Prof Bill Ashcroft

Research Summary

Bill Ashcroft is a renowned critic and founding theorist of post-colonial studies, co-author of The Empire Writes Back the first text to examine systematically and name this field of literary and cultural study. He is author and co-author of sixteen books, including four second editions, variously translated into five languages, and over 160 chapters and articles. He is on the editorial boards of ten international journals. He has been awarded a five year Australia Professorial Fellowship beginning in 2011 to work on a project entitled "Future Thinking: Utopianism in Post-colonial Literatures."

Teaching

Bill Ashcroft has taught in the Faculty since 1988. He was instrumental in developing the Australian Studies program in the Faculty, the teaching of post-colonial literary studies in the School, and has developed various forms of innovative, interdisciplinary and electronic educational initiatives. Most recently he spent three years from 2005-2008 as Chair Professor of English at the University of Hong Kong.

Innovative Teaching

• Selected in 2001 to be supported by the university to prepare and deliver a fully online General Education course, first taught in Session 2 2001.

• Selected in 2001 to be one of the inaugural ITET (Innovative Teaching and Educational Technology) Fellows. The ITET scheme was designed to prepare academics to take a leading role in the university's transformation of teaching.

• Received an Outstanding Paper Award for a paper with Iain McAlpine of EdTec delivered at the World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications in 2002.

• Led a team in 2002 which received a grant in the First Year Experience scheme - developed two web-assisted, modular, collaborative first year courses, with an emphasis upon improving the First Year experience of university.

• Was nominated for a WebCt Exemplary Course Award in 2003.

Postgraduate Supervision:

• Supervised over twenty PhD graduates since 1988.

• Postgraduate coordinator in the School of English.

Undergraduate Teaching:

• Australian literature, Australian Studies, and Critical Theory, Post-colonial literatures and Theory, African, Indian and Caribbean Literatures.

• Convened the Australian Studies Program from 1988 to 1993, introducing an Australian Studies major and Australian Studies MA.

Publications

Books

1989, The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-colonial Literatures. (with Gareth Griffiths & Helen Tiffin), London and New York: Routledge
_____(1996), Korean Edition, Seoul: Minumsa Publishing
_____(1998), Chinese Edition, Beijing: Camel Publishing
_____(1998), Japanese Edition, Tokyo: English Agency

1995, The Post-colonial Studies Reader (with Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin, eds.), London and New York: Routledge.

1996, The Gimbals of Unease: The Poetry of Francis Webb. Perth: CSAL.

1998, Key Concepts in Post-colonial Studies (with Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin), London: Routledge.

1999, White and Deadly: Sugar and Colonialism. (with Pal Ahluwalia and Roger Knight, eds.), New York: Nova

1999, Edward Said: The Paradox of Identity (with Pal Ahluwalia) London: Routledge
_____(2000), Spanish Edition, Edward Said: La paradoja de la identidad trans. Víctor Pozanco Barcelona: Ediciones Bellaterra.

2001, Edward Said (with Pal Ahluwalia), London: Routledge (Routledge Critical Thinkers)
_____(2002), Arabic Edition, Idward Said: mufaraqat al-hawiyyah. (trans. Tarjamat Suhayl Najm) Damas: Ninawi, 2002).
_____(2005), Korean Edition, Edward Said Seoul: Bestun Korea Agency
_____(2006), Japanese Edition, Edward Said Tokyo: Seidosha

2001, Edward Said and the Post-Colonial (with Hussein Khadim, eds.), New York: Nova

2001, Post-Colonial Transformation London: Routledge

2001, On Post-colonial Futures: Transformations of Colonial Culture London: Continuum

2002, The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures (with Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin), London Routledge. [Second Edition. Completely revised with an additional chapter and Updated Readers Guide.]
_____ (2006), Arabic Edition. Arab Organisation for Translation (Routledge)

2005, The Post-Colonial Studies Reader (with Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin), London: Routledge [Second Edition]

2007, Post-colonial Studies: the Key Concepts (with Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin), London: Routledge. [Second Edition]
_____ (2008), Japanese Edition, Tokyo: Tuttle-Mori (Routledge)

2008, Caliban’s Voice: the Transformation of English in Post-Colonial Literatures London: Routledge

2008, Edward Said (with Pal Ahluwalia), London: Routledge [Second Edition]

2009, Intimate Horizons: the Post-Colonial Sacred in Australian Literature (with Frances Devlin-Glass and Lyn McCredden), Adelaide: ATF Press

2011, Literature for Our Times: Postcolonial Studies in the Twenty-First Century(ed. with Ranjini Mendis, Julie McGonegal and Arun Mukherjee), Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi