us? How do we protect what is precious to us whilst maintaining our commitment to innovation? What do we do with the studio?
Research – what is the current status of practice-led research? What is the role of undergraduate research in the era of ERA?
Technology and innovation
POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS
Three ACUADS Postgraduate Grants of $500 were awarded to Georgia Banks, Tony Curran and Gianni Renda.
ACUADS 2014 ORGANISING COMMITTEE
Jan Murray, Prof Barbara Bolt, Dr Toby Juliff (VCA, University of Melbourne), Dr Shane Hulbert (RMIT University)
2014 ACUADS Conference Timetable
The keynote paper by Professor Jane Rendell, ‘Configuring Critique: Seven Problematics for Arts Education in Neoliberal Times‘ is available on our Research page.
Papers from the panel discussion ‘What impact are higher degree research programs having on emerging trends and themes in contemporary art?‘ are also available on our Research page.
The double blind peer review process is ongoing. Queries may be directed to ACUADS Executive Officer Louise Mayhew via admin@staging.acuads.com.au
Papers that have completed the process are available below. The process complied with accepted guidelines. Referees were chosen from the academic community as independent experts in their chosen field. Each full and completed paper was submitted for double blind peer review. Written comments were received from each referee for each paper. Papers requiring revision were returned to authors for the required changes. At no time were referees informed of the identities of the authors whose papers they were assessing, nor were authors informed of the referees’ identities. Papers have been edited for consistency in presentation, and an effort has been made to ensure that all papers are free from errors.