Dear Colleagues,

I would like to extend an invitation to you all to consider the HERDSA
2006 conference as part of your planning for next year.

The conference is scheduled for July 10 - 12 in Perth, Western
Australia. It will follow an Australian Universities Quality Forum
conference in the week before and will be preceded by day long colloquia
relating to research, teaching and learning and leadership in higher
education on the Sunday.

The theme for our 2006 conference is Critical Visions: Thinking,
Learning and Researching in Higher Education.  Higher education faces
many challenges as it moves toward many potential and possibly
conflicting futures. The 2006 HERDSA International Conference will
encourage wide ranging debate on the ways in which higher education may
stimulate and nurture thinking, learning and research. What have we
learnt from the past? What trends are emerging? How can we optimize
future higher education outcomes? Three major themes will be explored:

*	Critical Reflections on learning, thinking and research; how
they inform our current practice and what can be learnt from past
experience, successes and mistakes.
*	Critical Perspectives of the many different stakeholders who
experience, inform, guide and implement policy, theory and practice.
*	Critical Directions for international higher education to enable
its continued relevance and effectiveness.

The conference will encourage diverse perspectives on higher education,
exploring issues relating to leadership, university development,
research, teaching and critical thinking in higher education. Presenters
will be encouraged to engage with these issues using a range of
presentation options. Various forms of presentations are welcome,
including workshops, symposia and papers. Submissions are now invited
and may be lodged until January 30, 2006.

For further details or to submit a paper or proposal for consideration,
please visit our website: http://conference.herdsa.org.au/2006/

The last few conferences have been outstanding successes, and we hope
that you might consider making the trip to Perth to participate in an
event that is shaping up to be highly challenging and thought-provoking.
We would welcome your attendance and can promise a fruitful and highly
engaging experience.

With best wishes,

Professor Shelda Debowski
President, HERDSA and Convenor, 2006 HERDSA Conference
University of Western Australia
Stirling Highway
Crawley WA 6009
Phone: 61 8 64883845
Fax: 61 8 64881156
Email: [log in to unmask]