Boyer Lectures

If one definition of the word 'home' is a goal or objective, then I have to be clear that becoming the kind of journalist who covered war was never my goal or intention.

The idea of home is bigger than the floorplan of any given four walls or the mass of any roof line. It cannot be compassed by rote recitations of suburb or postcode, nation or state. In last week's lecture, I mentioned the various definitions that dictionaries give for that small, heavily laden word, home. Tonight I would like to explore some of them: home as 'a place of origin, a native habitat', home as 'an environment offering security and happiness' and home as 'the place where something is discovered, founded, developed or promoted. A source.'

In dictionaries, definitions of home are various. It is both 'a place of origin, a starting position' and 'a goal or destination.' It may also be 'an environment offering security and happiness' or 'the place where something is discovered, founded, developed or promoted. A source.'

Universities may appear unchanged and enduring, yet the world of the mind is shifting quickly. This is a moment of unparalleled growth, but also of new challenges — the web, on-line learning, and international competition. Australian higher education must think about its role in the republic of learning, so there is a place for every citizen, for every community.

In the modern university, the new sits awkwardly alongside the ancient — medieval gowns and corporate branding, academic board and a chief financial officer. Yet despite its many contradictions, campus remains a place of vitality and imagination, as each new generation seeks its place in the world.

Who gets to university will set the pattern for the life to follow — not just in income and profession, but across almost every dimension of health and happiness. So access to higher learning is a profound matter of social justice. Ensuring equality of opportunity to higher learning must start at the very beginning of education.

Research is not an ancient feature of the university, yet has become central to their identity. To tackle the really big questions, such as containing malaria, requires networks of researchers across many institutions. It is the republic at its most inspirational as it discovers and communicates the excitement of new knowledge.

On Open Day across the nation, the republic of learning is on display. Amid the multitude of courses on offer, the classroom is changing — new technology, new ways of teaching, and an old debate about how best to share knowledge with the next generation.

During the Renaissance, a new generation, living for the first time in a world of printing, created a conversation across borders and languages.

With climate change, the republic, national security, a bill of rights, and the economy, what kind of future are we creating for our children and their children? Every decision we make on the big issues will have a profound effect on their lives, so what can we do now to ensure that we give them the best possible Australia?