Professor Alexis Wright (L) and Professor Gregory McCarthy (R) from Australia are appointed as visiting professors of Inner Mongolia Normal University (IMNU) on March 19. [Photo/imnu.edu.cn]

Australian professors Alexis Wright and Gregory McCarthy were appointed as visiting professors of Inner Mongolia Normal University (IMNU) on March 19.

Alexis Wright is one of Australia's most prominent novelists best known for winning the Miles Franklin Award in 2007 for her novel Carpentaria. In 2014, her novel The Swan Book was nominated for a Stella Award.

Wright is now also a professor at the University of Melbourne.

Gregory McCarthy is a professor of political science at the University of Western Australia. He also teaches at Peking University. He has made regular appearances on CCTV, including in a debate broadcast by CCTV and SKY TV Australia on Australia-China relations.

The two academics delivered speeches after the appointment ceremony.

Officials from the Australian Embassy in Beijing and Li Yao, a visiting professor of IMNU also attended the event.

The event was part of Australian Writers Week, an annual literary festival organized by the Australian Embassy. It was aimed at enhancing exchanges and cooperation with scholars and institutes of Australia.

IMNU has strove to develop Australian studies over the past several years.

In 2015, it established the Australian Studies Center. The center was recognized by the Ministry of Education in 2017. It has focused on research on Australia since its establishment and has built long-term partnerships with universities in the country.

Australian Studies is also an important part of the work undertaken by the School of Foreign Languages at IMNU.