‘Looking back, looking around, looking forward: ANU’s Department of International Relations at 75’

This introduction to the forum marking the 75th anniversary of the Department of International Relations (IR) at the Australian National University (ANU) is organised in three parts. First, it ‘looks back’ at the origins and evolution of the department, highlighting the opportunities and tensions that have arisen from the housing of the department within administrative units concerned with area studies, particularly the Asia-Pacific region. ‘Looking around’ at the department today, the paper notes the prevalence of work on issue-areas previously unexplored (such as gender, justice and security) or being re-explored (particularly diplomacy), as well as the close relationship between theory and practice that emerges from the department's base in Canberra at Australia's national university. Finally, the introduction ‘looks forward’, using themes developed in the papers that make up this forum around ethical silences and openings to examine the public responsibilities of scholars, both in ANU's Department of IR and further afield, around research, teaching and engagement.