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. …

Read about some of the fascinating doctoral projects currently underway in Classics and Ancient History, courtesy of the Classics & Archaeology Postgraduate Society. The Society's committee members gathered these profiles together as part of their August 2020 Classics Week initiative, designed to make up for the loss of the usual March 2020 Classics Week, which was disrupted this year due …

During National Science Week 2020 the History and Philosophy of Science program (HPS) hosted two events as part of the University of Melbourne’s Science Festival. The first event was a panel discussion on ‘Reimagining Trust in Science’, the second an interactive workshop showing how the repliCATS platform is being used to assess the reliability of COVID-19 research. HPS Graduate student …

Around the world, people can’t wait for 2020 to end. COVID-19 has killed close to a million people globally over the course of the pandemic. On top of the coronavirus, there’s been significant floods in Uganda, Kenya, Pakistan and the UK, Australia has experienced devastating bush fires, storms have battered the Americas, and locusts have devastated parts of Africa, the …

Victoria Thomas is a textile conservator at Grimwade Conservation Services, the commercial arm of the Grimwade Centre. In this recent article, republished here from Gabberish, she explores what it's like to be a conservator working from home during Melbourne's COVID-19 lockdown. She looks at how one can still carry out some of the complexities of the craft in a home …

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

This semester we welcome Dr Lieve Donnellan, incoming Lecturer in Classical Archaeology. Lieve comes to the university from her previous role as Assistant Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Aarhus in Denmark. After graduating in archaeology from Ghent University in 2012, Lieve held various fellowships and positions at the Universities of Chicago, Göttingen and Amsterdam. Lieve has written …

A number of our graduates go on to pursue careers in the GLAM sector – that is, Galleries, Libraries, Archives & Museums. Charlotte Colding Smith completed a PhD in History in 2010, and has gone on to work at a number of institutions and museums internationally. She is a Senior Expert Fellow at the German Maritime Museum, Bremerhaven, where her …

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 …

Earlier this year, Grimwade Centre Masters of Cultural Material Conservation students had the chance to work with Denise Mimmocchi, Senior Curator at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, in connection with a retrospective on the works of pioneering Australian-American artist Margel Hinder (1905–1985).  The upcoming exhibition Margel Hinder: Modern in Motion at the Art Gallery of New South Wales 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. …

A terrible onslaught of bubonic plague in the sixth century abruptly ended Emperor Justinian’s dream of reunifying the Roman empire and caused massive geopolitical upheaval. Associate Professor Frederik Vervaet from Classics & Archaeology tells us more about this ancient pandemic and its consequences in this article republished from Pursuit. In 527 CE, when Emperor Justinian and his formidable Empress Theodora were …

In 2019 SHAPS Head of School Professor Margaret Cameron launched a new set of annual awards. Through the Optimus Awards, SHAPS will recognise and celebrate members of our community who exemplify one or more of the values articulated in the Faculty of Arts Strategy Map 2019–2025. All members of the School community, including undergraduate and postgraduate students, academic staff, honorary …

The Hansen Trust, established to advance the study of History at University of Melbourne, includes an annual PhD scholarship to the doctoral program in History in SHAPS. The 2020 recipient, Cat Gay, is working to uncover the life stories and experiences of girls in nineteenth-century Victoria through the study of the material culture that they produced. Nicole Davis interviews Cat …

How useful are the well-known and hotly contested categories of 'male brain' and 'female brain'? Among experts, nobody really questions that anatomical sex differences in the brain exist. But since the advent of brain science, the scientific community has been divided over how many differences there are, which ones have been definitively proven, how large or small they are, and …

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

The Jagiellonian arrases – tapestries that decorate the walls of Wawel Castle in Poland – may be one of the earliest known artistic representation of the long-extinct dodo. SHAPS Principal Research Fellow Dr Darius von Güttner tells us more in this fascinating article republished from Pursuit. This month marks 500 years since the birth of Sigismund II August, King of Poland …

For many Australians, the economic pain brought by the COVID-19 crisis has been compounded by the disruption caused to sporting activities. For football-loving Melburnians, the very rhythm of the week was rendered unrecognisable after the temporary suspension of the 2020 AFL season in March. The closing down of sports at the local community level has also been a difficult aspect …

Each year we see our students achieve remarkable feats, and this year – despite being unusual due to a global pandemic that leaves us working and studying from home – is no different. Whether it is a highly successful grade in a particular subject or an excellent performance in thesis-work, students in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies deserve …

Academic philosophy faces numerous challenges in the current climate. One of its ongoing problems is the systemic barriers in place in the discipline for minority students. In this article, republished from Overland, SHAPS PhD Candidate Paul-Mikhail Catapang Podosky and recent Honours graduate Kelly Herbison explore some of these issues. As we gathered on our university’s oval for a student picnic, the …

Istanbul’s 1,500 year-old Hagia Sophia has a tumultuous history and its return to being a mosque is only the latest twist for a building that has long rolled with the times. SHAPS Principal Fellow (Honorary) Associate Professor Roger Scott, gives us a snapshot of its history in this article, republished from Pursuit. If you were in Istanbul during an earthquake, and …

