Celebrating the legacy of Australia’s greatest Prime Minister.

The Scottish Enlightenment

Australia’s Scottish heritage is often celebrated for its immense cultural legacy, but less attention has been paid to the way Scottish thought has fundamentally shaped our nation. When the First Fleet arrived on our shores in 1788, Scotland was in the middle of an intellectual flourishing known as the Scottish Enlightenment – the fruits of which were transported to the antipodes. As part of the Melbourne Tartan Festival, join the Robert Menzies Institute for an evening exploring how key figures like David Hume, Robert Burns, Francis Hutcheson, Adam Smith, Henry Home, and more, contributed to the burgeoning of Australia’s liberal democracy. As the proud Scots-Australian Robert Menzies once said: ‘the Scots throughout modern history have shown that wherever they go in the world they make a contribution to the country to which they have gone and to the good order and government of that country’.

The evening will feature four speakers:

Dr Marc Mierowski, ARC DECRA Fellow in the University of Melbourne’s Arts faculty and expert on 17th and 18th century literature and intellectual history, who will speak on the Scottish Enlightenment itself.

Dr Stewart Gill OAM, Master of Queen’s College and longstanding member of the Melbourne Scots, who will speak on the Scots in Australia.

Dr Zachary Gorman, Historian of the Robert Menzies Institute, who speak on the Scots influence on Australian liberalism.

Georgina Downer, CEO Robert Menzies Institute will moderate the panel Q&A.