The Herb Feith Foundation was established in 2003 to commemorate the life and work of Herb Feith (1930-2001), volunteer, scholar, teacher and peace activist.
- As a volunteer graduate in Indonesia in the early 1950s, Herb inspired the formation of the Volunteer Graduate Scheme that later broadened into what is now Australian Volunteers International.
- Herb was a distinguished scholar of Indonesian politics, and his 1962 book The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia remains the definitive study of Indonesia in the 1950s.
- Herb’s teaching on Indonesia, Third World politics and peace studies inspired generations of students in Australia and Indonesia. He taught at Monash University from 1962 until he retired in 1990. He then returned to Indonesia as a volunteer again to teach at the Gadjah Mada University Centre for Security and Peace Studies.
- Internationally known as a compassionate and intensely moral person, Herb championed important causes involving democracy, human rights and conflict resolution.
Set up by the Council of Monash University, the mission of the Foundation is to promote and support work of the kind to which Herb Feith devoted his life. It therefore aims to support the newly created Herb Feith Chair for the Study of Indonesia and other international educational activities in such fields as peace studies, human rights and conflict resolution. It also sponsors the Herb Feith Memorial Lectures.
Latest News
Filmmaker enriches two cultures Canberra Times, April 15, 2013 Ron Cerabona Australian National University graduate John Darling lived in Bali for many years and dedicated himself to improving Australian understanding of Indonesia. He died in 2011 and his widow Sara became the project manager of a fellowship, created with the support of the Herb Feith Foundation, to honour ... Read more
In a ceremony in Dhaka on 24 March 2013, Herb Feith was posthumously awarded the ‘Friends of Liberation War Honour’ by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, ‘as an expression of the respect and gratitude of the Bengalee nation for his unique contribution to the War of Liberation of the People’s Republic of Bangaldesh’. Herb’s ... Read more
In this, the first in the Herb Feith Foundation series of seminars on Indonesia for 2013, we will be screening John Darling’s 2003 film The Healing of Bali. Date: Wednesday 17 April 2013 Time: 6.00pm for 6.45pm Where: Theatre HB36, Monash University Caulfield Campus Light refreshments will be served. For catering purposes it is important that you RSVP to the ... Read more
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In Jakarta last week Monash University conferred an honorary degree on the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, His Excellency Professor Dr Boediono. The honorary Doctorate of Laws was conferred at an official ceremony at the Vice Presidential Palace in Jakarta, attended by almost 200 dignitaries including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesian ministers and the ... Read more
Herb Feith Foundation Board member, Tiong Djin Siauw was recently interviewed by Radio Australia’s Indonesia program on the topic of racism in Indonesia and the situation of ethnic Chinese Indonesians in particular. Read the transcript and listen to his interview here. Read more
Two young Indonesian film makers will travel to Australia in March this year as the inaugural recipients of the John Darling Fellowship. Supported by the Herb Feith Foundation, the fellowship was established in the memory of Australian documentary film maker John Darling to support the new generation of Indonesian documentary film makers. Dwi Sujanti Nugraheni, 36, from ... Read more
The Herb Feith Translation Series publishes high-quality non-fiction manuscripts not yet available in English, which enhance scholarship and teaching about Indonesia. Published by the Herb Feith Foundation in conjunction with Monash University Publishing the books will be available for ‘Open Access’ or free download. The Foundation provides funds for both the translation and to assist with ... Read more
David T Hill is Professor of Southeast Asian Studies in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, and Fellow of the Asia Research Centre, at Murdoch University, Western Australia. In addition, he is the Founder and Director of the Australian Consortium for In Country Indonesian Studies (ACICIS), an international consortium of 25 universities, hosted by Murdoch University, which assists Australian and other ... Read more
In October 2012 the Foundation awarded the inaugural Herb Feith PhD scholarship to Sunaryo, a highly respected academic in Indonesia who is a lecturer in Paramadina University and chair of a number of NGOs. Sunaryo is undertaking his doctorate at the Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Driyarkara (STFD) (Driyarkara School of Philosophy) (2012-2015). The supervisors of the PhD program are Franz ... Read more
The Kartomi PhD Scholarship supports the PhD candidature of young Indonesian ethnomusicologist/social scientists to research aspects of the music-cultures of Indonesia in the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music, Monash University. BACKGROUND Margaret Kartomi AM FAHA Dr Phil is Professor of Music at Monash University, a pre-eminent ethnomusicologist specialising on Indonesia and Southeast Asia, and the world ... Read more
Professor Greg Barton, ‘Islam, secularism and liberal democracy in Indonesia and the rise of extremism’, Tuesday, 16 October 2012, Building H, Monash University Caulfield campus View Professor Barton’s presentation Professor Barton also launched the new book, Jemma Purdey (editor), Knowing Indonesia: Intersections of Self, Discipline and Nation, Monash University Publishing, Clayton Vic., 2012. The first book in almost two decades to ... Read more
In this, the second of the Herb Feith Foundation series of seminars on Indonesia, we screened the 1994 film Below The Wind with an introductory talk about the film and its director John Darling by his widow Sara Darling. Many Australians know little about the large number of Indonesian fishing boats seized and destroyed by Australian quarantine and ... Read more
Wednesday 28 Mar 2012 Speakers: Angus McIntyre, Jemma Purdey, Djin Siauw Convener: Charles Coppel In this, the first in our series of seminars on Indonesia, the region and peace studies related themes, our three speakers discussed issues relating to the writing of biographies with special reference to Indonesia. Speakers considered themes and questions including how do you strike ... Read more
