The 40th anniversary of the Academy of Humanities in Australia provided reflection on the significance of the humanities in research, in intellectual debate, and in cultural life. How have research agendas altered over the last four decades, and how have the disciplines that address them changed? Are national frameworks any longer adequate for understanding social and cultural life and experience? Have we changed the way we answer leading research questions, or altered the ways we communicate with our various audiences? This volume collects some of the dynamic presentations from the 2009 sympo