UQ academics recognised for contribution to humanities research

Two academic staff from UQ’s School of Languages and Cultures have been elected to the Australian Academy of the Humanities in recognition of their contributions to the humanities disciplines.

Head of the School of Languages and Cultures Professor Michael Haugh has been recognised for his research into linguistic pragmatics and Associate Professor Greg Hainge, has been recognised for his research into French Literature and cinema.

Professor Haugh is internationally known for expanding understanding of how politeness, respect and solidarity function in conversation.

He has made major contributions to the detailed study of interpersonal interaction, using a range of mediums, across a number of languages, to discover the ways in which pragmatic phenomena have their distinct local flavours, both across and within languages and cultures.

He said he felt very privileged to be one of the three linguists elected to the Australian Academy of Humanities this year and to have the opportunity to advocate research in pragmatics, both within the Academy and to the broader Australian public.

“What we say and how we say it counts more than ever as we continue to debate the limits not only of what can be said but also what goes beyond it in public life,” he said.

Dr Hainge is a specialist in French film studies with a special interest in experimental film.

His career started in literary studies, with a highly acclaimed study of the fiction of Louis-Ferdinand Céline that remains a key reference in its field.

His more recent work in the emerging field of sound and noise studies in the cinema, and his second book on this topic, has become a major reference in fields ranging from French cultural studies, to media studies, to musicology.

Dr Hainge said be elected to the Academy was incredibly humbling

“It’s also a really exciting opportunity to play a leadership role in this space in the future, both at UQ which is one of the most comprehensive universities in the country, as well as on a national stage,” he said.

“In a world which is only becoming more complex, the Humanities have never been more important to help us navigate our way through this complexity or learn how to live with it productively.”

UQ currently has 30 Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and 19 Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Media: Gillian Ievers: g.ievers@uq.edu.au / 07 3346 1634