SHAPS Digest (November 2025)

Liam Byrne (Honorary Fellow, History) published an article in the Conversation, commenting on the Democrats’ recent successes in the US.

Two new episodes of the podcast Absolutely Revolting, hosted by Liam Byrne and Francis Leach, are now available:

Paula Dredge (Cultural Materials Conservation) and her collaborative project that uses advanced imaging technologies to examine a number of Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly paintings was featured on the Faculty of Arts website.

Patriarchy Inc., the new book by Cordelia Fine (HPS), has been included on the Grattan Institute’s 2025 Summer Reading List for the Prime Minister. Commentary in the Guardian noted that the book “proposes a new vision of gender equality: freedom from a gender system that limits our ability to achieve wellbeing and biases what we get for our efforts. It’s a vision we should all be able to see value in, no matter who we are.”

Tamara Lewit (Honorary Fellow, Classics & Archaeology) published an article in the Conversation on how olive oil was used in the ancient world for healing, purification and other ritual purposes.

Janet McCalman (Professorial Fellow, History) took part in celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Hotham History Group, which works to study and popularise the history of North Melbourne.

Kate McGregor (History) and Ana Eclair (SSPS) published an article in Pursuit on the ongoing intergenerational trauma caused by European colonialism.

An article by Sue Silberberg (Honorary Fellow, History) on the Michaelis Hallenstein family and their contribution to Melbourne is included in a new international database on German Jewry. The project, led by the Moses Mendelssohn Centre at the University of Potsdam, brings together important stories of migration, community, and cultural exchange.

Iryna Skubii (Mykola Zerov Fellow in Ukrainian Studies, History) was interviewed about the history of the Holodomor for the podcast, History in the Making: The War in Ukraine.

Iryna Skubii also delivered a talk, ‘”Our Village Was Also Helped by Nature”: Remembering Survival in the Holodomor’, as part of the Commemorative Panel: New Perspectives on the Holodomor, hosted by the Shevchenko Scientific Society, USA (online).

Academic Publications

Oleg Beyda (History) (co-authored with Grant T. Harward, Richard Carrier, and Henrik Meinander) “Germany and the Axis in the East,” in D. Stahel (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945 (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2026). This study traces the changing perceptions of the war against the USSR among the Axis bloc.

Purushottama Billimoria (Principal Fellow, Philosophy) with Agnieszka Rostalska (University of Gent), ‘Comparare Philosophy Within and Without Borders’, in A. K. Giri et al. (eds), Toward a New Art of Border Crossing (Anthem Press)

The chapter argues that though within the field of studies of philosophy, there is a strict disciplinary and sub-disciplinary border that is carefully followed, comparative philosophy challenges this tendency. Comparative philosophers apply a particular method of comparative methodology by which they dismantle and recreate borders around particular philosophical traditions to enable the diversification and pluralisation of philosophy. One way of doing this is to hire scholars of ethnically diverse backgrounds, colours, genders, and other subject matters. Another way to do it is to diversify the curriculum content. A third position is to combine both the dimensions of subject position and shift in curriculum, which the authors show with the example of the philosophy journal Sophia, which diversified its tradition and scholarship, and thereby brought about a shift in the field.

Paige Donaghy (McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, History), Pregnant Women’s Sexuality in Early Modern England (Palgrave, 2025) Genders and Sexualities in History Series 

Pregnant women in the past had sex, yet we know nearly nothing about their sexual desires, or what people thought about sex during pregnancy. While there is much research on the sexual maternal body, studies of pregnancy and sex are lacking. This Palgrave Pivot provides the first history of pregnant women’s sexuality in England from 1550 to 1800, with discussion of Northern European perspectives on pregnancy sex. It explores a range of medical literature for descriptions of pregnancy and sexuality, including popular medical and midwifery books, as well as Latin scientific treatises. Alongside these texts, it considers popular culture materials including novels, ballads, pornography, marital guides, and diaries and correspondence. Drawing on methodologies from gender and queer history, the book attempts to locate pregnant women’s articulations of desire in this period. Moreover, the book reveals the paradoxical nature of early modern attitudes to sex and pregnancy: women’s gravid sexuality was portrayed as natural and desirable, but also excessive, potentially dangerous and disruptive to the foetus. 

Nathan D. Gardner Molina (PhD in History, 2022), ‘Amendments to Non-European Naturalisation Policy, 1956-1957: Differentiating between Intention and Effect’, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

This article challenges benign depictions of the gradual and intentional liberalisation of the ‘White Australia policy’ during the Menzies government through an analysis of the quick series of amendments made to ‘non-European naturalisation policy’ in 1956–1957. By drawing heavily on the memoranda and policy discussions between the Department of Immigration and the Commonwealth Government – the latter chiefly represented by the successive ministers for immigration – the article shows that the architects of these amendments wished to entrench racially discriminatory immigration policy by trading off some discrete concessions to its Asian naturalisation policy. This bargain notwithstanding, the government’s piecemeal and compartmentalised application of these concessions – for inclusion and exclusion of separate cohorts of Asian residents in the Australian Commonwealth and its territorial possessions – showed the imperative to discriminate according to race remained the same. By taking the various ministers and policymakers at their word – as they repeatedly stressed their international and domestic critics should do – the article highlights their stated and underlying motives and objectives in order to revise narratives that innocuously historicise the ‘first cracks’ in the White Australia policy.

James Keating (History) contributed to a forum discussion, ‘On Tyrrell and the Transnational Worlds of Women’s Reform‘, Australasian Journal of American Studies, as part of a special issue in tribute to Ian Tyrrell.

Charlotte-Rose Millar (History), ‘Ghosts and Hidden Geographies: The Affective Resonances of Space in Early Modern London’, Urban History

In recent years, the emergence of both the spatial and spectral turns has meant a more intense focus on the importance of space in supernatural narratives, especially within modern, industrialized cities. Less has been said, however, about the importance of understanding the affective resonances of space in early modern tales. This article examines tales of ghost sightings in London and Southwark that appeared in print. It argues that these hauntings created affective topographies that had both individual and communal resonances. In turn, the article explores how these emotional responses contributed to conceptions of space, community and neighbourhood in early modern London. As such, it demonstrates how paying attention to supernatural narratives can reveal a hidden geography of the city, one that is shaped by supernatural storytelling, emotions and close conceptions of community.

Fallon Mody (HPS) et al., ‘Comparing Expert Assessments of Research Quality between the Global North and East Africa‘, Philosophical Transactions B

This study investigates how expert assessments of the quality of behavioural science research vary across geographic and epistemic contexts. Using a form of structured peer review called the IDEA protocol, we use data from the repliCATS project (Global North cohort) and a follow-up study conducted by Busara (East Africa cohort) to compare how experts judge the quality, and especially the generalizability, of 80 behavioural science papers. Due to their greater familiarity with how other contexts might differ from Global North contexts, we expected that East African experts would express greater scepticism about the generalizability of these findings. Contrary to expectations, East African experts (n = 318) rated the papers as more credible on most metrics, including generalizability, than did the Global North experts (n = 384). We explore three interpretations of these findings: East African assessors possess unique contextual insights; Global North assessors apply stricter scepticism rooted in a broader crisis of confidence in behavioural science; or the comparison itself is invalid due to methodological issues or contextual mismatch. Our discussion illustrates that anyone interested in the cultural evolution of research practices needs to take into account differences and hierarchies between the research cultures of the Global North and the Global South.

Iryna Skubii, ‘Things of Life in Times of Extremes: Survival Materialities during the Soviet Famines in Ukraine’, in Mollie Arbuthnot et al. (eds), Soviet Materialities: Socialist Things, Environment and Affects (Manchester University Press, forthcoming 2026)

During famines, the value of material goods grew exponentially. Even small, tiny, mundane objects obtained more economic and emotional importance than previously. As the ‘silent witnesses’ to these catastrophes and crimes against humanity, such material objects were instrumental in the survival of the hungry and in remembering their experiences. Material objects allowed them to ‘uncover’ traumatic stories about the life and aftermath of a catastrophe. In this chapter, the author shows how the things of life were transformed by extremes, how the histories of objects are interwoven with human fates, and why human-material relations obtained new dimensions and value during the famines. Acknowledging the difficulties of tracing the history of things during times of extremes, this research explores the social spaces and networks in which they circulated during the famines. It initiates a material turn in famine studies and aims to bring about a paradigm shift in the understanding of human and material dimensions in famines and times of extremes more broadly. One of the main aims of this chapter is to illuminate how people’s relations with nature and things changed during the Soviet famines of 1921–23, 1932–33, and 1946–47 in Ukraine and why materiality mattered.

