Professor Kalpana Ram Affiliation: Australian National UniversityDiscipline: AnthropologyYear elected: 2021 What initially drew you to your field of study? Many of my answers about intellectual trajectory have their roots in my life journeys between India and Australia. I arrived in Sydney in 1971 from Delhi at the age of fourteen because of my father’s government…
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia has joined with Australia’s other Learned Academies in welcoming the release of the Strategic Examination of R&D (SERD) chaired by Robyn Denholm. Speaking to media on the morning of release, Academy President Professor Kate Darian-Smith congratulated the Australian Government and the expert panel members for their work…
What could be more important than understanding the social world? Every plan, every policy, every technical solution ultimately has to operate within society. For me, social sciences are everything.
50 years of public health research and advocacy One of Australia’s most influential public health thinkers, Emeritus Professor Simon Chapman AO has released a new book that reflects on a career spent reshaping how Australians understand health and responsibility. Better to be looked over, than overlooked: 50 years of public health research and advocacy, is part memoir,…
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia was proud to officially launch Australia’s War History, the latest educational resource from the Seriously Social school program, at the historic Anzac Memorial in Sydney on Monday 9 March. This new resource has been designed to support teaching and learning about Australia’s wartime experiences and their ongoing…
In this issue, International program updates, upcoming grants and opportunities and read and click new offerings from Fellows. View the March newsletter here.
On International Women’s Day, we celebrate women’s contributions to the social sciences and the way evidence based research reshapes policy, institutions, and everyday life. Today we would like to highlight the work of our Fellows whose research helps make communities safer, fairer, and more equal. Jacqui True advances the Women, Peace and Security agenda and…
I like to think about the ways in which law ought to respond to technological change.
Submission to the Select Committee on Productivity in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia made a submission to the Select Committee on Productivity in Australia’s Terms of Reference and Discussion Paper on Productivity in Australia. The Terms of Reference of this inquiry are broad and rightly reflect the complex and multifaceted nature…
Housing affordability…the effects of Global Climate Change…high national debt…We need to come up with solutions and a way forward in dealing with these challenges being faced by a generation of people for the first time.
Libraries and archives, along with galleries and museums – and their role in the preservation of our national heritage -sit at the heart of a democratic society. They need to be celebrated, funded, and made accessible to all.
I am interested in building inter-generational, international networks of scholars and front-line educators designing and enacting literacy curriculum for social and environmental justice. I desperately want good things – ethical practices – to go viral. That’s my current obsession.
I believe that convergence science approaches are necessary to solve the complex issues of the non-communicable and particularly mental health disorders… The social sciences are a keystone approach in this matrix.
Social scientists need to be loud and proud about their capacity to provide unique contextualised insights into the ways in which digital technology is reshaping everyday education.
Social scientists know how the brain works and understand the ins and outs of group dynamics. We should use that in a much broader context. Too often we preach to the converted.
In this dazzling, surprising and always entertaining book, bestselling author Andrew Leigh tells the story of innovation. Innovation shapes almost every corner of our lives, yet we rarely pause to notice it. Someone had to invent nails and wheelbarrows; alphabets and books; glass windows and windscreen wipers; tin cans and synthetic dyes. From tools and…
The compelling story of a forgotten feminist and the nation she helped build Mary Booth was a woman of startling contradictions – one of Australia’s first female doctors, a pioneering feminist and nationalist, she was also a staunch political conservative and a devoted empire loyalist and nationalist. She championed infant welfare, war commemoration, environmental reform,…
My work on increasing the sustainability and resilience of coral reef fisheries is motivated by a love of problem solving… the joy I get from bringing together different disciplines to look at a common issues, and the strong desire to leave the planet in a better state for my two boys.
I get so much pleasure from helping others…develop their thinking. At a time when it can feel that thinking is under threat…the art of building concepts is something that we should cherish and protect as social scientists.
In our first issue for 2026, congratulations to Fellows receiving Australian Day Honours, plus a wealth of opportunities for Fellows to become more involved with the Academy. View the February 2026 newsletter
Pre-Budget Submission 2026-27 On 30 January 2026, the Academy made a submission to the 2026–27 Federal Budget. The submission made five recommendations to create opportunity and equity in education, strengthen the research ecosystem and address key challenges facing Australia. Click on ‘download’ to read the submission in full.
Academy Fellows recognised with 2026 Order of Australia honours
Submission to the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia made a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment inquiry into the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025. The Academy strongly supports the establishment of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (the…
I try to focus at the intersection between things that need doing and things that I’m good at; most of these are in the cultural dimensions of environmental issues, including climate change.