The US Studies Centre was pleased to sponsor the biennial scholarly conference of the Australia and New Zealand Association for American Studies (ANZASA) through its support of a keynote speaker and a roundtable discussion on Australian attitudes towards the US.

The Department of History at the University of Sydney hosted the conference 4 - 7 July 2008, which brought together 140 scholars from eight countries.

Amy Kaplan, Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, delivered the closing keynote paper, which explored the underlying meaning of homeland security as a new concept in the American lexicon.

The Centre's first national survey was the focus of a roundtable chaired by the US Studies Centre Chief Executive Officer, Professor Geoffrey Garrett. Panellists used the survey as a starting point to discuss Australian attitudes towards the United States as they experience them in their American Studies classroom. The roundtable panel provided a varied and interesting perspective ranging from the high school classroom to university level.