Associate Professor Christopher Cordner retires from teaching this year after more than three decades in Philosophy at the University of Melbourne. During this time his contribution to his students and the wider philosophical community has been immense, and his work in moral philosophy has been globally recognised.  He will continue to be a valued part of the School of History and …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

An oral history project involving SHAPS Fellow Nikki Henningham is preserving the memories of the people who fished the Gippsland Lakes before commercial fishing was shutdown. This article, authored by Nikki and republished from Pursuit, explores the project. With little fanfare or attention, commercial fishing in the Gippsland Lakes in eastern Victoria ceased on 1 April 2020. The small-scale commercial fishery, which …

In January 2021, over 200 archaeologists of the Mediterranean came together online for the inaugural Mediterranean Archaeology Australasian Research Community (MAARC) conference. The digital conference, organised by Gijs Tol, Emily Simons, Madaline Harris-Schober, and Larissa Tittl (Classics & Archaeology) surpassed all expectations in numbers of participants and sheer diversity of papers. Emily and Maddi report on some of the conference …

In October 2020, SHAPS Fellow Fay Woodhouse released her new book, Gita: Melbourne's First Yoga School – 65 Years of History, exploring the different phases of Melbourne’s first full-time permanent yoga school, founded in 1954. Nicole Davis chatted to Fay about the book, the history of Gita Yoga, and its place in Melbourne’s and Australia’s yoga tradition, past and present. What …

Benito de Soto was a ruthless and violent pirate, but his story has been rewritten (and reimagined) over 200 years to create his modern rebel reputation. Dr Sarah Craze and Associate Professor Richard Pennell from SHAPS explore his story in this article, republished from Pursuit. You may have already heard of the pirate Benito de Soto without realising it. He features on …

In October 2020, Professor Peter McPhee delivered his final lecture for the undergraduate History subject The French Revolution, rounding off an astonishing fifty years of teaching this subject. To mark this occasion, SHAPS hosted an online celebration in honour of Peter’s outstanding career as an extraordinarily gifted, inspiring and dedicated teacher. Below you can watch the video tributes produced by Peter’s …

In November 2020, the Grimwade Centre – in partnership with Humanities 21 – hosted an online event showcasing Indigenous Collections at the University of Melbourne. The program featured a fascinating cross-section of stories about Indigenous artefacts and the people who create, collect and conserve them, as well as those who draw on them for their creative work. In this article, …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

Is the United States’ time in the sun as the world’s superpower coming to an end? While American exceptionalism reigns supreme, the Capitol Hill riots revealed a truth. Hansen Lecturer in Global History Dr Sarah Walsh explores the history of how American foreign policy has been imagined and mythologised in this article, republished from Pursuit. Were the past 80 years truly …

Professor Mike Arnold discusses his research on the intersections between death, technology and society, in this final episode of the SHAPS 2020 'Disaster and Change' podcast series, hosted by Dr Henry Reese.

In February 2021 Dr Richard Lee commenced his appointment as Lecturer in Chinese History in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies. He will be teaching Modern China in Global History (Semester One) and Cold War Cultures in Asia (Semester Two), as well as supervising Honours students. In this interview, Dr Lee responds to a set of questions posed by …

The staff of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies mourn the passing of long-time colleague and former School Manager Josie Winther, who passed away in January 2021. Josie dedicated over 40 years to the University, starting out in the Faculty in her late teens. Josie started off as an admin assistant in the Department of Philosophy. She moved through the …

Newly appointed Lecturer in Gender History, Dr Annabelle Baldwin, is a specialist in twentieth-century European and global history, with a particular interest in Holocaust studies, focusing on Jewish women's and girls’ experience of sexual violence during the Holocaust. Annabelle will be teaching two brand-new undergraduate subjects: the first-year subject Gender Rights and Leadership in History (HIST10017) (Semester 2), and the …

Donna Lyon is impressive. Not only is she a film producer and lecturer at the VCA film school, Donna is also finishing up her PhD on creating the VCA Digital Archive – a growing, online repository of over 1,800 student short films tracing back to the 1960s. This mammoth project required input from a range of departments across the University …

In 2018, current MA candidate in Classics John Henry created his own YouTube channel, Foxwede History, where he delivers mini-lectures on myth, literature and history through his alter ego, Dr Eldon Foxwede. Beautifully produced and presented with humour and creativity, his videos have drawn an audience from many different countries. We spoke with John about this project and how it …

Since 2016, an annual Hansen PhD scholarship in History has been awarded to support an outstanding researcher with a commitment to promoting History to the wider community. This year’s Hansen PhD scholar is Georgia Comte, who will be investigating gender and sexuality in late eighteenth- to early nineteenth-century French art. Georgia embarks on this project after a stellar performance in her …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

Dr Damon Young is an associate in Philosophy, and the author of several acclaimed nonfiction books, including Philosophy in the Garden (MUP 2012) and The Art of Reading (MUP 2016). His most recent book is On Getting Off: Sex and Philosophy (Scribe 2020) which looks more closely at this most intimate (but often disparaged) part of the human condition. We spoke …

In the third-year History capstone subject, students are encouraged to experiment with presenting historical research in creative formats. One student in the 2020 cohort, Isabel Hollingdale, an accomplished musician and singer-songwriter, wrote and recorded a song. In the latest of the Forum podcast series, Henry Reese spoke with Isabel about her work, which brings together music and history in a …

Making History is the capstone subject for our History majors — for many of our students this is their last academic unit of History. The subject gives students an opportunity to focus on History in the world as well as History in the academy. We always end the semester with a Closing Conference as an opportunity to celebrate and showcase …

A video-recording of the 2020 Greg Dening Memorial Lecture, delivered by Professor Bronwen Douglas.