Iryna Skubii and Roser Alvarez-Klee, ‘Spain, the USSR, and the Soviet Famines of the Early 1930s: Towards a Global History of the Holodomor’, in Daria Mattingly and John Vsetecka (eds), The Holodomor in Global Perspective: How the Famine in Ukraine Shaped the World (ibidem, 2025)

This chapter contributes to the existing literature on the international awareness about the Ukraine’s Soviet famine of 1932-1933, the Holodomor, in Spain during the Second Republic. Aiming to provide a nuanced understanding of the situation in Spain before the famine in Ukraine, the chapter starts by examining the history of Spanish-Soviet relations before the Civil War and reviews the main features of Spanish economy and agrarian reform during the Second Spanish Republic. Despite the absence of official diplomatic relationships, some leading political parties in the Second Spanish Republic and intellectuals had active communications with the Soviet state within the network of pro-communist public and cultural organisations supported by the Comintern. By examining Spanish press and the activity of the pro-communist organisations in Spain, this chapter pays attention to analysing the perceptions of the Ukrainian famine-catastrophe by the Spanish political circles and society. Particular attention is devoted to examining the role of the international press organisation of the Promethean movement, Ofinor, and the impact of its information activity in Spain on expanding knowledge about Ukraine’s famine and the socio-economic situation in the USSR. The results of this study illustrate that Spanish society was informed about the abysmal conditions in Soviet Ukraine, though their knowledge was built upon various actors’ and informants’ political and socio-economic interests and ideological inclinations. 

Stephen Wheatcroft (Professorial Fellow, History) and Filip Slaveski (ANU), Food Crises, Extreme Hunger and Famine in Russia and the USSR, in Ingrid de Zwarte & Miguel Angel del Arco Blanco (eds), The Politics of Famine in European History and Memory (Routledge, 2025)

This chapter considers three periods of food crisis and extreme hunger in Russia and the Soviet Union: 1917–22, 1927–33 and 1941–47, which contained as many as six famines. It argues that each period began with hunger in the cities in the northern consumer region of Russia. In later stages, food supplies to these consumer regions were protected by extra-ordinary procurements in the more southerly producer regions resulting in shortages in these areas. Government policies of squeezing the producers and giving preference to the urban and military population in combination with unacknowledged poor agro-technology and natural factors caused famine to be diverted to the food producer regions. While government bias in food distribution, incompetence and denial of the existence of famine are inexcusable, they are very different from a policy of intentional starvation for political aims. It therefore argues against the growing consensus that claims Soviet famines were genocidal and denies that there were serious food crises from which the famines originated.

Stephen G. Wheatcroft,  ‘Famine in Russias and Parts of Europe, 1914-22’, in Mary Elisabeth Cox and Claire Morelon (eds), Hunger Redraws the Map: Food, State and Society in the Era of the First World War (Cambridge University Press, 2025)

While much of Europe experienced hunger and hunger-related deaths during the era of the First World War, famine, as defined by an excess mortality rate of 40 per thousand, occurred mainly in the Russian Empire and later Soviet Russia. Furthermore, famine continued in Russia through 1922. In Russia there were two stages of the food problem. 1914–19 was characterized by mutual international blockades that upset regular international trade and caused general hunger with some elevated mortality. Patterns of supply were strained, especially in areas where mortality rose to famine levels. Leaders were slow to recognize the crisis, believing that excess grain production in other parts of the Empire would compensate for regions with reduced food supplies, which they did not. From 1919 to 1922, while trade had opened back up in much of Europe, it did not in Russia, which remained subject to blockade and to civil and international war. Hunger and famine in this period was much more severe, and US aid relief did not enter Soviet Russia until 1921, the final and most terrible year of the famine.

Appointments, Awards, Promotions

Four members of SHAPS have been promoted to Professor:

  • Andrew Jamieson (Classics & Archaeology)
  • Karen Jones (Philosophy)
  • Dan Halliday (Philosophy)
  • Sam Baron (Philosophy)

Below we provide excerpts from the Head of School’s citations.

Professor Andrew Jamieson’s career started as a Scientific Director, Cultural Heritage Management in Lebanon and then as an Archaeologist and Manager of the Conservation Artefact Laboratory for Heritage Victoria. From 2005-2017, Andrew’s job was split between lecturer/senior lecturer and curator. While all/most archaeologists have an excavation site somewhere in the world, in addition to his own site in Georgia, Andrew brings into his research (and his teaching, for that matter) a wealth of hands-on experience outside of straightforward academia. Prof. Jamieson has curated 22 curated exhibitions at the Ian Potter Museum of Art and one at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance. Prof. Jamieson is unusual and revolutionary in applying his lived curatorial experience to his research projects, exploring the ethics and politics of collections and their storage.

As a teacher, Prof. Jamieson sits at the very top of the Faculty of Arts and University of Melbourne. This achievement has been recognised by two major awards: the Faculty of Arts Teaching Excellence Award and the Barbara Falk Award for Teaching Excellence. The Student Evaluation Survey results are astonishing, with all quantitative results sitting comfortably in the high 4s and many instances of perfect 5s. Prof. Jamieson’s passion and ingenuity for object-based learning has been transformative – not just for his own students, but also for the tutors that have worked with him, for donors that come to hear his lectures, for academic staff who have learned from him through presentations and word-of-mouth. Prof. Jamieson’s award-winning teaching with objects led to the creation of the Object Based Lab spaces in Arts West, donations of significant collections from members of the public, students acquiring hands-on knowledge of best practices in working with objects (which has in turn led to their higher employability upon graduating), and international invitations to speak at prestigious venues.

Professor Karen Jones has produced field-defining research that has achieved canonical status. An internationally recognised top-level philosopher, Prof. Jones is a leading expert in the philosophy of trust, among other topics. Prof. Jones publishes in only the top philosophical venues in the field. She has published chapters in leading industry volumes, such as The Routledge Handbook of Metaethics (which she also co-edited) and The Oxford Handbook of Analytic Philosophy, as well as in anthologies and volumes which were edited by leading international philosophers. Every one of Karen’s journal articles appears in the most highly ranked journals, including Philosophical Studies (multiple times), Ethics (multiple times), and The Journal of Philosophy, to name a few. The sheer quality of these journals and academic presses is the greatest proof that Karen’s work is amongst the best the field has to offer. In addition, to have received four Australian Research Council grants – which for the field of philosophy is considered very rare – is further proof of her status and its recognition.

Prof. Jones demonstrates a deep commitment to making the discipline of Philosophy better, fairer, kinder, and more diverse is rarely found. Karen’s reputation for devoting hours and hours to supporting and improving the experience of students is unmatched. It is also known by students, as evidenced by her high number of Honours, MA and PhD supervisions. 

From the topics on which she chooses to teach to the careful attention to the readings and assessments, Karen demonstrates an unequivocal and abiding commitment to fairness, equality, representation, and diversity. The titles of the subjects she has created and/or contributed to convey Karen’s orientation to pedagogy: Identity, Global Justice and Human Rights, The Ties that Bind, Race and Gender: Philosophical Issues, Ethical Theory, Topics in Moral Psychology. For a while Karen taught a subject on Chinese Philosophy, which was an outlier in a discipline that was stubbornly focused on the western tradition.

Professor Daniel Halliday is a philosopher who works across a broad range of “real life” topics that centre around questions of ethics, politics, and especially justice. His research has appeal in equal measure to academics in philosophy, law, economics and politics, and enjoys broad public appeal and interest as well. Prof. Halliday has published widely, including a highly influential pair of monographs published on Oxford University Press (the leading publisher for Arts): Inheritance of wealth: Justice, equality, and the right to bequeath and The Ethics of Capitalism. In recognition of the importance of these publications, Prof. Halliday has been invited to multiple international fellowships and similar opportunities. His public-facing research saw the creation of “Ethics Matters”, a series on ABC television that tracks the contents of the VCE curriculum, to be used by students and the wider public. This series has now been picked up internationally and translated.

In addition to his graduate-level teaching contribution, Prof. Halliday has been an active and proactive contributor to the service needs of the school, faculty and university. It is laudable that he has served on the University of Melbourne’s Major Gifts committee for ten years. Of special note is his role on the Human Research Ethics Committee for Victoria’s Department of Health. This is crucial work that makes a difference to people’s lives in fundamental ways. The workload was significant. Prof. Halliday is now also asked to play a role to prepare the Australian Government’s Ethics Index.

Professor Sam Baron’s expertise spans multiple areas of philosophy in depth: philosophy of science, metaphysics, mathematics, physics and artificial intelligence. His work also draws upon computer science, and he is actively building relationships with academics at Melbourne in that field. Prof. Baron is part of a new generation of philosophers who, like most in the scientific disciplines, often works collaboratively with other philosophers, physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists and others to produce multi-authored, interdisciplinary research. To be able to create, sustain, and enrich these various intellectual communities is a testament to his intelligence, curiosity, and collegiality. Prof. Baron has also been integral to Chancellery’s work on Artificial Intelligence in research, performing a leading role to create new policy.

Despite having been in research-only roles for a significant period of his career, Prof. Baron has achieved a remarkable teaching record across multiple universities in Australia. Given his passion for teaching, he also taught subjects while in his research-focused roles despite not being required to do so. The breadth of Prof. Baron’s teaching portfolio is truly impressive: he has taught philosophy of science, metaphysics, aesthetics, ethics, early modern philosophy, and various logic subjects at all levels. He curates his subjects very carefully, seeking guidance from the scholarship of pedagogy and peer review. You can see lots of evidence of innovation, creativity, and experimentation in his classes. Students can expect to be challenged, engaged, and entertained as they learn new material. 

Bronwyn Beech Jones (History) has been appointed to a visiting fellowship at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV). During her time at KITLV, she is commencing a project on networks of Minangkabau young women teachers in Jambi and Aceh. Bronwyn will also conduct supplementary research for a book proposal based on her doctoral research about self-fashioning in three Sumatran women’s periodicals between 1912 and 1928.

Cordelia Fine (HPS) has been appointed to the Australian Research Council College of Experts.

Hannah Gould (HPS) has won an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. The award will support a project that aims to investigate the impact of Australia’s impending transition into an era of Peak Death – when more people will die than ever before due to ageing demographics. The project aims to generate new knowledge in the areas of anthropology and death studies utilising a mixed-methods approach to uncover the distinct preferences of dying Australians and the capacity of deathcare sector to meet them. Expected outcomes include a novel theorisation of the peak death phenomenon, a comprehensive mapping of sector capacity, enhance coordination between deathcare operators and regulators, and a new international scholarly network. This should provide significant benefits for industry, regulatory bodies, and the Australian public.

Karen Jones (Philosophy) has been appointed Racial Literacy Program Lead for SHAPS, for the Faculty of Arts.

The Faculty of Arts hosted an event to celebrate 25 years of service to the University by Dvir Abramovich, Catherine Kovesi and Andrew May, and others.

Recent graduates Winter Greet and Zach Matthews have been awarded funding to enable them to attend the International Graduate Student Symposium in Ukrainian Studies: New Perspectives in Ukrainian Studies: Transnational, Transcultural, and Translocal Insights, in January 2026, hosted by the Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine at the Centre for European and Eurasian Studies, University of Toronto Munk School.

The following PhD researchers have been appointed as Graduate Research Academic Associates in History for 2026:

  • James Fretwell
  • Patrick Gigacz
  • Isabelle Moss
  • Jesse Seeberg-Gordon

PhD completion

Lynda Campbell, Playing with Paper Dolls: The Evolution of Cancer Cytogenetics as a Clinical Laboratory Science (PhD 2025, HPS)

This study is an exploration of the development of the field of cancer cytogenetics, the chromosome analysis of cancer cells. It is part narrative history and part memoir as the author spent most of her working life in the field. The author used an oral history approach and interviewed over fifty cytogeneticists and others. Their words are quoted extensively.

