Chris Murray
Faculty of Arts
Learning beyond the classrooms – taking students to the National Gallery of Victoria
In Chris’ class, students get involved in writer events, exhibitions and visits to the gallery – in a class shaped by emerging research.
What are you doing differently in your field that you believe is driving real change?
In our classes we look beyond our discipline and beyond the academy. Studying literature takes us to workshops in the National Gallery of Victoria and to writer events at the Celtic Club. Next year my students will have the chance to become involved in an exhibition on self-cultivation traditions at the Matheson Library. They might not have imagined studying nineteenth-century literature would take them in that direction, but the curriculum follows emerging research. What’s different is that undergraduates study English-language literature not just as books or texts, but as part of bigger conversations that cross subjects, cultures and global perspectives
How do you help students build confidence, not just knowledge?
Nobody knows enough and we’re all curious about our subjects: I stress that’s what students have in common with academics. A true expert isn’t someone who knows, it’s someone interested in finding out. Learning equips us to learn further, to find out more. So one way to develop students’ confidence is to establish that we’re all in a comparable position in relation to texts, we’re all on a path to learn. My classes are in discussion format, with students thinking about texts together. In that setting it’s important to be able to say ‘I don’t know’ because, working together, you’ll be better able to find out.
What’s different is that undergraduates study English-language literature not just as books or texts, but as part of bigger conversations that cross subjects, cultures and global perspectives. ”
What do you hope your students remember about you 10 years from now?
They don’t all go off into the sunset – I run reading groups that are open to Monash alumni, so various former students do stay in touch. I hope they’ll understand that a love of literature has shaped my life – enough to move across the world several times – and that they, on their own journeys, take risks and make efforts to find the most fulfilling lives for themselves that they can. Plus, I hope they are still reading good books that challenge them and broaden their horizons.
What legacy or ripple effect do you hope to leave behind?
I’d like to think I’m too young to be thinking about legacy. I’m also changing things constantly, so my teaching responds to new directions in research, new events in the local community, or the latest scholarship on education. And who knows what tomorrow’s questions will be? So I tend to assume I haven’t reached, or won’t reach, a single, overall position or contribution.
What’s something about Monash that would surprise people?
The limitless potential. Don’t underestimate the capacity to choose your own adventure at Monash. I’m still finding new people, unexpectedly, with common interests, offering new ways to collaborate. It’s an immense community with endless opportunities to follow your passions - but you need to find those opportunities and, at times, not be shy about being the one to attempt bringing people together.
What would surprise your younger self most about what you do now?
The way diverse interests have fit together into a coherent teaching and research career which takes me to Asia as well as back to Ireland. Also, it involves fewer guitars than I would have expected.
How would you explain your role to someone who’s never met a university educator?
I'd use Socrates' analogy of the intellectual midwife who helps people bring their ideas out into the world - it's not easy, but it'll be worth it.