Academic Ambassadors, Pacific Allies: Australia, America and the Fulbright Program(Key Studies in Diplomacy)

This study is the first in-depth analysis of the Fulbright exchange program in a single country. Drawing on previously unexplored archives and oral history, the authors investigate the educational, political and diplomatic dimensions of a complex bi-national program as experienced by Australian and American scholars. The book begins with the postwar context of the scheme’s origins, moves through its difficult Australian establishment during the early Cold War, the challenges posed by the Vietnam War, and the impacts of civil rights and gender parity movements and late 20th century economic belt-tightening. How the program’s goal of ‘mutual understanding’ was understood and enacted across six decades lies at the heart of the book, which weaves institutional and individual experiences together with broader geopolitical issues. Bringing a complex and nuanced analysis to the Australia-US relationship, the authors offer fresh insights into the global significance of the Fulbright Program

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 ‘Free gift’ or ‘infiltration’? Negotiating the Fulbright Agreement 2 ‘A steady stream of new problems’: Politics and teething issues 3 ‘Bright scientific moles’ v. ‘goodwill ambassador extroverts’: Choosing a Fulbright scholar 4 ‘Mutual benefit’ v. ‘the needs of the country’: Programming academic fields 5 ‘Meeting [our] domestic Communism problem’: Cold War governance and the public university 6 Education, or ‘part of our foreign policy’? At war in Vietnam 7 ‘Experience is the only teacher’: Academic ambassadors interpret ‘mutual understanding’ 8 ‘Just because one is a woman’: Forging careers and changing the gender landscape 9 From ‘White Australia’ to ‘the race question in America’: Confronting racial diversity 10 ‘In the climate of continuing financial restraint’: Finding a sustainable future in the neo-liberal university Conclusion Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Alice Garner teaches French and History and is an Honorary Associate in History at La Trobe University, Melbourne Diane Kirkby is Professor of Law and Humanities at the University of Technology Sydney, and Research Professor (Emeritus) in History at La Trobe University, Melbourne