In 2020, Gijs Tol (University of Melbourne) and Jeremy Armstrong (University of Auckland) led a new initiative aimed at bringing together Australasian archaeologists of the Mediterranean. The result is a new organisation, MAARC (Mediterranean Archaeologists of Australasia Research Community). MAARC is set to hold its inaugural annual meeting, hosted by the University of Melbourne (in virtual format) in January 2021. Larissa …

How does an urbane chemist become a Nazi, then go back to being a respected researcher? And what does it say about the extent of the humanity in all of us? Dr Oleg Beyda explores the story of Hans Beutelspacher in this article, originally published in Pursuit. In his diaries and letters, the World War II German General Gotthard Heinrici preserved …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

For the last 9 years, conservator and Grimwade Centre PhD candidate, Sophie Lewincamp, has been investigating how conservators can better engage with community knowledge in a productive and equal way. Combining extensive on-the-ground experience with academic research and critical reflection, Sophie has developed a new community engagement framework called the Tiered Contact Zones Model. In this interview with Samara Greenwood, …

An Italian-born princess and sole heir to the Sforza dukedom, the life of Bona Sforza helps us understand how elite Renaissance women acquired, maintained and negotiated power. In this article, republished from Pursuit, SHAPS Fellow Darius von Güttner-Sporzynski explores the life of Queen Bona and her legacy. Among the women of the European Renaissance, Bona Sforza is often stereotyped similarly to her …

Kevin Orrman-Rossiter is an unusual PhD candidate. Having completed a PhD in Physics early in his career, he is now immersed in a second PhD in History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) looking at the history of antimatter focusing on the positron, the antiparticle of the electron. In conversation with Samara Greenwood, Kevin describes what led him to this research …

Colonial Indonesia was hit especially hard by the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918–1919, with the highest death rate in Asia after India. History PhD candidate Ravando recently published a book (in Bahasa Indonesia) on this subject, drawing upon archives of the Dutch colonial Civil Medical Service and the contemporary Chinese-Indonesian press. In this blogpost, Ravando examines responses to the pandemic …

After completing her PhD in History in 2019, Molly Mckew was commissioned to write the history of the Preston-based Worco crafts co-operative, to mark the fortieth anniversary of its founding. The project offered Molly the opportunity to build on her knowledge of the history of Melbourne inner-urban lifestyle experiments of the 1960s–1970s, and to apply her research skills in a …

Grimwade Centre student Lia Sumichan worked in the University of Melbourne’s School of Chemistry Collection as part of the University’s Museums and Collections Projects Program. She told Isabella Walker how unique collection items and inspiring colleagues encouraged a newfound passion for chemistry.

Timothy Krulic is an Honours graduate from the University of Melbourne, having undertaken a combined degree in History and English and Theatre Studies. Since 2015, he has worked at Living Positive Victoria, where he is currently a Health Promotion Officer. Forum's Nicole Davis interviewed him recently about his current work and how his studies influenced his current trajectory. Tell us a …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

Melbourne Historical Journal (MHJ), our very own postgraduate History journal, launched its much-anticipated Volume 47 on 5 November 2020. Themed Narratives and Power, the 2019/2020 edition features a range of research articles, reviews, lectures, and interviews. Each asks different questions of ‘narratives and power’, exploring themes of justice, representation, heritage, memory and honour. This piece includes an edited version of …

Five History graduates from the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies have ended up working for New Zealand’s Waitangi Tribunal Unit at the Ministry of Justice. The Waitangi Tribunal is one of the key institutions engaged in protecting Māori rights under the 1840 Waitangi Treaty. At a time when the 'job-readiness' of Arts graduates has increasingly been called into question, …

Kathryn Smithies, Associate in History, recently published the book Introducing the Medieval Ass, on the cultural and socio-economic history of the donkey (previously known as the ass) in the Middle Ages and beyond. She also blogs about all things donkey at bloggingdonkeys.com. In this piece, she explores the history of the phrase “working like a donkey”, tracing the shift from animal …

How do you hold an international workshop at a time when travel between continents is at a standstill and countries all over the world are in lockdown? Greg Restall, Professor in Philosophy, explains how this worked at the recent international workshop on Applied Proof Theory.  

Grimwade Centre student Lisa Mansfield completed an internship at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). Working alongside some of the world's leading time-based media conservators, Lisa was immersed in the fascinating and rapidly-evolving world of media art conservation. Here she talks to Isabella Walker about what she learned and observed over the course of her internship, and how …

History PhD candidate Amy Hodgson was recently awarded a prestigious Yale Fox International Fellowship. This graduate exchange scheme supports students who are committed to harnessing scholarly knowledge to respond to urgent global challenges. The Fellowship will support Amy’s research into the history of Chile’s post-dictatorship truth commissions. For her project, Amy has carried out a series of oral history interviews …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

Associate in History Marama Whyte reflects on the acute crisis in the aged care sector that has been revealed so tragically by the pandemic.

