SHAPS Digest (October 2025)
Historian Liam Byrne‘s latest book, No Power Greater: The History of Union Action in Australia, was reviewed by Frank Bongiorno for Inside Story: ‘Byrne tells his story with passion and skill, conveying a real sense of how a longstanding mission can take radically different forms in a variety of new contexts. This is easily the best single-volume Australian general union history we have seen.’
Matthew Champion (History) delivered a keynote lecture, ‘Now is the Time: Senses of the Present in 15th- and 16th-Century Northern Europe’, at the International Conference ‘Present in the City: Urban Temporalities and Rhythms in Northwestern Europe (14th–17th centuries’, hosted by the Université de Lille. A report on this event is available here (in French).
Mark Edele (Hansen Chair in History) published a review of Benjamin Nathans’ new book, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement, for Inside Story.
Archaeologist Tom Keep‘s presentation, ‘Do You See What I See? Digital Methods on the Marzuolo Archaeological Project’, delivered at the CAA Australasian Digital Archaeology Conference, is available to view online.
This paper outlines in brief the digital methods used on the Marzuolo Archaeological Project (MAP), with a particular focus on the recent addition of photometric stereo and reflectance transformation imaging. The MAP has now concluded excavations of a rural Roman minor centre from the late Republican and early Imperial period, which uncovered significant assemblages of terra sigillata and a well-preserved blacksmithing and woodworking toolkit. Digital recording through GIS and photogrammetric modelling have been integral to the recording workflow since its inception. In more recent years, object photogrammetry, photometric stereo imaging, and reflectance transformation imaging have been conducted on key artefacts from the assemblage. This paper discusses the benefits these techniques offer to the project and the associated benefits and shortcomings of each method.
Thomas Kehoe (Honorary Fellow, History) was interviewed by ABC Radio Breakfast about the parallels between tobacco and gambling ad bans. He also co-authored an article in the Conversation looking back at the struggle to curb tobacco advertising from the late 1960s, and the parallels to the practices employed by gambling companies today in Australian sport; and published a potted history of Quit Victoria in honour of its 40th Anniversary.
Hyun Jin Kim (Classics & Archaeology) presented a lecture for the Melbourne University Greek Association on the topic ‘Ethnicity in Antiquity: Greece and China’.
The work of historians Zoë Laidlaw and Marilyn Lake is featured in the new SBS series The Idea of Australia and discussed in an article in the Age by Michelle Arrow (behind paywall).
Marilyn Lake (Professorial Fellow, History) published a review of Andrew Low’s book, We Should Be So Lucky: Why the Australian Way Works.
Andonis Piperoglou (Hellenic Senior Lecturer in Global Diasporas, History) was interviewed (behind paywall) for the Brisbane Times on the history of Greek wedding traditions in Australia.
Sean Scalmer (History) discussed the history of campaigns for shorter working hours, in the latest episode of the Absolutely Revolting podcast, hosted by Liam Byrne (Honorary Fellow, History) and Francis Leach.
Iryna Skubii (Mykola Zerov Fellow in Ukrainian Studies, History) was interviewed by BBC News Global (Singapore) on Zelensky’s recent meeting with Trump and the US and EU commitment to support Ukraine.
Caroline Tully (Honorary Fellow, Classics & Archaeology) was interviewed for The Briefing on modern paganism and the rise of the modern witch.
Academic Publications
Alison Clayton (PhD candidate, HPS) et al., Implications of the Cass Review for Health Policy Governing Gender Medicine for Australian Minors, Australasian Psychiatry
The objective of this article is to summarize the key recommendations of England’s independent inquiry into gender identity services for children and young people (the Cass Review) and to evaluate their relevance to Australian health policy. The authors conclude that thhe Cass Review’s findings and recommendations have clear applicability to Australian health policy. As a matter of priority, Australian health authorities need to seriously engage with the Cass Review’s findings and recommendations. To not do so will put the health and well-being of vulnerable children and young people at risk.
Joy Damousi (History) is among the contributors to the new collection edited by Seumas Spark and Christina Twomey, Fault Lines: Australia’s Unequal Past (Monash University Publishing).
Inequality and social injustice has been part of Australia since colonisation. From the treatment of refugees to First Nations peoples, from prejudice towards the LGBTIQA+ community to abuses of children in care, our country has not always treated its citizens with compassion and respect. We have undervalued the land, causing damage to soil and waterways, and failed to acknowledge sites of Indigenous massacres. What can this unenviable history teach us?
