Agricultural Science at La Trobe University
1968–72
The First Agricultural Science Intake
Agricultural Science at La Trobe University entered its Jubilee Year just as the university concluded its overall Jubilee. As a brand new institution opening in 1967, the university was part of a wider vision that had driven 1960s Australia to cater for its future. It was about education, not jobs; intellectual understanding, not practical training. The vision was initially reified through the humanities and social sciences – the arts. There were also pure sciences – but even before the university opened it had been agreed to include one of the applied sciences, Agricultural Science. At the time this showed laudable foresight, for such courses were the nearest thing Australia had produced to a liberal-arts degree. The very statement seems incredible today, yet Agricultural Science was then the degree that included each of the pure, applied and social sciences – and it did this through an intensive course spread across four years. And for La Trobe University, it was to be a valued asset.
This page contains book detailing that early course, and the memoirs of the First Agricultural Science Intake (FASI) of students and the staff of the years 1968-72. This site has the full book for download.