The English historian Catharine Macaulay (1731–1791) was one of the leading radical thinkers of her time and, yet, she has been largely forgotten today. In this blog post, Karen Green, Honorary Professorial Fellow in Philosophy, and author of a number of works about Catharine Macaulay, makes the case for reintegrating her legacy into the history of feminism and democracy. In her …

Not long before lockdown began, a display case documenting episodes from the history of the University’s Philosophy program was mounted on Level Four of the North Wing of the Arts West building at our Parkville campus. Since it will be some time before we can return to campus physically, we’ve decided to bring this display online.   Some of the text below …

The History Society is a student-led club for people who are studying or interested in history.  Headed by a committee of passionate history buffs, our aims include promoting the study of history, providing a social network for fellow history buffs on campus and beyond, and running history-themed events such as trivia nights, film screenings, and study sessions. In this blogpost, …

For 20 years, Reverend Dr Stephen Ames has co-taught one of the most popular courses in the History and Philosophy Science program, God and the Natural Sciences (HPSC2002). In this subject, Stephen, who is both an Anglican Priest and HPS scholar, worked alongside atheist colleagues to show how religious and non-religious points of view can be debated in a respectful …

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Julia Hurst as Lecturer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History. Dr Hurst's appointment will open up new opportunities for our students to take subjects in Indigenous history. To welcome Dr Hurst and to introduce her research to the School community, we invited Dr Henry Reese to record an interview for …

In 1901 a new flag was chosen to represent a new nation, and the central emblem was a constellation of the southern sky. By this time, the symbolism of the Southern Cross had been entrenched; almost all previous Australian flag designs had included this device. The meanings of the Cross and the southern stars were, however, diverse and changing across …

The 2020 Ernest Scott Lecture was delivered by Professor Michelle Arrow (Macquarie University). In a rich and thought-provoking lecture, Professor Arrow explored the 1970s as the era when the ‘personal became political’. You can watch a recording of the lecture below; listen to an audio-recording via ABC Radio National; or read a transcript, published on Inside Story. Abstract In Australian history, the …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

In the wake of Super Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, National Museum of the Philippines conservators, heritage professionals, architects and anthropologists, have been working with parishioners and local craftspeople and artists to restore and conserve the historic church of La Inmaculada Concepción at Guiuan, in the province of Eastern Samar. The Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation joined the effort. …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

A video recording of Charlotte-Rose Millar's presentation to the Early Modern Circle seminar (March 2021).

In October 2020, Professor Peter McPhee delivered his final lecture for the undergraduate History subject The French Revolution, rounding off an astonishing fifty years of teaching this subject. To mark this occasion, SHAPS hosted an online celebration in honour of Peter’s outstanding career as an extraordinarily gifted, inspiring and dedicated teacher. Below you can watch the video tributes produced by Peter’s …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

A video recording of Charles Coppel's presentation to the SHAPS Fellows & Associates seminar (February 2021).

Professor Mike Arnold discusses his research on the intersections between death, technology and society, in this final episode of the SHAPS 2020 'Disaster and Change' podcast series, hosted by Dr Henry Reese.

Newly appointed Lecturer in Gender History, Dr Annabelle Baldwin, is a specialist in twentieth-century European and global history, with a particular interest in Holocaust studies, focusing on Jewish women's and girls’ experience of sexual violence during the Holocaust. Annabelle will be teaching two brand-new undergraduate subjects: the first-year subject Gender Rights and Leadership in History (HIST10017) (Semester 2), and the …

In 2018, current MA candidate in Classics John Henry created his own YouTube channel, Foxwede History, where he delivers mini-lectures on myth, literature and history through his alter ego, Dr Eldon Foxwede. Beautifully produced and presented with humour and creativity, his videos have drawn an audience from many different countries. We spoke with John about this project and how it …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

In the third-year History capstone subject, students are encouraged to experiment with presenting historical research in creative formats. One student in the 2020 cohort, Isabel Hollingdale, an accomplished musician and singer-songwriter, wrote and recorded a song. In the latest of the Forum podcast series, Henry Reese spoke with Isabel about her work, which brings together music and history in a …

Making History is the capstone subject for our History majors — for many of our students this is their last academic unit of History. The subject gives students an opportunity to focus on History in the world as well as History in the academy. We always end the semester with a Closing Conference as an opportunity to celebrate and showcase …

A video-recording of the 2020 Greg Dening Memorial Lecture, delivered by Professor Bronwen Douglas.

As part of the Honours subject The Writing of Australian History (HIST90023), students have the unique opportunity to meet with distinguished historian Professor Emeritus Stuart Macintyre and to engage him in conversation about his work and about Australian historiography more broadly. We share below a video-recording and transcript of one of these sessions, from April 2019. The discussion is wide-ranging, …

During World War II, Imperial Japan relied on hundreds of thousands of Koreans for its economy. Authorities transported almost 800,000 Koreans from their homeland by force from 1939 to 1945 in the largest migration of non-Japanese into Japan in the country’s history. SHAPS Associate in History Dr David Palmer presented his research on this topic to the SHAPS Fellows & …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

Bona (1494–1557) was the Sforza heir to the throne of Milan and became the Queen of Poland. She was a key figure in the politics and economic life of early modern Europe, an economic innovator and reformer, art and architectural patron. Significant extant source base about Bona's activities allows for investigation into, and interpretation of, her actions as an agent …

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Julia Hurst as Lecturer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History. Dr Hurst's appointment will open up new opportunities for our students to take subjects in Indigenous history. To welcome Dr Hurst and to introduce her research to the School community, we invited Dr Henry Reese to record an interview for …

In 1901 a new flag was chosen to represent a new nation, and the central emblem was a constellation of the southern sky. By this time, the symbolism of the Southern Cross had been entrenched; almost all previous Australian flag designs had included this device. The meanings of the Cross and the southern stars were, however, diverse and changing across …

The 2020 Ernest Scott Lecture was delivered by Professor Michelle Arrow (Macquarie University). In a rich and thought-provoking lecture, Professor Arrow explored the 1970s as the era when the ‘personal became political’. You can watch a recording of the lecture below; listen to an audio-recording via ABC Radio National; or read a transcript, published on Inside Story. Abstract In Australian history, the …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

Sandglasses were part of the variegated ecology of time measurement in the premodern world. This was a world attentive to time, where knowledge of the temporal rhythms of the environment reached from the movements of the stars to the fall of granules of lead. Among human-made instruments for time measurement, the sandglass was one of the most useful and accurate. …

A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

Famed as the home of the dreaded Barbary pirates, the 'scourge of Christendom', for many early modern Europeans and Britons, the Maghreb was a distant and terrifying place. Some, however, saw the corsairing states as legitimate military rivals, potential trading partners or allies, and even attractive places for migration and personal advancement. Recently, History PhD student Nat Cutter presented for …

By 1700 tailors no longer dominated England’s garment marketplace, as stay-makers, mantua-makers and seamstresses began to produce key items of female dress previously made by tailors. The demise of the tailoring monopoly was a complex process that involved many factors. On 3 September, our McKenzie Fellow, Sarah Bendall, presented the weekly Brown Bag talk, which examined one overlooked aspect of this …

Recently, HPS Alumna Dr Zoë Loh featured on the ABC documentary Fight for Planet A in relation to her role as a senior research scientist at CSIRO. In this interview, Zoë spoke with Samara Greenwood about her love for History and Philosophy of Science and how it has contributed not only to her career, but to building the skills needed …

We are social creatures and the current lockdown isolation is hard on all of us – whether extrovert or introvert. So we thought you might enjoy meeting some of our wonderful students. Philosophy is currently one of the fastest growing majors in the Arts Faculty. These self-made mini videos will give you a glimpse of why this is so, and …

Francis Xavier Gsell is famous for his work among the Tiwi people, from whom he purchased the marriage rights to young women as part of a broad evangelisation strategy. A mythic figure in popular histories of the Northern Territory, Gsell is often remembered as the apocryphal ‘Bishop with 150 Wives’. But Gsell’s complex legacy has rarely received thorough academic scrutiny. …

During the sixteenth century the bodies of Europe's elites began to change in size and form as men and women adopted wide starched ruffs and collars, ballooning sleeves, stiffened or bombast upper garments and puffy lower garments. Such a structured silhouette set the tone for centuries of fashion and was the result of changing artistic aesthetics. The refinement of tailoring …

A monthly round-up of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

In June 2020, Dr Sarah Walsh joined the History Program as our new Hansen Lecturer in Global History. In this new podcast, in conversation with History PhD candidate Amy Hodgson, Dr Walsh discusses her research, and her approach to teaching. The interview traverses a wide range of topics, including the challenges posed by online teaching, especially when it comes to …

A monthly round-up of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.

Societies have always used statues and other monuments as ways of recognising power and eminence. In Australia, as in many other places, there is currently public debate over whether some statues should be removed, who should make the decision, and what should be the fate of the statues themselves. Should they be displayed with explanatory plaques, taken away to be …

Each year in the third week of May, Australia celebrates National Archaeology Week. This year, our postgraduate community took a leading role in taking National Archaeology Week online, coming up with creative ways of promoting archaeology in a time of pandemic-related disruption. Larissa Tittl gives us a run-down on the week’s events and activities. National Archaeology Week seeks to increase …

The catastrophic defeat Hannibal inflicted on Rome at Cannae in 216 BCE forced the Republic to drastically change how it would fight the Second Punic War. A strategy of direct military confrontation had to be abandoned in favour of a war of attrition. This strategic shift necessitated a series of additional changes in how Rome mobilised, led, and supported its …

This month's digest of SHAPS research in the media offers a rich selection across a range of topics and genres, from podcasts on Bronze Age pandemics, and on the relationship between logic and belief; online conversations about the ethics of conducting sustainable research, and about cinematic representations of Stalinism; radio interviews on new books in Australian political history; and through …

Sean Scalmer, Professor of History in SHAPS, has just published a new book on the nineteenth-century Australian political figure, Premier of Victoria, Graham Berry. Democratic Adventurer: Graham Berry and the Making of Australian Politics tells the story of Berry's 'remarkable rise from linen-draper and grocer to adored popular leader', and his role in shaping Australian democracy. History PhD candidate Jimmy …

This episode of our podcast, Disaster & Change, is intended to help us think through our current situation during the global coronavirus pandemic. The focus is on understanding the phenomenon of change or, more specifically, how we understand the causes of change. This is a philosophical discussion, although it has been prepared in a way that presumes its listeners, namely …

Does an unplanned and large-scale calamity – a war, say, or a global economic crisis – lead to lasting social, cultural, and political change? This podcast explores this question with regard to the Soviet Union and World War II. The calamity of the war had a devastating impact on Soviet society, on the Soviet economy, and on the Soviet population. …

The need for expert knowledge and analysis has been brought into sharp relief as we struggle to understand and respond to the COVID-19 emergency. In this digest, we bring together samples of commentary produced by SHAPS staff and students, and media coverage of our research, in recent months.  Melbourne History Workshop's (led by Professor Andrew May) Journal of the Plague Year: …

We are excited to announce the launch of the SHAPS Podcast Series, with this inaugural episode, presented by Professor Janet McCalman, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor in the Melbourne School of Population Health, and introduced by Professor Margaret Cameron, Head of SHAPS. Since 2015, our annual themed public lecture series has been a flagship event on the SHAPS calendar. This year, in …

Emeritus Professor Greg Dening (1931–2008) occupies an important place in the history of the History program at the University of Melbourne. As Tom Griffiths put it: "Greg was not only a wonderful historian but also a gifted teacher, and he believed that immersion scholarship could be transformative — of oneself, and also of the world ... In his hands, history …

A lecture delivered by Brian Nosek as part of the 2019 SHAPS 'Walls' Public Lecture Series, on 4 April 2019. Publish or perish – a scientific career is based on getting published in peer reviewed academic journals. But this pressure increases the risk for scientists to employ flexible analytic and selective reporting practices. The Open Science movement calls for transparency of …

Reunion (2018) is a short animation by VCA Animation students Jackson Cook and Jenn Tran, in collaboration with History PhD candidate Anh Nguyen.

The 2017 Kathleen Fitzpatrick History Lecture, delivered by Professor Lynn Abrams (University of Glasgow). Life story telling has become a central plank of our confessional age as well as a key methodology of modern histories whether via the written autobiography, the oral history, or the self telling made possible by new forms of media. In the last 20 years there has …

A lecture delivered by cultural historian Marguerite Johnson (University of Newcastle) for the 2017 SHAPS 'Love' Public Lecture Series. It was a well-kept secret among historians during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that the practice of magic was widespread in the ancient Mediterranean. Historians wanted to keep the activity secret because it did not support the idealised view of …

The Ancient World Seminar Series, hosted by the Classics & Archaeology Program, is aimed at a broad audience, from academics to students to members of the public. The seminars are not highly technical, and everyone is welcome to attend. Speakers are asked to present on any topic having to do with the ancient world, so the topics in each semester's …

The History Brown Bag Seminar Series is the main forum to inform and be updated about new and cutting-edge research in our area. Running in both semesters on Thursdays from 1 to 2pm, this seminar is one of the main academic events in which SHAPS History staff, postgraduates, fellows and associates gather. It is also open to external participants and …

The History and Philosophy of Science program runs a weekly seminar series at 1pm Wednesdays during semester. All are welcome to attend. The seminars feature talks on the full range of the discipline, including historical studies, philosophical insights, social and cultural analyses of science, and metaresearch into scientific practices. Presenters include local, interstate and international scholars ranging from postgraduate students to …

The Philosophy Thursday Seminar Series features presentations by SHAPS Philosophy staff and collaborators in Melbourne, and from across Australia and the world. The range of issues covered in the seminar — from formal epistemology to the history of philosophy — reflects the variety of work done in the School. Enquiries about subscribing to the mailing list and for seminar details …

The Early Modern Circle is an informal, interdisciplinary seminar group open to interested students, academics and researchers. Seminars are presented by scholars, both established and emerging, national and international, working in the field of Early Modern Studies broadly conceived, whether in History, Art History, Literature, Music, and so on. Its activities are linked to the Early Modern Studies Research Hub …

Melbourne Eurasianist Seminar Series (MESS) is an interdisciplinary seminar series and research network for scholars working in Soviet/post-Soviet/Slavic studies, convened by Professor Mark Edele and Dr Julie Fedor. MESS meets roughly once a month during semester time. For more information or to be added to our mailing list, email  Dr Oleg Beyda. You can also find out more on our website or Facebook …

The Melbourne Logic Seminar meets on Zoom on scheduled days from 11am to 1pm as of March 2020. It’s an active research seminar in logic and related fields, with active participants from universities across Melbourne. The seminar is currently convened by Dr Shawn Standefer. Information about the talks, including the zoom meeting room URL, is sent around on the mailing list several …

The Classics and Archaeology Postgraduate Society is a social and academic hub for postgraduate students studying everything from Near Eastern prehistoric archaeology to the army of the late Roman Empire. Postgraduate research is inherently solitary, so the Society attempts to break the idea that a postgraduate must be a lone student in a library carrel obscured by piles of monographs …

Melbourne University Classics & Archaeology Students Society (MUCLASS) is a club for anyone interested in ancient history, mythology, archaeology or the Classics. We run a broad range of social and academic events, including trivia nights, museum visits, board game sessions, and film screenings. Our committee structure is based on the ancient Roman cursus honourum, or ‘path of offices’ in which ambitious …

Student Conservators at Melbourne (SC@M) is the student group for the Master of Cultural Materials Conservation program at the Grimwade Centre, University of Melbourne. Our members are national and international student conservators and alumni from a variety of backgrounds including the Arts, Humanities and Sciences. We act as a liaison between students and the academic faculty and organise workshops, excursions and …

Konservaction is an Indonesian/Australian alliance focusing on the conservation of Indonesian heritage. Established in 2017 by students from the Master of Cultural Materials Conservation program at The University of Melbourne, the initiative provides an international platform for skills development in project management, workshop delivery, and cross-cultural teaching. Our first project – launched in response to the 2017 Mt Agung volcano activity …

Led by a committee elected annually in June by the History postgraduate cohort, the History Postgraduate Association (HPA) is committed to improving the experience of History students. We build solidarity and cohesion through events and activities, represent the voice of History postgraduate students, and provide avenues of communication between History students and our colleagues in SHAPS, the Faculty of Arts, and the Graduate Student Association. Every semester the HPA convenes a seminar series, as well as organising the Snifters dinner, and …

Since its establishment in 2017, the History Society has been tirelessly dedicated to upholding its central mission of promoting the study of history at the University of Melbourne, and creating an inclusive and welcoming community for students who have an interest in history. To this end, we run a number of educational and social events. From Indigenous heritage walks to …

The Philosophy Postgraduate Group (PPG) is a student society dedicated to the promotion of philosophy at the postgraduate level at the University of Melbourne. The main function of the PPG is to administer the Tuesday afternoon colloquium series – a forum where students can get feedback on their work, enhance their professional development and contribute to a sense of community …

The Melbourne University Philosophy Society (MUPS) is a student society focused on promoting and building the philosophy community at the University. We run weekly events that are open to all year levels with the aim of providing a safe and encouraging environment for people to discuss and debate the great philosophical questions. We are always accepting ideas for event topics; …

