The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Avril Alba as Head of School, Languages and Cultures. With over a decade of expertise in Holocaust studies, Jewish civilization, and museum curation, Professor Alba brings a wealth of knowledge to the senior leadership position. Her academic and curatorial work has significantly advanced the understanding of Jewish and Holocaust history, particularly through innovative approaches to museums as dynamic spaces of identity and community.
Professor Alba came to the University in 2012 after a decade as a museum professional in both education and curatorial roles. Her academic research is in the related areas of Holocaust and modern Jewish history with a focus on Jewish and Holocaust museums. By combining curatorial and museological approaches with in-depth historical analysis, her work has broadened the traditional view of museums. She redefines them not only as spaces for housing and displaying material history but also as but also places of dynamic interchange and identity formation. Her research has also contributed to wider conversations around how minority communities can not only display their histories, but also understand and express their identities.
A defining aspect of Professor Alba’s work at the University of Sydney has been her commitment to bridging academic research with diverse public audiences through dynamic engagement projects, including exhibitions and related programming. Her involvement in two ARC Linkage projects, Australian Holocaust Memory, Human Rights and the Contemporary Museum and Evaluating the Impact of Holocaust Museum Education, as well as an ARC Discovery project, The Memory of the Holocaust in Australia, has led to the creation of influential permanent exhibitions such as The Holocaust (2017), and The Holocaust and Human Rights (2018).
Professor Alba’s contributions have been recognised with prestigious internal awards, including the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Early Career Research and a SOAR Prize. She continues to provide expert consultation on museum projects, both within Australia and internationally.
Having worked with colleagues in the School of Languages and Cultures for over a decade in a variety of roles including Discipline Chair of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies and Deputy HoS (Education and Research), Professor Alba is excited to build on the successes of the School. “I am inspired by the deep cultural and linguistic knowledge that exists in SLC. My colleagues are literary scholars, linguists, historians, social scientists, as well as language and area studies experts. They model what a truly global university can be and what it can achieve. As passionate and skilled educators and researchers, SLC academics transmit vital intercultural knowledge across the university.”
My vision is to cement the School of Languages and Cultures' position as Australia’s leading centre for multilingual, multicultural, and multidisciplinary research and teaching
"My vision is to cement the School of Languages and Cultures' position as Australia’s leading centre for multilingual, multicultural, and multidisciplinary research and teaching," says Professor Alba. "We offer the broadest range of languages in the country, covering Asia, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. Our faculty is dedicated to teaching languages within their cultural contexts, providing students with real-world opportunities to build cultural competency - a core aspiration of the university. Programs such as our In Country Experiences and the Diploma of Languages ensure that students across the University can engage deeply with language and culture."
The School of Languages and Cultures is poised to make an outstanding contribution across a variety of cultural and linguistic forums, strengthening the diverse communities that define contemporary Australian life.
Looking ahead, Professor Alba envisions the School of Languages and Cultures expanding its influence by forging deeper collaborations with both industry and community. She highlights the School’s established connections to Australia’s multicultural communities, noting that its expertise in cultural and linguistic understanding places it at the forefront of essential intercultural work. "The School of Languages and Cultures is poised to make an outstanding contribution across a variety of cultural and linguistic forums, strengthening the diverse communities that typify contemporary Australian life.”