Violence, corruption and murder dominate our modern headlines, but little has changed since execution ballads were sung in sixteenth-century Europe. In this article, republished from Pursuit, Lisa Needham talks to Dr Una McIlvenna from SHAPS about the similarities between headlines of today and the early modern period. Since the start of 2020, it’s felt like the news has lurched from one …

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 …

Last year marked one hundred years since the birth of Diana ‘Ding’ Dyason (1919–1989), historian of medicine and former head of History and Philosophy of Science (HPS). As one of HPS’s most inspiring and effective leaders, Ding Dyason was honoured with a series of events including the Ding Dyason Centenary HPS Seminar at the University of Melbourne and the Dyason …

The Barangaroo Boat, as it has come to be known, was discovered in November 2018 during development works conducted by Sydney Metro. After completing her MA in Cultural Materials Conservation in 2019, Heather Berry took up a job as a maritime conservator, working with Silentworld Foundation to conserve and preserve the Barangaroo Boat. In this article, Heather describes what is …

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 …

Americans are reaching back into history to try to understand why progress on racial equality has been so heartbreakingly slow. In this article, republished from Pursuit, Professor David Goodman explores the question. Many commentators have compared or rejected comparison between the current public protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in the USA and the uprisings of 1968 – the riots in …

Robust science depends on encouraging and incentivising more open and transparent practices in research – now, metascientists are looking at what works and what doesn’t.In a piece originally published in Pursuit, Andrew Trounson reports on this new discipline, including the contributions of Professor Fiona Fidler and Professor Simine Vazire from University of Melbourne. About a year after she was appointed to a …

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 …

For decades, third-year undergraduate History students at Melbourne have taken the subject Hitler’s Germany (HIST 30010). From Semester Two 2020, the subject will be expanded to cover the history of European fascism more broadly, reflecting the expertise of the subject coordinator, Dr Ángel Alcalde, who joined the History program in 2019 as Lecturer in Twentieth-century European History. He explains here the reasoning …

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 …

In December 2019, History PhD candidate Sam Watts travelled through the Deep South completing research for his thesis on racial politics in the Reconstruction-era urban Deep South. Here he reflects on this trip, historical memory, the nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd, and the ongoing struggle for racial justice in America. The day before I flew out of the …

The publication of a new book is an occasion that should rightly be celebrated with colleagues and friends. Since we can't gather in person to launch these new books by SHAPS scholars, we share their details here. We congratulate in particular Liam Byrne, Julie Patricia Johnson, and Sue Silberberg, three recent PhDs who have just published their first monographs.  – Professor …

In a recent History & Philosophy of Science seminar, SHAPS Research Fellow Dr Martin Bush presented his work on British-American populariser of astronomy, Mary Proctor, and her intriguing relationship to Australian history. From 1912–1914, Mary conducted a high-profile public lecture tour of Australia and New Zealand at the invitation of astronomer Walter Duffield. The purpose of the tour was to …

History PhD candidate Luke Yin was on a research trip to China when the news of the COVID-19 outbreak was first made public. Returning to Melbourne in February 2020, he has been in a position to witness the pandemic from both Chinese and Australian perspectives. In this piece, he shares his reflections on how these events have made him look …

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 …

In late 2019 Associate Professor Hyun Jin Kim received the highest honour for achievement in the humanities in Australia, when he was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. To mark this occasion, PhD candidate Larissa Tittl interviewed Hyun Jin about his career as a scholar of ancient Greece, Rome and China. First, congratulations! Your colleagues and students …

A spectre is haunting the world but it isn’t COVID-19, it’s the idea that the pandemic could lead to the end of globalisation. In an article originally published on the ES Global website as El coronavirus pondrá fin a la globalización?, Dr Ángel Alcalde, from SHAPS and Dr Jose M. Escribano, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, explore this possibility. A spectre is haunting …

Epidemics haunt history, but at a time of COVID-19 it pays to remember they shape history too, as happened in 212 BC at Syracuse. David Feeney, PhD Student in the Classics & Archaeology program in SHAPS, explores, this Ancient Roman plague during a time of warfare in an article republished from Pursuit. The dogs were the first to feel the mischief; …

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 …

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

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 primarily undergraduate society focussed 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 also aim to connect students with …

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 …

The History Research Writing Group provides PhD students undertaking historical research the opportunity to develop their written work by having it reviewed and critiqued by their peers in a supportive and friendly setting. Typically, group members present work in progress, such as conference papers, journal articles or draft thesis chapters. To become a member of the group you must be currently …

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 …

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 …

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 in 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 …

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 …

Videos and audio from the 2015 Conflict series are available where linked. We will be loading more as they become available. Program Dr David M. Pritchard War and Military Spending in the Ancient Athenian Democracy Professor Guoqi Xu The First World War and China’s Great Awakening Rodric Braithwaite Managing Putin Image: riots-14, 2012. Photograph © Thanasis Troboukis via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …