SHAPS Digest (September 2025)

A new podcast, Absolutely Revolting, launched this month and hosted by Liam Byrne (Honorary Fellow, History) and Francis Leach, explores the history of social change and revolution. The first episodes feature Peter McPhee (Emeritus Professor, History) on the French Revolution; Natasha Wilson (History) on the Russian Revolution; and Marilyn Lake (Honorary Professorial Fellow, History), Leah Ruppanner and Lisa Heap on the 1974 Equal Pay decision in Australia. The podcast is supported by the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative and the Faculty of Arts.

Liam Byrne was interviewed by 2GB (from 46:00) on his new book, No Power Greater: The History of Union Action in Australia (Melbourne University Publishing).

The work of Kencho Dekar, master traditional Bhutanese dyer hosted by the Grimwade Centre and engaged in ongoing collaboration with the Robert Cripps Institute for Cultural Conservation, was featured in an Arts Faculty news story.

Cordelia Fine (HPS) was interviewed (behind paywall) about her recent book, Patriarchy Inc., for the Australian Financial Review.

Hannah Gould (HPS) discussed water cremation, a new, more sustainable option for buried loved ones, on ABC Radio National Hour.

Two new episodes of the HPS Podcast were published, featuring Philip Kitcher (John Dewey Professor Emeritus, Columbia University) on philosophy for science and the common good; and Miriam Solomon (Professor of Philosophy, Temple University) on how stigma shapes psychiatry. The podcast is hosted by Thomas Spiteri (PhD candidate, HPS).

Karen Jones (Philosophy) was interviewed on ABC Radio’s The Minefield program to discuss what it means to let someone ‘save face’.

A new video showcasing the Master of Cultural Materials Conservation was published on the Arts Faculty’s YouTube channel.

Iryna Skubii (Mykola Zerov Fellow in Ukrainian Studies, History), published an article on the Putin regime’s use of Soviet symbolism.

Iryna Skubii was interviewed for ABC News on Trump’s change of position on Ukraine.

Iryna Skubii also commented for Inside Story on Russian drone incursions into NATO countries.

Caroline Tully (Honorary Fellow, Classics & Archaeology) was interviewed by ABC Radio National about the ethics of witchcraft and hexing the far right.

Awards, Promotions, Appointments

Congratulations to recently promoted SHAPS staff:

• Oleg Beyda (History) (Senior Lecturer)
• Lieve Donnellan (Classics & Archaeology) (Senior Lecturer)
• Jacinthe Flore (HPS) (Senior Lecturer)
• Hannah Gould (HPS) (Senior Lecturer)
• Edward Jeremiah (Classics & Archaeology) (Lecturer)
• Kerstin Knight (HPS) (Lecturer)
• Patrick McGrath (History) (Lecturer)
• Iryna Skubii (Mykola Zerov Fellow in Ukrainian Studies, History) (Senior Research Fellow)
• Natasha Wilson (History) (Lecturer)

Congratulations are also due to Fiona Fidler (HPS), who has been appointed Associate Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Arts (from January 2026).

Dominique Jones (BA (Hons) in History, 2023) has been awarded a commendation in the Addi Rd Multicultural History Award, part of the NSW History Awards, for her essay, ‘Rethinking Histories of Australian Multiculturalism: Diasporic Tensions and the Macedonian Question during the Bicentenary’. On receiving the commendation, Dominique said:

“It is an immense privilege to receive a commendation for the Addi Road Multicultural History Award. Initiatives such as this are vital to encouraging critical engagement with the many alternative ‘Australias’ that exist. My project examined how Greek and Macedonian diasporans drew on their historical pasts to assert themselves as active participants in Australia’s multicultural project during the Bicentennial year.”

The project was based on Dominique’s honours work, supervised by Andonis Piperoglou (History).

The Medical Humanities Research Lab has been awarded seed funding by the Reproductive Justice Hallmark Research Initiative for a new research project on the history of wellness cultures and reproductive justice, led by Paige Donaghy (McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellow, History), with a team including Jacinthe Flore (HPS), Louise Keogh (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health), and Cassandra Byrne (History, University of Queensland).

Drawing on the framework of reproductive justice and ‘history of the present’ methodologies, the project analyses historical data to map relationships between wellness cultures and two case studies: the historical connections between hormonal and non-hormonal contraception and wellness movements, and the rise of freebirth practices in wellness cultures. Through socio-historical research and an interdisciplinary workshop, the overall aim of this project is to contribute to policy and public health debates on wellness movements and reproductive justice.

Academic Publications

Oleg Beyda and Igor Petrov, The Cold Summer of ’43: Soviet POW Escapes from Officers’ Camp XIIID (in Russian), Neprikosnovennyi zapas journal, special issue marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

This article investigates a hitherto untapped topic — an examination of Soviet runaways and prison breaks from the German POW officer camp Hammelburg. It draws on unique Russian, Ukrainian and German materials and traces the cinema-worthy fates of Red Army officers who absconded from Germany and walked or hitchhiked back to the Soviet Union.

Purushottama Bilimoria, Ricoeurian Hermeneutics and Indian Thought: Analyzing Evil in Cross-Cultural Philosophy, Sophia: International Journal of Philosophy and Traditions, 64 (August 2025)

This paper examines the intersection of Western and Indian hermeneutical traditions, focusing on Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics and its application to the Upaniṣads. Engaging with the broader hermeneutical debates between Gadamer, Habermas, and Ricoeur, the study highlights the tensions between tradition and critical reflection. Ricoeur’s “hermeneutics of suspicion” is employed to interrogate dominant interpretations shaped by the Brahmasūtra, particularly those that prioritize mokṣa (liberation) as the central goal of the Upaniṣads. Drawing from the Mīmāṃsā tradition and Nirukta exegesis, the study introduces a “decolonial hermeneutics of trust,” which reframes these texts in terms of embodied experience rather than transcendence. Through an analysis of Upaniṣadic doctrines and myths, particularly the struggles between deva-s and asura-s, the paper explores the concept of pāpmā/pāpman (‘evil’) as an amoral force of privation that affects perception and disrupts the unity of the self. By bridging Western philosophical discourse, focusing on Ricoeur’s work, with Indian hermeneutical methods, this study reveals the cross-cultural dimensions of meaning-making while also challenging essentialist readings of Indian thought. The philosophical investigation contibutes to a broader rethinking of hermeneutical frameworks, emphasizing the dynamic interplay between critique and tradition in interpreting classical texts. This article is part of a special issue on Paul Ricoeur.

Purushottama Bilimoria, Transcendental Contradictions: The Spectre of Non-Being in Early to Middle Brāhmaṇic-Hindu Thought-Systems, in Graham Priest and Behnam Zolghadr (eds), Contradiction and the Absolute: Theories Engaging Contradiction in Five Main World Religions (De Gruyter, 2025)

This chapter begins with an examination of some of the early texts of Hinduism, particularly the Ṛg Veda. These texts are about the origin of the cosmos, and state that in the beginning there was neither existence nor non-existence. After discussing the possibility of a dialetheic reading of these texts, Bilimoria proceeds to the Upaniṣads and the transformation of Hindu teachings on the origin of the cosmos, where everything is caused by a being, Brahman. The paper focuses on Śaṅkara’s Advaita Vedānta, a non-dualist version of Brāhmanism, which holds that only Brahman is real. As Bilimoria shows, in Advaita Vedānta the seeming contradiction of this origin is transmitted to the phenomenal world, māyā.The paper considers some objections against Advaita Vedānta raised by the Hindu Nyāya school. It then explains a revised version of non-dualist Advaita as spelled out by Rāmānuja.

Martin Bush (HPS), Centuries of Stars: The History of Astronomical Visualisation in and out of Museum Collections, Prism

The projection planetarium is a remarkable tool for visualising astronomy. Yet it is only one in a long history of such technologies, including magic lantern slides and the devices of the stage astronomy tradition, such as the Eidouranion. The presences and absences of these technologies within institutional collections show surprising continuities in the history of astronomical communication. The visual turn in history has prompted us to look at these collections in new ways in order to recover these practices in a manner that can illuminate contemporary interests. In this article Martin Bush reflects upon the centuries-long history of astronomical visualisation and his personal intersections with it as a scholar and science communicator.

Kate Darian-Smith (Professorial Fellow, History) with Sue Turnbull, Sukhmani Khorana and Kyle Harvey, Migrants, Television and Australian Stories: A New History (Routledge 2025)

This book examines the intertwined histories of television and migration in Australia, told from the perspectives of migrants who worked in the screen industry and the many more who watched television. Their stories demonstrate how Australia’s growing cultural diversity has challenged conventional representations of ‘Australianness’ on television, and how ongoing advocacy has supported the growing inclusivity of multiple narratives and diverse experiences on screen.

Migrants from many backgrounds were instrumental in the establishment in 1956 of Australian television, working behind and in front of the cameras as producers, directors, writers, technicians and actors. From early broadcasting to the digital present, portrayals of cultural differences have often been shaped by appropriation, ethnic stereotyping and racism. This has occurred across a range of formats from drama to comedy to news and reality shows. Many in the industry have responded with resilience and creative adaptation, as they have increasingly taken control of the ways that migrant stories are told and diversity is celebrated.

The first comprehensive Australian study of migrants and television, this book considers the ways multicultural audiences have experienced the small screen over seven decades. Drawing on rich oral histories, it analyses the memories of television in the work, school, family life and leisure of migrant communities and their broader engagements with Australian culture. Research in the archives of broadcasters and production companies reveals how non-Anglo Australian characters were constructed, and how such portrayals have shifted. This new history takes us to digital screen production and consumption today, exploring how Australians of many diasporas engage with the global network of screen content in the twenty-first century. It is essential reading for media professionals, advocates, students and those interested in the intersections between media, cultural diversity and the nation.

The recent book by Heather Dalton (Honorary Fellow, History), The Ledger of Thomas Howell, 1522-1528: Draper of London and Merchant of Bristol and Seville (Bristol Record Society publications, 2024), was reviewed by Alan Sangster (University of Aberdeen) in the journal De Computis. The reviewer found the book to be ‘a fascinating read, beautifully compiled and presented… this reader was captivated by the foot of the first page. The prose style of the editor, Heather Dalton, places the reader in the role of participative observer. The emotion, the frustration, the perseverance, can all be felt…. Particular praise should be accorded to Heather Dalton for how she addressed and worked with the English language accounting history literature on use of double entry accounting in the late-medieval and early modern periods. In over 20 years spent as an accounting historian during which that topic has been my specialist field, this is the best I have ever seen anyone cope with the contradictory and often very strange reasoning that permeates that literature. It is an excellent primer for newcomers to the history of accounting during that period…. Heather Dalton … has raised the bar in how to present material of this type today. From the 28 wonderful colour images to the meticulous style of presentation of the transcribed ledger that is as faithful as possible to the original, this book is a remarkably useful and exceptional resource. One that will be welcomed by historians of all disciplines.’

James Hogg (PhD candidate, History) reviewed Roman Danyluk and Gabriel Kuhn, From Hash Rebels to Urban Guerrillas: A Documentary History of the 2nd of June Movement, for Twentieth Century Communism: A Journal of International History (behind paywall).

Laura Jocic (PhD in History, 2024), Bound for Australia: Anne Trotter’s Needlework Specimen Book, 1840, Prism

Among the possessions that Irish-born Anne Trotter packed in her trunk to start a new life in Australia was her needlework specimen book. Anne, who arrived in the Port Phillip District in 1844, was one of many assisted migrants that were given a passage to Australia as part of the government’s immigration schemes. Anne’s needlework book, which was donated to Museums Victoria in 2014 by a descendant and includes various plain sewing exercises and finely-stitched miniature shirts, provides an insight into the formal schooling provided to young working-class women in nineteenth century Ireland and the skills that they brought to Australia. This article discusses the context of the needlework book and posits its value to a young female emigrant.

Tony Ward (Honorary Fellow, History), Wotjobaluk Stories of Country and Spirituality as Related to an Early Horsham Pastoralist, Victorian Historical Journal (June 2025)

In May 1846 Irish migrant Charles Wilson, an early squatter in the Wimmera, wrote to his sister Anna, back home on the Wilson family farm in Ballycloghan, Ulster. This letter reports Charles’ discussions with a local “black boy named George, about 15 years of age, who is shepherding for us at present.” The account includes descriptions of some of the dreaming legends of the local Wotjobaluk Nations. Introducing the letter, this note provides background to Charles Wilson, who was unusual amongst early white settlers in taking an interest in indigenous culture.

Research Higher Degree Milestones

Emily Morgan, Imagination, Transformation, and Carmina: Witches and Magic in the Poems of Ovid (MA completion seminar, Classics & Archaeology)

This project examines Ovid’s depictions of witches and magic from an aesthetic perspective. Ovid has a reputation as a rationalist and sceptic, but he made frequent and effective use of magical and supernatural figures and imagery in his works. The aim of this analysis is to gain new insights into the ingenuity of Ovid’s writing, as well as into Ovid himself as a poet, through his treatments of magic and witches. 

It is evident from his poems that Ovid was a sensitive aesthete, had a vivid imagination, and was sincerely devoted to poetry. This presentation argues that Ovid found magic to be an ideal subject to express his imagination, and even to express his belief in the power of poetry.  

Other happenings

The Australian Research Council funded project Albrecht Dürer’s Material World – in Melbourne, Manchester and Nuremberg, led by Jenny Spinks in collaboration with Matthew Champion and Charles Zika, and international partners, held its third and final workshop in Nuremberg, Germany, on 14–15 July 2025. After successful workshops in Manchester (2023) and Melbourne (2024), it was terrific to pull together many of the threads of the project and to do so in Dürer’s hometown, surrounded by and closely discussing stunning examples of the city’s material culture.

The first day was held in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, where we were warmly hosted by the institution’s Director, Prof. Dr Daniel Hess, and Assistant Director Dr Heike Zech, who have been crucial partners from the outset of the project, and Dr Claudia Valter of the Graphischen Sammlung. Their intellectual engagement and presentations of their own research – encompassing metalwork, stained glass, and print culture – were highlights of the workshop. Project team members Assoc. Prof. Jenny Spinks, Assoc. Prof. Matthew Champion, Prof. Charles Zika (University of Melbourne), Prof. Stefan Hanß and Dr Holly Fletcher (University of Manchester) and Prof. Dagmar Eichberger (University of Heidelberg) along with guest Dr Susanne Meurer (University of Western Australia) joined them for a day of up-close contact with some of the early modern treasures of the collection. Related to the project’s focus on Dürer’s material world, the multiple objects explored and discussed included life-casts of lizards and plants, a barber’s knife, an hourglass, stunning works on paper.

On the second day the group was warmly hosted at the city’s Museum Tucherschloss und Hirsvogelsaal, a visit organised by team member Prof. Eichberger in collaboration with the museum’s Director, Dr Ulrike Berninger, Director of Nuremberg’s Municipal Museums, Dr Thomas Eser, and Art History Fellow at the Tucher Kulturstiftung, Florian Abe. This visit provided further fascinating opportunities to encounter and probe the material world of early modern Nuremberg through the original material furnishings, paintings and objects of the early sixteenth-century Tucher Mansion and Hirsvogel Hall. Dr Christine Demele, another important project partner, kindly hosted us as Director of the Dürer-Haus and provided insights into its newest displays. The second day of the workshop closed with a final session in the church of St Sebald’s, Dürer’s own church.

We discussed its paintings, sculptures, and the spaces created by patrician families; and Prof Daniel Hess in particular drew notice to the architectural qualities of the key stained glass windows created in the early sixteenth century. The day contributed to a much deeper understanding of the spatial world of the city through the lens of the networks of makers that made the city such a vibrant location for experimentation in Dürer’s lifetime.

Across the two days team members looked ahead to new research projects inspired by this Dürer project and were able to reflect on the work in progress for the edited collection which will be the final major outcome of the project (watch this space!).

Feature image: L-R: Susanne Meurer, Holly Fletcher, Jenny Spinks, Heike Zech and Dagmar Eichberger at the Germanisches Nationalmusum, Nuremberg. Photo: Matthew Champion.

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