History Capstone 2020 Showcase

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 student projects.

Students are encouraged to think about the form and medium of their research project as much as the content, and we are always blown away by the creativity and of the final works. This year was no exception, and as well as traditional essays, projects ranged from video documentaries, podcasts, brochures and online exhibitions to timelines, Instagram sites, adventure games and even a cookbook! Other highlights this year included a song and a radio play.

The highlights package accessible above features clips from the following projects:

  • Isabel Hollingdale, The Western Prince. A historically inspired song.
  • Nan Mu, The Pink Triangle: Analysis of the Situation of Homosexuality in Nazi Germany (1933–45). Virtual exhibition.
  • Max Billington, The Folklore of German, Cornish and American Miners. Game.
  • Ciara Harrison, The American Landings at Omaha Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Online photo presentation.
  • Gabrielle Cumbers, The Life of Alexander Bagieau During the Great War. Flipbook.
  • Layla Adib, Iranian Revolution. Video documentary.
  • Meg Bate, The Representation of the LGBTQIA+ Community in Video Games. Video.
  • Jacob Antoine, Mobile Culture: Foodways in the Diaspora. Video documentary.
  • Lyndsay Anton-Hem, The Legacy of the Short-Lived Lancefield-Kilmore Railway. Video.
  • Susannah Beardsell, Geelong Protestant Orphan Asylum. Video.
  • Lachlan Clarke, The Tan: ‘Karen from Brighton’ Embedded in Melbourne’s Consciousness. Video documentary.
  • Emily Shallcross, A Biography of Alexander Williamson McGregor. Video documentary.
  • Cassidy Sneikus, The History of the Sneikus Family: The Lineage of Eduard Sneikus. Video documentary.
  • Susanna Zheng, Peach Boy Bombs Pearl Harbour: Children’s Media as Propaganda in World War II Japan. Video documentary.
  • Tyler Meredith, Andy Warhol and the Gay Liberation Movement. Scrapbook/Video.
  • Hannah Robinson, A Dunera Story. Online scrapbook.
  • Daniel Livne, The 1887 Numerus Clausus Laws and Jewish Class Consciousness in the Pale of Settlement. Radio play.
  • Podcasts, Audio Docos and Audio Tours
  • Jade Smith, Boom Town, Doom Town: The History of Industrial Growth, Collapse and Privatisation in Morwell. Podcast.
  • Josh Abbey, Why was the Westminster Assembly concerned with Antinomianism? Podcast.
  • Saul O’Keeffe, A Prisoner among Them: The Experience of a Finnish Family and a Finnic POW during the Continuation War. Podcast.
  • Stella Cain, Women involved in the Comet Line (1941–44). Podcast.
  • Claire Neale, Social Norms and Single Motherhood in 20th-Century Australia. Podcast.
  • Helena Morgan, How the Other Half Saw It: Joyce Johnson, the Beats, Staircase Pickle Eating and Presentism’s Perils. Podcast.
  • Seamus Clarke, The Gage Brothers. Podcast.
  • Eibhlin Mithen, Girlhood and Youth in Northern Ireland’s Conflict. Podcast.
  • Ella Glanville, Is Queensland still a Joke? An Oral Exploration into the Fitzgerald Inquiry, Colin Dillon, and Everything In-between. Podcast.
  • Oliver MacPherson, The Thirty Years War. Podcast.
  • Tom Williams, The History of Lincoln Square in Carlton. Podcast.
  • Daniel Crowley, The Story of the 1866–68 Aboriginal Cricket Team. Podcast.
  • Hugh Samuel-King, Elwood-Wetland and Canal: A Story of a “Dreaming Kingdom”. Podcast.
  • Hannah Garvan, Rental Histories Tour of so-called ‘Brunswick’: From the Great Depression to the Post-War Housing Crisis. Walking tour podcast.
  • Ines Jahudka, Ped(a)lling Moral Therapy: A Self-Guided Podtour through the Former Kew and Yarra Bend Asylums. Bike tour.
  • Harry Musson, Why have Cornwall’s Folklore and Non-Christian Customs remained Popular and Prevalent? Audio doco.

In 2020, the Making History (HIST 30060) team was led by Professor Andy May, in cooperation with Dr Julia Hurst, Dr Catherine Kovesi, and Dr Carla Pascoe-Leahy