Twentieth anniversary colloquium: The cultural and communications studies section of the Australian academy of the humanities

In November 1991, the Australian Academy of the Humanities held a symposium under the title 'Beyond the Disciplines: the New Humanities'. Convened by Ken Ruthven, the Professor of English at the University of Melbourne, and a member of the Academy's English Section, the symposium set out to explore the 'battering' that the traditional humanities had received 'from radical critiques of their methods and politics' in the context of the 'Theory Wars'.1 It did so by bringing together representatives of the 'New Humanities' to address six topics. Meaghan Morris and John Frow spoke to the interdisciplinary aspects of cultural studies; Paul Carter and Sneja Gunew addressed the topic of multicultural studies; Tony Bennett and Lesley Johnson looked at the place of cultural policy studies within cultural studies; Judith Allen and Maila Stevens engaged with the place of feminist and gender studies within and beyond the disciplines; Simon During and Dipesh Chakrabarty brought post-colonial and subaltern studies into the conversation; and Michael Meehan and Hilary Charlesworth presented on new directions in legal studies.