Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and the Pacific Seminar Series

Ms Chris Johnston is a heritage consultant who specialises in investigating the special meanings and associations that exist between people and their places. She is well known for her work in developing and applying social significance methodologies, community engagement, strategic planning and innovative approaches to understanding heritage values and places. Chris also has an active interest in aesthetic values and emotional response to place. She is a Director of Context Pty Ltd, a heritage consultancy based in Melbourne. Twenty years ago ‘What is Social Value? A Discussion Paper’ was published. Where did this concept come from, how have we used and misused it, and where are we going with it today? Chris will explore the journey so far, touching on both theory and practice, illustrated with some places and people who have shaped her understandings of the oft-challenged concept of social significance.

Professor Logan was the inaugural Director of CHCAP in 2002 and oversaw its development into one of the most vibrant and highly regarded research centres in the region. A cultural geographer, he has been recognised nationally and internationally for his contributions to the development of heritage studies, particularly for his contribution to our understanding of heritage issues both in Australia and in Vietnam. In both countries, the relationship of heritage to modernity and its place in contexts of rapid urban transformation have been key issues. His contribution to the disciplines of cultural heritage and geography were recognised by the Australia Academy of Social Sciences last year when he became one of its members. This public lecture provides a fascinating overview of Bill’s insights into changing approaches to heritage conservation over the last three decades, as well as Bill’s thoughts on future directions of both heritage conservation and heritage studies.

Dr Janice Baker, Alfred Deakin Research Postdoctoral Research Fellow discusses Affectivity and darkness: impressions of the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart Tasmania

Dr Benjamin Isakhan, from Deakin's Centre of Citizenship and Globalisation delivers a public lecture on Measuring the Destruction of Heritage and Spikes of Violence in Iraq’ and seeks to investigate the complex inter-relationship that exists between the destruction of cultural heritage and sharp upsurges in terror and violence.

Taking the recent exhibition ‘Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours’ at Melbourne’s Immigration Museum as her starting point, Associate Professor Andrea Witcomb outlines new approaches to museum pedagogy.

Associate Professor Renate Howe outlines the key issues facing Melbourne's heritage due to projected population increases in the next decade, including the need to involve the city's multicultural community in a dialogue about the importance of heritage and the success of the 'place-making' agenda, particularly in Europe, as a response to urban redevelopment. Melbourne at @ 5 million. Can the city’s heritage planning meet the challenge?