Fiona Fidler, Hannah Fraser, Anca Hanea, Fallon Mody, David P. Wilkinson, Bonnie C. Wintle (MetaMelb Research Initiative / HPS) et al., Predicting the Replicability of Social and Behavioural Science Claims in COVID-19 Preprints, Nature Human Behaviour
Replications are important for assessing the reliability of published findings. However, they are costly, and it is infeasible to replicate everything. Accurate, fast, lower-cost alternatives such as eliciting predictions could accelerate assessment for rapid policy implementation in a crisis and help guide a more efficient allocation of scarce replication resources. We elicited judgements from participants on 100 claims from preprints about an emerging area of research (COVID-19 pandemic) using an interactive structured elicitation protocol, and we conducted 29 new high-powered replications. After interacting with their peers, participant groups with lower task expertise (‘beginners’) updated their estimates and confidence in their judgements significantly more than groups with greater task expertise (‘experienced’). For experienced individuals, the average accuracy was 0.57 (95% CI: [0.53, 0.61]) after interaction, and they correctly classified 61% of claims; beginners’ average accuracy was 0.58 (95% CI: [0.54, 0.62]), correctly classifying 69% of claims. The difference in accuracy between groups was not statistically significant and their judgements on the full set of claims were correlated (r(98) = 0.48, P < 0.001). These results suggest that both beginners and more-experienced participants using a structured process have some ability to make better-than-chance predictions about the reliability of ‘fast science’ under conditions of high uncertainty. However, given the importance of such assessments for making evidence-based critical decisions in a crisis, more research is required to understand who the right experts in forecasting replicability are and how their judgements ought to be elicited.
David Goodman (History) and Clare Corbould (Deakin University) interviewed Ian Tyrrell, Emeritus Scientia Professor of History at the University of New South Wales, for the Australasian Journal of American Studies, for a special issue celebrating Ian Tyrrell’s contribution to the transnational study of American history and to American Studies in Australasia.
The interview ranges over the following topics: becoming a historian, including influences such as family and schooling in 1950s Brisbane; studying history at the University of Queensland in the 1960s; PhD at Duke University (1970–74); 1975 appointment at UNSW and the varied role the Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association (ANZASA) played in his career from that moment until his retirement on 4 July 2012. Ian also reflects on writing US history from abroad, and specifically from Australia and the Pacific; the rise of settler colonial history; and the likelihood of American exceptionalism, on which Ian has written extensively, surviving beyond 2025. Of special note is the revelation of Australian intellectual contexts for the development of Ian’s distinctive, transnational approach to US history.
The October issue of the Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society, edited by Julie Fedor (History), and guest edited by Kari Aga Myklebost (Arctic University of Norway), Håvard Bækken (Norwegian Defence University College) and Stian Bones (Arctic University of Norway), is an open-access special issue on The Politics of World War II Memories in the North: Regional and Transborder Memory Politics in Russia and Norway.
Over the past two decades, memory practices related to the Great Patriotic War have assumed an increasingly prominent position in Russian politics and identity-building, both in the domestic sphere and in the realm of foreign policy. Existing scholarship on Russian memory politics tends to concentrate overwhelmingly on the role of the Kremlin, while regional dynamics have received less attention. This special issue explores the Kremlin-driven politics of war memories as they unfold in the northernmost parts of Norway and European Russia, two regions that share not only a border but also a long history of interaction. Across this border, we encounter two distinctly different social, cultural, and political contexts: on the one hand, Norway – a small, relatively homogenous, and stable welfare state; and on the other, Russia – a vast, complex, and increasingly authoritarian and neo-imperialist polity. By examining the construction and contestation of the past in a variety of regional and transborder settings, including museums, media, school curricula, libraries, and commemorative ceremonies, this issue explores the processes of negotiation, conflict, and adaptation among diverse mnemonic actors in the North.
Zoë Laidlaw (History), Capital, Agents and Absentees: Port Phillip Pastoralism and the Profits of Slavery, Australian Historical Studies
This article reveals that British-based merchants invested capital made from the Atlantic slave complex in the early Port Phillip District’s pastoral sector. It traces the capital that underpinned two of early Victoria’s most significant pastoral companies – Niel Black and Co. and the Clyde Company. Partners in these companies, wealthy Glasgow- and Liverpool-based merchants, received compensation from the British government for their emancipated workers in the Caribbean, continued to own enslaved people and plantations in the United States, and traded in commodities created with enslaved labour. As well as investing large sums of capital in Victorian pastoralism, they also transferred business techniques, relationships and ideas from the Atlantic to Australia. Examining these connections reveals the economic logic of British colonialism: this violent Australian manifestation of ‘racial capitalism’ linked enslaved labourers in the Americas to the stolen Indigenous lands of Victoria’s Western District and the woollen mills of northern England.