MAP Melb Uni is a chapter of the international organisation Minorities and Philosophy, which aims to examine and address issues of minority participation in academic philosophy. MAP’s role is to foster a sense of community and solidarity between students and staff who come from minority backgrounds. To do so, we host events such as reading groups, lectures and work-in-progress series, which …

The SHAPS Fellows & Associates Group was formed in 2005, when a group of retired academics, historians, classicists and archaeologists met monthly to discuss their current research. Fellows and Associates have not retired from their work. We all continue to publish books, chapters of books, journal articles, book reviews and entries in the Australian and international dictionaries of biography as …

Historical research is published across the globe in a number of languages other than English, and one must be able to read these works. Postgraduate students take different approaches to these languages, often taking classes offered by the University or seeking outside private instruction. But some likeminded students decided that coming together to read works in different languages and offer …

An informal group that meets on Wednesdays at 5:15pm in a friendly and supportive environment to read medieval (Byzantine) Greek texts. Anyone with any knowledge of Greek is welcome. Currently we are working on producing the first ever translation of the late eleventh-century Greek Chronicle of Kedrenos which 'covers' (perhaps the wrong word) the period from Creation to 811 CE …

Emporium is a research hub based at the University of Melbourne, dedicated to the long and rich histories of consumption, production, and consumer practices across time and space. It is premised on the understanding that all economic activity is culturally embedded. The hub is focused around four core research areas: Luxury, Advertising, Food, and Textiles. All are interrelated, but each also has …

Emporium is a research network by and for postgraduates in the field of Roman studies, led by Ash Finn and Giovanni Piccolo at University of Melbourne. Our primary aim is to create a safe and friendly space to bring together postgraduates around Australasia who want to share their research with one another in a way they might not have been …

Melbourne History Workshop is a studio-based research collaboratory in the History Program at the University of Melbourne under the direction of Professor Andrew May. It taps the pooled expertise of staff, research higher degree students and affiliates in order to provide innovative and rigorously-applied historical research, postgraduate training, industry collaboration and community-facing projects. The Workshop’s focus is the exciting synergy …

This summer (2020–2021), we are offering a special series of free workshops for students who have studied some Russian and would like to improve their skills in reading and interpreting Russian texts. The workshops are tailored for those with an interest in going on to pursue research on Russian history, at the undergraduate or postgraduate level; but non-historians are also …

The AICCM Bulletin encourages the submission of original and quality papers, including research reports, discussion papers, literature surveys, thematic bibliographies, summaries of research papers and dissertations. The AICCM Bulletin is a hard copy and online peer reviewed journal produced by the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Materials (AICCM) since 1975 and is now published by Taylor & Francis Publishing. The journal …

Amphora is an independent, open-access peer-reviewed journal that welcomes contributions from researchers working in a diverse range of fields including Classical Studies, Ancient History, Reception Studies, Digital Humanities, Egyptology, and Archaeology. The journal is run by a voluntary Editorial Collective of postgraduate students and early career researchers with members from across Australia and New Zealand. For further information about the journal, …

The Classics & Archaeology discipline within SHAPS has a unique resource for its researchers: our Classics & Archaeology Library. Housed mainly in Arts West 511 West Wing (the Classics Reading Room), the Library is a boutique non-lending research library for academic staff, honorary fellows, postgraduates, Honours students, and academic visitors. The C&A Library collection began in the 1970s as a combination …

Ancient Near Eastern Studies (formerly Abr-Nahrain) is a refereed journal with original articles devoted to the languages and cultures of the ancient Near East. The geographical area on which it primarily focuses includes the modern lands of Egypt, Israel, West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Sheikhdoms. Manuscripts on related languages …

Australian Historical Studies is the oldest historical journal in Australia. It was first published in 1940 in the Department of History at the University of Melbourne. The journal deals with all aspects of the Australian past in all its forms – heritage and conservation, archaeology, visual display in museums and galleries, oral history, family history and histories of place. A …

Chariot is an undergraduate history journal at the University of Melbourne, created by and for students. The journal provides a space for students to engage with history in their own way, publishing online and in print. Online submissions are always open. We consider essays, commentaries, reviews, and creative pieces (including short fiction, poetry and visual art) written by undergraduate students of the …

Iris is the journal of the Classical Association of Victoria (CAV). Founded in 1912, the CAV operates for the propagation and wellbeing of Classics and Ancient World Studies in the state of Victoria in Australia. The new series of the journal was founded in 1988. The current journal Editor is Dr Andrew J. Turner, Honorary Fellow in SHAPS. The Honorary …

Published since 1977 the Journal of the Institute of Conservation is the peer reviewed publication of the UK's Institute of Conservation (ICON) and is edited by Dr Jonathan Kemp, Grimwade Centre Associate Lecturer. The aims of the Journal are to: promote research, knowledge and understanding of cultural heritage conservation through its history, practice and theory; provide an international forum to enable …

The Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society (JSPPS) is a bi-annual interdisciplinary journal that was launched in 2015 as a companion journal to the Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society book series (founded 2004 and edited by Andreas Umland). Like the book series, the journal provides an interdisciplinary forum for new original research on the Soviet and post-Soviet world. All …

Published since 1961, the Melbourne Historical Journal (MHJ) is a refereed journal that aims to promote and publish new work by postgraduate and early career researchers. MHJ is usually published once a year. We also publish the occasional MHJ Research Series. The 2019 theme, Narratives and Power, was chosen to turn attention towards the ethical and social impact of historical practice, …

The Melbourne Journal of Technical Studies in Art is an essential tool for conservators, curators, art dealers and art historians. The journal is a unique reference in Australia, publishing valuable first generation research in technical and conservation studies in Australia. It provides access to important research being carried out in conservation, art history and the scientific analysis of artworks. The Melbourne …

Meraki – pronounced /mera-key/ (/meɹəki/) – is a Greek word denoting the soul and passion that you put into what you love. We provide an accessible, independent, online platform for creators to produce and collaborate on academic, non-academic and creative literary writing. Our content is wide-ranging, exploring commentaries on language, film, culture, politics, ethics, epistemology, and much more. We are …

Grimwade Conservation Services specialises in all areas of art restoration and museum standard conservation to institutions and private clients. Programs include: conservation treatments and restoration of all types of materials; collection surveys; conservation strategy plans; disaster preparedness plans; research; and technical analysis. Our client base includes: national, state, regional and rural public collection and cultural organisations; amateur collecting societies and museums; …

Since its founding in 1962 by Max Charlesworth and Graeme De Graaff in the then Department of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne, Sophia has provided a forum for discussions in philosophy and religion, focusing on the interstices between metaphysics and critical theological thinking. The discussions encompass the wider ambience of the sciences ('natural' philosophy and human/social sciences), ethical and …

Kate Davison, 'Sex, Psychiatry and the Cold War: A Transnational History of Homosexual Aversion Therapy, 1948–1981' (PhD in History, 2020) Aversion therapy was a method of ‘treatment’ for sexual ‘deviation’ adopted by some psychiatrists and psychologists in the decades following the Second World War. There were several variations of the procedure, but most involved subjecting a patient to nausea or electric …

Spiridoula Demetriou, 'Imagining Modern Greece: Mesologgi, Philhellenism and Art in the 19th century' (PhD in History, 2020) Renowned as the site of Byron’s death, and the centre of war operations in western mainland Greece during the Greek War of Independence [1821–1832], Mesologgi duly became a focus of Philhellene propaganda in the revolt against Ottoman rule. Yet it can be argued that …

Fergus Dale Prien, 'A Reliabilist Strategy for Solving the Problem of Induction' (MA in Philosophy, 2020) In this thesis I develop a two-stage strategy in which a simple reliabilist theory of knowledge and justification can be employed so as to solve David Hume’s famous ‘problem of induction’. In so doing, the key arguments I make include: (i) that justification possesses an externalist character …

Lian Zhou, 'De Se Communication: Language, Thought and Co-aboutness' (PhD in Philosophy, 2020) This dissertation is about the co-aboutness problem of de se communication. An essential requirement of successful communication is that participants of communication must talk about the same subject matter. I call this requirement the co-aboutness condition of communication. According to the traditional picture of communication, the co-aboutness condition …

In 2020, we will be sharing a series of podcasts and texts reflecting on the ongoing planetary crisis that we are all living through. How can the humanities help us to understand what is happening, to generate responses, and to imagine new approaches and solutions to the unprecedented challenges that face us in the days ahead? We invite you to think …

The 2019 SHAPS theme is "Walls" — walls we build to exclude and contain the Other, to control the movement of people, bodies, information, capital, ideas. Speakers will approach the theme from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, we look at the historical rise and fall of walls; we examine …

In 2018 speakers included David Christian (Macquarie), Philip Pettit (ANU/Princeton), Harry Collins (Cardiff), and Greg Restall, Robyn Sloggett and Frederik Vervaet (SHAPS), who delivered public lectures on the subject of Truth. Professor David Christian Big History & Truth: Knowledge as Mapping (co-hosted with the History Council of Victoria, this was also the 2018 Kathleen Fitzpatrick lecture) (19 April) Professor Philip Pettit Truth, …

The theme for the 2017 SHAPS Public Lecture Series was “Love”. This was part of a broader series of events on this theme, in particular, the ARC Centre for the History of Emotions’ flagship collaborative exhibition, Love: Art of Emotion 1400-1820 at the National Gallery Victoria Each of the School’s five disciplines presented a lecture in the series, approaching the theme of love from a range of …

Who am I? What does it mean to be human? Where do I belong? These have always been central and urgent questions for the humanities. The 2016 SHAPS flagship public lecture series explored such questions under the broad theme of “Identities”. The concept of identity, both individual and collective, is fraught with complexity. There has always existed a multiform universe …

Selected content from the 2015 SHAPS public lecture series on 'Conflict': Dr David M. Pritchard (University of Queensland), War and Military Spending in the Ancient Athenian Democracy Professor Guoqi Xu (University of Hong Kong), The First World War and China’s Great Awakening Rodric Braithwaite (British ambassador to the USSR under Gorbachev and award-winning writer and historian), Managing Putin Image: riots-14, 2012. Photograph © Thanasis …

Nicole Davis is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne and a member of the Melbourne History Workshop based at the university. Her thesis examines the social history of the shopping arcade in nineteenth-century Australia from a transnational perspective. She works on diverse research projects about the history of the Australian city, which have included the My Marvellous Melbourne …

Becky Clifton completed her PhD in Classics and Archaeology at the University of Melbourne in 2019. Her research centred diverse expressions of identity in the art and literature of the Amarna Period in Egypt and she has a particular interest in how modern Western cultural expectations surrounding gender and sexuality impact the histories we write of non-conforming figures in the …

Hailing from Lancaster, UK, Ash Finn completed both a BA and an MA in Manchester before relocating to Melbourne to start a PhD in 2019. Approaching legal history through social history, Ash's thesis examines Roman social attitudes towards violence and revenge, and how these influenced the development of the penal system: arenas, lions, beatings and burnings. Ash was awarded the …

Samara Greenwood is currently completing a Graduate Diploma in History and Philosophy of Science.  What began as a side-interest alongside her other life as an architect has turned into a strong passion. In particular, Samara enjoys the interdisciplinary focus of HPS and how it encourages integrating historical, philosophical and sociological approaches to scholarship. Her current interest is in scientific practice …

