Fresh fields for Oldmeadow

Scholar to follow in the footsteps of world leaders.

But Ms Oldmeadow doesn’t think so. In September, she boards a plane for Oxford, as one of two Rhodes scholars chosen at ANU this year.

Part of the lure of spending more time in a place of learning is the luminaries who have preceded her. She is bound for University College, which was also home to two other Rhodes scholars, both renowned polymaths: Bill Clinton and Bob Hawke.

Ms Oldmeadow laughs off the suggestion she too is preparing for a career in the political spotlight.

“Better a world leader than perhaps some of the other records set by those two,” she says.
“I wouldn’t rule out going into politics, but I’m more interested in policy. I’m especially interested in non-government organisations, and the work done by lobby groups. I think there are a lot of institutions that influence politics and law that aren’t government-based. I think they’d be very interesting.”

This interest in the nebulous structures of power will occupy a large part of Ms Oldmeadow’s life over the next two years while she completes a Masters in Comparative Government. She is open to the idea of staying on for a PhD, too. This work will continue her thread of her inquiry into the area where politics, law and society overlap.

For her history honours thesis, Ms Oldmeadow studied women and the trade unions in Australia in the 1970s. She says the topic was initially dictated by circumstances, when coursework led her to the Noel Butlin Archive Centre in the Menzies Building, a repository of past trade union documentation.

“Once I started looking into it, I could see there was a wealth of information. My interest was spurred by a general resurgence in academic circles of an interest in sexual politics and labour movements around this time also. Both my theses, although they were in history and law, did have a fair bit of politics in them. So in a way I’ll be taking up the general themes at Oxford, if not the specific themes.

“It’s an area that seems to define society so much. As it doesn’t uniquely fit in one discipline, it is sometimes not explored fully. It’s an area that needs a lot of cross-disciplinary work. I think ANU really influenced me in thinking about that. Law was very positive about me using politics in my law thesis, and I was always encouraged to use my legal background in my arts work as well.”

Fittingly, Ms Oldmeadow is currently working for a firm of solicitors in Sydney as a specialist in employee relations. She is also frantically trying to recall details of Oxford after a visit to the city as a tourist several years ago.

“I’m now wishing I’d paid more attention to my surroundings. I was only there two days. So I’m desperately trying to picture where everything was, and trying to work out whether or not I need to get a bicycle.”

But her anticipation is not wholly nervous, however, thanks to three years at Burgmann College, including one year as President.

"Burgmann took a lot from the Oxford tradition of colleges. So the building may look a little different but I imagine that a lot of the spirit will be the same. That’s one of the things that appeals to me about going – that I’ve experienced the collegiate atmosphere and I really enjoy it.”

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