Michael Wesley, ‘An extraordinary amount of passion’ The Place of Universities in Australian Life

Australia has often viewed its universities as utilitarian enterprises whose primary function is to train professionals and boost the economy. However, Robert Menzies had a far grander vision for tertiary education, one which saw the university as essential to the health of a democracy. Menzies believed that a liberal education equipped people for a full life and the eternal search for truth that such a life involves. But is the current university sector living up to his dream? Are Australians happy with their university experience? And is the sector plagued by competing priorities? Hear University of Melbourne Deputy Vice-Chancellor Michael Wesley explore these issues.

Purchase Professor Wesley’s book, The Mind of the Nation

Want to learn more about Menzies’s vision for Australian Universities? Watch Professor Greg Melleuish deliver a paper on ‘The Idea of Education According to the Young Menzies’

Bonus Fact:

While it is well known that Robert Menzies attended the University of Melbourne on a scholarship, and later served as the University’s Chancellor, it is lesser known that on graduating Menzies worked for a time as a university tutor.

Professor Michael Wesley is Deputy Vice-Chancellor Global, Culture and Engagement at the University of Melbourne. Professor Wesley has extensive experience in international strategy and relations and has worked in higher education, government and the private sector. He has published on Australian foreign policy, Asia’s international relations and strategic affairs, and the politics of state-building interventions. Previously, Professor Wesley was Professor of International Affairs and Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University and the Director of the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at ANU. He has also held positions as the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University, and Assistant Director-General for Transnational Issues at the Office of National Assessments. He has a PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews.