Call for Papers
ISFAR Symposium Fri 2 – Sat 3 May 2025
Cultures Croisées: French-Australian Cultural Connections
Exploring the Dynamics of Intercultural Exchange
The 2025 Symposium organised by the Institute for the Study of French-Australian Relations (ISFAR) will be held on Fri 2 May and Sat 3 May. While the majority of the sessions will be online, we are keeping open the possibility of a hybrid keynote session to be held in Melbourne in conjunction with a conference dinner. Certain sessions will be timetabled to ensure that colleagues overseas can participate.
The theme of the Symposium addresses the many and diverse cultural exchanges between France and Australia that have shaped both nations over centuries of migration, artistic collaborations and intellectual cross-pollination. This rich history of interaction has not only influenced the cultural landscapes of both nations but has also contributed to a deeper understanding of each other’s societies.
Recent publications by ISFAR members have shed light on the significant influence of French culture, thought, and society on many aspects of Australian life: John West-Sooby’s What Have the French Ever Done for Us (Wakefield, 2024) and Alexis Bergantz’s French Connection: Australia’s Cosmopolitan Ambitions (NewSouth, 2021). Building on the historical and conceptual frameworks and the diverse case studies presented in these works, this Symposium invites papers that further explore areas where French influence has been felt in Australia. Additionally, we encourage contributions that shift the focus to examine the sometimes overlooked presence of Australia in French society and culture.
We also welcome papers that address other topics within the field of French-Australian relations. Proposals are welcome from academics, research students, curators and other arts professionals, and independent scholars. Postgraduate and Honours students are encouraged to apply for the Colin Nettelbeck Award, details below.
Subject to the usual review process, a selection of papers from the Symposium will be published in The French Australian Review.
Possible Topics for Submission
Under the broad theme of the conference, submissions may include but are not limited to the following areas:
· Migrants and Transmigrants: The impact of migration between France, French territories, and Australia.
· Art and Literature: Artistic and literary movements, and the role of individual artists and writers, including First Nations practitioners.
· Architecture: The influence of French architects and architectural practices in Australia.
· Performing Arts: Collaborations and exchanges in music, film, and theatre, including in production and reception.
· Popular Culture: Expressions of Francophilia in Australia and Australophilia in France.
· Industry and Technology: Innovations and collaborations, such as those in viticulture.
· Education: The experiences of school and university exchanges, in-country study programs.
· Intellectuals: The influence of French theory in Australian academic and intellectual circles for example.
· Tourism: The mutual impact of tourism between the two countries.
· Fashion: The exchange of fashion trends and practices, the fashion industry and related industries.
· War and Diplomacy: Shared histories of conflict and cooperation, especially their cultural legacies.
· Linguistic Borrowings: lexical adoptions and language adaptation.
· Translation: The role of translation in bridging cultural gaps.
· Sporting Encounters: French and Australian sporting competitions and the culture of sport in the two countries.
· Religious Influences: Religious orders and education, missionary activities, and the role of religion in personal and private life.
Please send a 150-200 word abstract and a brief cv (>100 words) to the co-chairs of the ISFAR Research Committee by Mon 30 Dec 2024:
Alexis Bergantz: alexis.bergantz@rmit.edu.au
Elizabeth Rechniewski: elizabeth.rechniewski@sydney.edu.au
The Colin Nettelbeck Award ($500), to finance travel for research or conference attendance, will be awarded to an Honours or Postgraduate student whose paper is accepted for the Symposium. Candidates for the award should send, together with their abstract and cv, a brief explanation of the purpose to which the funds will be put and details of any institutional support they may receive for that project. Criteria for the award include the quality of the abstract, the relevance of the paper to the themes of the Symposium and the degree of financial support already available to the candidate. The Research Committee’s decision, including the decision whether to make an award, will be final. The award will be announced by mid-March 2025.
ISFAR Symposium 13-14 April 2023
New Perspectives in French-Australian Studies
The 2023 ISFAR Symposium was held on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 April. Papers covered a variety of topics in addition to the two keynote speakers: Matthew Graves spoke on unofficial diplomacy, through his presentation of the Fleurieu mission to Australia in the early twentieth century; and Nic Maclellan spoke on the ‘silenced voices’ of local Pacific leaders on major power politics in the region.
Click to view the Symposium programme.
The inaugural Colin Nettelbeck Scholarship, was awarded to Alice Duncan, currently a PhD student in Fine Art at RMIT University, for her paper: ‘Exploring Cross-Cultural Representations: French Children’s Literature and Australian Indigenous Culture’.
ISFAR@35 Symposium 8–9 April 2021
Australia and France in a Regional and Global Context: Past Engagements and Future Research Directions
The 35th anniversary symposium held in April 2021 in honour of Professor Colin Nettelbeck was opened by French Ambassador S. E. Jean-Pierre Thébault, while Honorary Consul-General in Melbourne, Mme Myriam Boisbouvier-Wylie closed proceedings. This provided the opportunity both to welcome the Ambassador and to hear of his priorities and to thank Mme Boisbouvier-Wylie for her strong support of ISFAR’s activities. Although the Symposium was held online, it was an inclusive and collegial event, attracting attendances of between twenty-five and forty-five for the various sessions. The papers covered a broad range of political, cultural and historical topics, from the early history of French-Australian relations to the contemporary diplomatic rapprochement in the Pacific in the context of an encroaching China; photography and viniculture; student educational tours and language enrichment; and aspects of the history of World Wars One and Two in Europe and the Pacific.
The Symposium afforded the occasion to pay tribute to Professor Colin Nettelbeck, one of the founders of ISFAR, and to announce a Scholarship in his honour that will finance the attendance of Postgraduate and Honours students at future ISFAR conferences. The keynote presentation by Professor Robert Aldrich, ‘From the French East Indies Company to the French in the “Indo-Pacific”’, provided a clear and comprehensive overview of four centuries of French presence in the Indo-Pacific region. An adapted version of Professor Aldrich’s keynote was published in The French-Australian Review 70.
ISFAR Colloquium 27 Sep 2018
The 2nd ISFAR colloquium was held on 27th September 2018 at the University of Adelaide, with the theme of “French Contributions to Australian Life”. Thank you to all delegates, who presented a rich array of papers including a very interesting round table discussion on the topic of “Reflections on the Commemorations of the Great War”.
The colloquium culminated in a keynote address by Emeritus Professor Colin Nettelbeck (Past President of ISFAR) entitled “France and the French in Australia’s growth to nationhood: 1914-1945”, as part of the centenary celebrations of French Studies at the University of Adelaide. The title and abstract of Prof. Nettelbeck’s address were as follows:
France and the French in Australia’s growth to nationhood: 1914-1945
In the more than 200 years of relations between France and Australia, the ambiguities and complexities of the period that spans the two world wars of the 20th century are of special interest. This lecture will argue that the specific role of France and the French in Australia’s growth to nationhood deserves much closer attention than it has received to date. It will show how, from the military alliance of World War I to the appointment of Australia’s first ambassador to France in 1945, the tension between attempts to forge closer bonds, on the one hand, and frequently resurgent distrust and conflict, on the other hand, were crucial to Australia’s self-image and self-positioning as an emerging nation in a dramatically unstable geo-political world.
ISFAR Colloquium 2 Nov 2017
Thank you to those who participated in the ISFAR Colloquium on 2 November 2017.
Some photographs from the day:
ISFAR Colloquium 6 Dec 2016
Thank you to those who participated in the ISFAR Colloquium on 6 December 2016. Some photographs from the day:
