Widening Minds
The University of New South Wales and the Education of Australia’s Defence Leaders

Tom Frame (Author)

9781742234427

Paperback / softback, published 30 January 2018

544 pages
23.1 x 14.7 x 4.3 cm, 0.82 kg

Since 1967 more than 25,000 students have graduated from UNSW after studying at Duntroon, HMAS Creswell, the RAAF College and UNSW Canberra. In Widening Minds, Tom Frame examines the productive 50-year partnership between University of New South Wales and Australian Defence Force.

In a candid exploration of the highs and lows of the longest educational partnership in Australian history, Frame produces an ‘uncensored’ account that explains the need for tertiary education that emerged during the Vietnam conflict and the professional outlook of those leading Australia’s various military campaigns. He traces the evolution of officer education, the controversial decision to create the Australian Defence Force Academy, the subsequent development of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, the response to cadet controversies and the University’s efforts to raise educational standards and the quality of intellectual debate across the Defence community.

• A note on titles and acronyms
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Dedication
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1 The universities and service officer education, 1901–
  1966
• 2 Firm foundations and the faculty solution, 1964–
  1967
• 3 Establishing a tradition, 1967–
  1972
• 4 The University as a unifying agent in Defence, 1967–
  1975
• 5 The Academy commitment, 1974–
  1976
• 6 The joint educational enterprise, 1970–
  1980
• 7 From autonomy to uncertainty, 1975–
  1978
• 8 Parliamentary works and political will, 1978–
  1981
• 9 From affiliation to Academy, 1981–
  1986
• 10 Reviews, reforms and restructures, 1986–
  1995
• 11 Controversy and consolidation, 1996–
  1998
• 12 Commercial contracts and institutional partnerships, 1999–
  2004
• 13 Stability and sustainment, 2005–
  2017
• 14 Observations and conclusions
• Notes
• Index