Cancer cytogenetics started in a handful of laboratories in the 1950s. Its transition from obscure research interest to essential clinical laboratory test required several methodological and taxonomic inventions. The objects of study were always chromosomes but new ways of seeing those objects were needed, including the addition of fluorescent tags to probe the underlying genetic rearrangements. Each innovation prompted changes to the taxonomy so that workers around the world could understand and communicate with each other.

Cytogenetics developed in parallel with molecular biology and yet the two sciences had a difficult relationship. Campbell describes the discovery and elucidation of three important chromosome abnormalities in various types of leukaemia and lymphoma to illustrate the reliance of both cytogenetics and molecular biology upon the other discipline. Each played an important role in establishing the underlying genetics of cancer.

Linking chromosome abnormalities to specific types of cancer was critical for establishing chromosome analysis as a clinical test. But also required were the multinational workshops and clinical trials that proved cytogenetics could assist with diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. In the process, cytogeneticists needed to develop their specialty with the formation of societies, credentialling, specialist books and journals.

Cancer cytogenetics laboratories were always full of women, although initially only as technicians. Campbell investigates the role of women in the development of the field and the relationships between the various actors in cytogenetics laboratories: pathologists, scientists and technologists. These interactions have been and remain problematic. And ultimately, she discusses the possible demise of the specialism as new methodologies arise with the potential to supersede cytogenetics in the diagnosis of cancer.

Advisory Committee: Dr James Bradley (Principal supervisor), Prof. Cordelia Fine (Co-supervisor), Dr Gerhard Wiesenfeldt (Chair)

Research Higher Degree milestones

Ken Barelli, ‘And Are We Yet Alive?’: The Methodist Church in Victoria 1902-1977 (PhD completion talk, History)

The Methodist Church, in 1902, was the most active denomination in Victoria but, by 1977, had lost its pre-eminence. This thesis considers the reasons for this decline. While ongoing secularisation was a factor common to all Churches, the Methodists fared worst. Increasingly aware of their predicament, they nonetheless proved unable to implement effective countermeasures. This thesis argues that this was largely due to their ethos grounded in evangelisation while a further complication was bureaucratisation and sacerdotalism.

Advisory Committee: Prof. Catherine Kovesi (Principal supervisor); Prof. Janet McCalman (Co-supervisor); Prof. Sean Scalmer (Chair)

Gemma Lee, Versatile Objects: Teaching and Learning with the Artefacts of Bab adh-Dhra’ (PhD completion talk, Ancient World Studies)

In 1977, Bab adh-Dhra’ tomb groups were distributed to 24 institutions to support curation, display, and education. This dissertation investigates the educational potential of these artefacts through object-based learning, emphasising the value of object biography in enhancing curriculum engagement. It includes a biographical analysis of the collection and a case study of its use across institutions. Data was collected via questionnaires and interviews with students, academics, and curators, then analysed using a mixed methods approach. This dissertation advocates deeper engagement with archaeological collections to enhance learning and revive under-utilised objects.

Advisory committee: A/Prof. Andrew Jamieson (Principal supervisor); Dr Brent Davis (Co-supervisor); A/Prof. Gijs Tol (Chair)

Kathryn Laurentis, ‘Women’s Contributions to Engineering in Australia Pre-1970’
(PhD confirmation talk, HPS)

This research project explores the overlooked contributions of women to Australian engineering up to 1970, examining both formal roles such as early students and graduates and informal or unrecognised work like drafting, invention, computing, and family-based participation. Using feminist historiography, gender analysis, standpoint theory, and professional closure frameworks, it investigates how definitions of engineering shaped the visibility and valuation of women’s labour. Drawing on diverse archival sources, the study aims to build a more inclusive engineering history, uncover mechanisms of gendered exclusion, situate Australia within global patterns, and develop a transferable feminist recovery method to inform contemporary inclusion efforts.

SHAPS staff, fellows, students, alumni: if you have news items for the monthly SHAPS digest, email us the details.