Howard Sankey (Philosophy), A Quandary for the Naturalist, Organon
The paper raises a quandary for the naturalist friend of truth who rejects the a priori outright. The quandary is that instances of the T-scheme are analytic, hence knowable a priori. The naturalist must either renounce their friendship with truth or soften their stance on the a priori. The paper recommends the latter option.
Gijs Willem Tol (Classics & Archaeology) and Astrid Van Oyen (eds), Roman Rural Archaeology: Society, Economy and Culture (forthcoming with Cambridge University Press, 2026)
The Roman world was a rural world. Most of the Roman population lived in the countryside and had their immediate rural surroundings as their social and economic frame of reference. For much of the Roman period, rural property provided the basis for political power and urban development, and it was in rural areas that the agricultural crops that sustained an expanding empire were grown and many of the most important Roman industries were situated. Rural areas witnessed the presence of some of the most durable symbols of Roman imperial hegemony, such as aqueducts and paved roads. It was mainly here that native and Roman traditions collided and were negotiated. This volume, containing 30 chapters by leading scholars, leverages recent methodological advancements and new interpretative frameworks to provide a holistic view, with an empire-wide reach, of the importance of Roman rural areas in the success of ancient Rome.
Awards and Appointments
Head of School Margaret Cameron is joint winner of a 2024 Dean’s Award for Most Significant Contribution to the Staff Experience. This award recognises an individual or team who has created an exceptional working environment that enables colleagues to succeed, and has made a positive impact on the working lives of colleagues.
The citation observes that ‘Professor Margaret Cameron is an inspiring leader, and a caring, thoughtful, empathetic and supportive colleague who leads by intellect and example. Since commencing her role as SHAPS Head of School in 2019, Margaret has provided exemplary leadership during one of the most difficult periods in the University’s recent history… Margaret has been an extraordinarily supportive colleague, generous mentor and inspirational leader… [H]er support for staff [is a] key leadership trait. More than this, it is a function of Margaret’s very skilled integration of her intellectual interests as a leading philosopher in her field and the active embodiment and practical translation of her intellectual strengths in active leadership.’
Kristian Camilleri (HPS) is joint winner of a 2024 Dean’s Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching. This award recognises an individual who, over a period of 5+ years, has demonstrated approaches to learning and teaching that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn, development of curricula and resources that reflect depth of understanding of the field, approaches to assessment and feedback that foster independent learning, respect and support for the development of students as individuals, and scholarly activities that have influenced and enhanced learning and teaching.
The citation states that ‘Kristian has an unparalleled breadth of knowledge of the HPS field, and a deep commitment to the development of cumulative knowledge. In the classroom, Kristian is enthralling. Every single lecture is a masterclass in storytelling, with the lessons brought just close enough to the surface that the students believe they have found them themselves, never suspecting the carefully orchestrated pedagogy behind the scenes. His consistently outstanding student evaluations provide evidence of his impact, as does the testimony of past students, and the observations of colleagues he has co-taught with… The crux of this nomination is not about innovative integration of technology in the classroom, or ground-breaking developments in pedagogic theory or practice. It is simply about a gifted teacher, who has worked consistently and tirelessly to improve the student experience over many years.’
Five teams of researchers in SHAPS have been awarded Australian Research Council Discovery Project funding:
- Fiona Fidler (HPS) and her team: Kate Williams and James Wilsdon, Evaluating the Impact of Metascience and its Role in Research Policy
The ‘replication crisis’ has raised concerns over the credibility of published scientific research. Metascience—or the ‘science of science’—has risen in its wake, aiming to influence and improve the way science is practised, funded, evaluated and disseminated. Metascience has grown rapidly in recent years, and it is now having a significant impact on research policy in the UK and elsewhere. This project aims to document Metascience’s origins, connections to prior reform efforts and to other science studies disciplines. Grounded in an understanding of its history and purpose, the expected output is a framework for evaluating Metascience impact, ensuring it delivers relevant, high-quality evidence for research policy in Australia.
- Sam Baron (Philosophy), Elizabeth Sonenberg; Piers Howe; Kate Lynch; James Norton; Finnur Dellsén; Sander Beckers; Emily Sullivan; Rach Cosker-Rowland, An Interventionist Approach to Explainable Artificial Intelligence
This project aims to develop a new approach to explaining and understanding decisions generated by artificial intelligence (AI). Popular approaches rely on counterfactuals, which focus on how an outcome would change, given different inputs. Such explanations are criticised in philosophy for failing to provide causal understanding. Interventionism is a theory of explanation from philosophy designed to yield such understanding. This project aims to develop new strategies for explaining AI decisions using interventionism. Expected outcomes include improved understanding of AI and better AI decision-making. Anticipated benefits include new knowledge and support for government to use AI effectively while protecting the interests of individuals.
- Cordelia Fine (HPS), Kate Lynch (formerly in HPS) and their team, Genes, Germs & Gender: The Reach and Impact of Bioessentialism
Scientific misconceptions are enabled by simplistic explanations, such as bioessentialism: beliefs that biological agents (e.g. genes) dictate meaningful categorisations (e.g. gender) by determining traits and behaviour. Bioessentialism about genetics, microbiology, and sex and gender has significant social costs, yet how it is perpetuated is unresolved. Combining philosophical analysis with AI classification models, this project will establish when and where bioessentialism arises, and which interventions are likely to mitigate such misunderstandings. National benefits include new strategies to combat costly scientific misconceptions in various domains inlcuding public health messaging and science communication.
- Nicole Tse (Cultural Materials Conservation) and her team: Simon Soon; Tonia Eckfeld; Caroline Kyi; Dr Zhanyun Zhu; Huan Yang, The See Yup Temple: Chinese Australian Collections, Recovery, Conservation
On 17 February 2024 a fire devastated Melbourne’s 1856 See Yup Temple, severely impacting the building and its material culture, and the Chinese community. As an active site of continuing worship, this project interrogates disaster recovery, conservation and memory making in the heritage sector. The See Yup Temple as a site of discovery, is an opportunity to develop new insights on global connections of migratory heritage, material knowledge of understudied collections, risk reduction and care taking, and old and new technologies. The proposal has significant benefits for enhancing Australia’s disaster risk reduction strategies and adaptive capacity to preserve migratory and Chinese heritage collections, and knowledge of their materiality.
- Wallace Wong; Petronella Nel; Nicole Tse; Jonathan Kemp; Robyn Sloggett; Carl Villis, Advanced Polymers for Heritage Conservation
Polymers play a vital role in stabilizing and protecting cultural heritage as adhesives, coatings, and consolidants. However, most are adapted from other industries, leading to challenges in stability, compatibility across materials, and long-term performance. These limitations necessitate frequent conservation efforts, driving up costs and reducing the lifespan of heritage artifacts. This project brings together conservators and polymer chemists to assess existing conservation polymers, establish performance benchmarks, and develop innovative polymers derived from sustainable biomass. Rigorous testing will identify materials with exceptional stability and tailored performance to meet both current and emerging conservation needs.
Jacinthe Flore (HPS) and Paige Donaghy (History) have been awarded a 2025 History & Heritage Research grant from the Royal College of Anaesthetists’ Museum to produce a podcast on histories and issues of anaesthesia/pain relief.
Their project, ‘Going Under: Digital Storytelling about Anaesthesia’, will be developed in collaboration with the History & Philosophy of Science Podcast, as a six-part podcast mini-series exploring the history, philosophy, and lived experience of anaesthesia. From the mysteries of unconsciousness to the evolution of anaesthetic practice, the series will illuminate how this vital medical field shapes the ways we experience care, memory, and recovery. Developed for a wide audience, ‘Going Under’ will feature voices from across the history and practice of anaesthesia — from patients and practitioners to historians and philosophers — and will include a dedicated episode showcasing the Museum’s collection.
Two students who completed their Bachelor of Arts (Degree with Honours) in Classics (Ancient Greek & Latin) in 2024 are the recipients of the Alexander Leeper Prize from the Classical Association of Victoria (CAV).
The Alexander Leeper Prize was established in memory of Alexander Leeper, who was the first president of the CAV when it was founded in 1912, and who in 1876 had become the first Warden of Trinity College at the University of Melbourne. The Leeper Prize is awarded annually to the highest-achieving undergraduate honours students in the state of Victoria who completed their honours degree in Classics (or Ancient World Studies) in the previous calendar year. It is a condition of the award that the student studied either Latin or Ancient Greek (or both) at advanced level during their honours year.
