Last year, we brought you the story of UNE Distinguished Alumni Award winner and 'baby expert' Professor Denis Burnham, who shared his experiences of studying on campus in the 1970s.
While completing his Honours degree, Denis and his then wife Joanne (who was doing a Bachelor of Arts degree) became parents to baby Lachlan (read on to see how the family line continues!)
Academically, 23-year-old Denis was grappling with theories of child development in psychology, and epistemology and the origins of knowledge in philosophy; so the first-hand experience was very timely. "I had bought a book on child development and asked Professor Paul Barratt, who was then the head of the Psychology department, what else I should do to prepare for our first baby," Denis says.
"Paul turned to me and said: 'Throw the book away and just be a parent'."
Denis was a resident of St Albert's College in 1971, and in 1972 Joanne joined him at UNE. Their son Lachlan was born in March 1973 and he became a "bit of a novelty" to mates at Albies and Mary White colleges and in the Albies AFL team. "They enjoyed minding Lachie on occasions, holding and clucking and doing a bit of ‘oochie coo’ talk - which I later found in my research studies helps infants’ language development," Denis says.
Nevertheless, it was quite a juggling act. "I would come out of a lecture and Joanne would hand Lachie over and she would go into a lecture," Denis says. "Everyone was young and growing up."
Oh baby, what a life-changer
Lachlan's birth had a profound influence, in more ways than one, Denis says. "His arrival, as well as my concurrent study, inspired me to specialise in investigating what babies see and hear and quickly make sense of the world around them."
The ‘BabyLab’ Denis went on to establish first at UNSW and then later at the ground-breaking MARCS Institute for Brain Behaviour and Development at Western Sydney University is now a world-leader, and Denis was the first in Australia to investigate the emerging area of infants’ speech perception and how it underpins language development. He is now one of our nation's foremost language development researchers.
"Right from Lachlan's birth, and even now with my grandchildren, I've been intrigued and amazed by what babies can do and learn," he says.
Memories of family's uni days
At a recent family reunion Joanne produced these images (top and right). One is taken outside the young family's Armidale home in Golgotha Street, where they planted a tree to mark Lachlan's birth. The other is of Lachlan catching up on a little light reading.
In those days, nearby Girraween was little more than a small shop and petrol station.
"I would take soft drink bottles to the shop, get the refund on them and then fill up my motor scooter with petrol," Denis remembers.
On a scholarship of $52/week with a family of three, one had to be thrifty.
Still, Denis says the spirit of collegiality and conviviality that the UNE staff engendered left an indelible mark on him. "Their acceptance of a fun element in learning and witty repartee, mixed in with serious academic pursuits, has sustained my continued love of academia, free speech, innovation, the pursuit of knowledge and questioning of the status quo," he says.
The BabyLab series of podcasts and various performances, like the MARCS Institute Couch Choir's online production of the Beatles' Here Comes the Sun during the COVID-19 lockdown last year (see You Tube), and the choreographed Moves Like Jagger tribute to Denis by his PhD students in 2014 (also on You Tube) reflect the importance of injecting a sense of fun into the serious matter of life.
"As I age, the more I heed the words of Dylan Thomas: 'Do not go gently into that dark night ... Rage, rage against the dying of the light.'"
Denis and Joanne went on to have three daughters after Armidale-born Lachlan, and now have 11 grandchildren. They still look back on their years as young parents at UNE in Armidale as some of the best of their lives.