Elena Heran is a PhD Candidate in Classics & Archaeology. Her thesis centres around the treatment of male and female characters in Ovid's Metamorphoses, examining the ways in which the poet's fascination with Roman male anxieties, such as fatherhood, desire, reputation, and the transition from boy to man, leads to the oversimplification and marginalisation of the poem's female characters. She …

Nayree’s research concerns twentieth-century Middle Eastern and US diplomatic history. Post-war Lebanon is also a subject of interest, especially memory and reconciliation practices that have occurred since the end of the country’s second civil war (1975–1990). Nayree’s MA focused specifically on apologies given for civil war atrocities in Lebanon and she has published issues concerning this topic in the ANU …

Jennifer is an MA candidate in History at the University of Melbourne. Her thesis research focuses on the identity, social status and activities of pizzochere (lay religious women) in sixteenth-century Venice. Her previous research on the relic cult of Saint Catherine of Siena in fifteenth-century Venice has been published in Renaissance Studies. She is a current ACIS-Save Venice Research Fellow (2019), and is also …

Henry Reese is a historian and musician based in Melbourne. He completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2019. He is currently writing the first cultural history of sound recording in Australia and working as a tutor and research assistant at various universities. Henry produces and mixes the audio, and writes the original soundtrack music, for Forum's 'Disaster …

Jonathan is a PhD student in History, researching the role of militarised student organisations in the development of post-independence Indonesia. He is interested in histories of student activism and the role of youth in national development, within both militarised and non-militarised settings. Jonathan is also a current member of the Melbourne Historical Journal collective.

Larissa Tittl is a PhD candidate in the Classics and Archaeology Program. Her research focuses on human-landscape interactions in Late Bronze Age Crete. In particular, she is examining how votive objects deposited in caves were used as agents of manipulation and negotiation within an animistic world in which human and non-human entities engaged with and related to one another. Larissa …

Carley Tonoli is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, based in the Philosophy Program. Her research focuses on the ethics of emerging technologies, and her current work looking at emerging military technologies, their ethical implications, and potential consequences for humanity and the future of war. Carley's research is informed by her previous work and studies in the …

Jiyuan (Luke) Yin is a PhD candidate in History. His doctoral research concentrates on the urban history of treaty ports and everyday life in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century China, specifically in relation to social and cultural interactions between foreigners and Chinese. Luke is interested in historical topics around gender and sex, global immigration and travelling. Luke is a member …

Sam Watts is a PhD Candidate in History, researching Black American daily life in the post-Emancipation Deep South. His research details the experiences and achievements of formerly enslaved and free Black Americans during Reconstruction and examines the connections between freedom, mobility, citizenship and urban space. Sam writes occasionally for the Australian Book Review and co-founded ANZASA Online, an American studies …

Paul Coleman is studying a Masters of Cultural Materials Conservation at the Grimwade Centre. He is currently writing a thesis on documentation methodologies and pre-acquisition strategies for the preservation of interactive digital-based artworks. He completed a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Adelaide before completing his honours year in English …

Anton is a PhD student in History, with his thesis research examining Australian remembrance of the Second World War in the 1940s and 1950s. Currently co-President of the History Postgraduate Association (2019/2020) and a former editor of Melbourne Historical Journal, Anton is passionate about fostering collegiality and creating a mutually supportive environment.

Georgia Garvey-Hawke is an emerging historian and conservator, currently completing a Master of Cultural Materials Conservation at the Grimwade Centre. In 2016 she earned a BH-Arts Degree with First-Class Honours, with a double major in History and English and Theatre Studies, at the University of Melbourne. The remarkable tale of survival of the John Henry Austral vinyl records, which Georgia …

Ashley Hayes is an artist and emerging conservator. She is currently completing a Master of Cultural Materials Conservation at the Grimwade Centre. Her minor thesis is exploring the post-acquisition strategies for performance artworks within Australian art institutions. She completed a Bachelor of Visual Art specialising in sculpture and installation in 2015, receiving First-Class Honours, at the University of South Australia.

Argyris (Ross) Karavis is a Doctoral candidate in History at the University of Melbourne researching the impact of French gastronomic taste on Australian food culture between 1850 and 1914. He has previously undertaken research on the 1901 Federation Dinners and on the emergence of yum cha in Australia in the 1990s as part of the Master of Arts in Food …

Fallon Mody is a PhD candidate in the History and Philosophy of Science Program, researching European medical migrants in twentieth-century Australia. Her research has been published in international academic journals, including Women's History Review and Social History of Medicine. Fallon also works as a research assistant for the Centre for Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis in an interdisciplinary team of scientists, …

Dang Nguyen is a second-year PhD candidate in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies (SHAPS) at the University of Melbourne. She is working under the supervision of Associate Professor Michael Arnold (SHAPS) and Associate Professor Richard Chenhall (MSPGH). Her PhD project investigates the performance of non-biomedical knowledge on the internet. The aim is to understand how digital technologies influence the propagation of knowledge …

Sofie Onorato is a PhD candidate in History at the University of Melbourne. Her thesis examines the nineteenth-century English newspaper and its development, specifically in relation to the Franco-Prussian War. She is interested in how technology, politics, genre and commercial considerations create intersections between media and society. Currently, Sofie is a member of the editorial team for the Melbourne Historical …

Isabella Walker is an emerging paintings conservator currently completing a Master of Cultural Materials Conservation at the Grimwade Centre. In 2015 she completed a Bachelor of Arts with First-Class Honours at the University of Melbourne, majoring in English and Art History. She is currently completing a minor thesis that examines the links that can be drawn between the history of …