Australia’s Cold War university : the relationship between the Australian National University’s Research School of Pacific Studies and the federal government 1946-1975.

Abstract

The impacts of the Cold War on academic-state relations in this country have been neglected in the growing literature on the Australian Cold War. There were greater similarities between the American and Australian university experience during the Cold War than have previously been recognised. The close relationship between the Australian National University and the federal government meant that Cold War tensions were particularly heightened in the case of this university, making it an ideal site for a case study of the Australian Cold War university experience. This thesis asks, ‘what was the nature of the relationship between the Australian National University and the federal government during the Cold War and was the university‘s experience comparable to American Cold War universities?‘ The thesis seeks to address two main themes related to the Cold War experience of universities. The first is the intrusion of government agencies into universities to identify and limit the influence of communist sympathisers and the degree of complicity or otherwise of the university in these activities. The second theme is the role of universities in providing expert advice to government and the implications of this role for academic independence. The concept of the Cold War university has received significant attention in America in recent years. Discussion on this topic had moved from a belief that government influence over the universities was evil and coercive to a more moderate assessment which emphasises the mutual advantages to be gained in the relationship and the role of university administrators in creating it. Despite some significant cultural and local differences, the ANU conformed quite closely to this latter model of the Cold War university. The federal government and administrators of the university worked closely to create a degree of intellectual conformity and to advocate an attitude of social utility. The US Cold War university experience may not have been directly replicated in Australia but enough similarities remain in the relationship between the government and the ANU for it to be classified as an Australian Cold War university.