Hannah Lewis wrote a thesis entitled “Sister in Arms: The Significance of Sibling Relationships in Sophoclean Tragedies”, with K.O. Chong-Gossard as supervisor. Hannah is currently in the U.K. at Cambridge enrolled in an MPhil in Classics.
Tom Harris wrote a thesis entitled “περὶ τῆς ἀπταιστότητος: On the Acquisition of Reading Fluency in Ancient Greek,” with K.O. Chong-Gossard as supervisor. Tom currently works for the Hellenic Museum in Melbourne as Education Officer.
Welcome to two new SHAPS professional staff members: Yumi Matsumoto, our new School Support Officer; and Dale Baum, acting School Operations Coordinator while Lou Benson is away on long service leave.
PhD Completion
Sarah King, A Journey for Permanence: The Enduring Ancient Near East Tradition of the Scorpion-men (PhD in Ancient World Studies, 2025)
This examination of ancient Near Eastern Scorpion-men focuses on seals as the most widely represented receptacles of their imagery. Based on the glyptic evidence, it establishes the first comprehensive Scorpion-man typology, consisting of eight types. The typological analysis reveals an emerging pattern of development concerning bodily structure, poses, and symbolism associated with and increasingly utilised in their imagery. At their core, Scorpion-men can be broken down into two broad categories: their physical attributes and their associations and behaviours. These factors, in turn, provide answers to the questions regarding the nature, function, and significance of Scorpion-men as potent agents of protection.
Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Andrew Jamieson, Dr Claudia Sagona
Research Higher Degree Milestones
Julianne Bell, ‘Three Dimensional Historic Plastic Objects in Australian Museum Collections: Industry Consultation, Identification, Collection Survey and Relational Data Model Analysis’ (PhD completion talk, Cultural Materials Conservation)
Australian museums have significant and growing collections of three dimensional historic plastic objects that are at risk of, or already in the process of deterioration. With a lack of established protocols, collecting institutions require guidelines and recommendations to care and advocate for these objects. This project conducted industry interviews to establish the international context for plastic preservation and research. Standardised identification and survey methodologies were developed utilising a relational data model to facilitate network mapping and statistical analysis with detailed results available on a web-based database platform. The tools, procedures and analysis results provide guidance for the Australian conservation community to advance the management and preservation of plastic cultural heritage.
Advisory Committee: A/Prof. Petronella Nel (Principal Supervisor), A/Prof. Gavan McCarthy (Co-supervisor), Dr Gerhard Wiesenfeldt (Chair)
James Fretwell, ‘New Friends and Old: Relations between China, South Korea, North Korea, and Taiwan, 1971–92’ (PhD confirmation talk, History)
Korea and China both transformed into Cold War frontlines shortly after World War II. Korea split into North and South at the onset of the Cold War in 1945, officially becoming the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) in 1948, while the People’s Republic of China (PRC) ousted the Republic of China (ROC) from the Asian mainland to the island of Taiwan at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. The ROK and ROC formed strong ties as two Asian countries aligned with the U.S. Meanwhile, the PRC and the DPRK, both part of the Communist bloc, forged a friendship that they often described as being as close as “”lips and teeth.”” All of these countries strongly supported their friend’s claims as the sole legitimate ruler of China or Korea, and all largely shunned any interaction with the other side. However, by the end of the Cold War, ideological barriers had broken down and given way to new friendships. 1971 marks the beginning of this study, when U.S. President Richard Nixon announced that he would soon visit China, prompting South Korea to change its approach to the Communist world. Still, China only started to change its approach to South Korea after Deng Xiaoping took power and opened up indirect trade between the two countries in the late 1970s. Relations between China and South Korea gradually improved over the following years, culminating in the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992.
Advisory Committee: Dr Pete Millwood, Prof. Kate McGregor, Prof. David Goodman (Chair)
Cheuk Fan Ho Layton, ‘The Unipolar Hubris: America’s Unipolar Moment, Neoliberalism, and the Rise of China, 1989-2008’ (PhD confirmation talk, History)
This project aims to analyze the development of Sino-American relations in the context of American unipolarity. It is guided by two central questions: (1) How did Sino-American relations survive into the 21st century given that their strategic rationale-the Soviet threat-had collapsed? (2) How did China manage to embed itself within the liberal-capitalist economic order and adapt to US unipolarity while maintaining its mercantilist, authoritarian politico-economic structure?||The project posits that as neoliberalism became ascendant during the unipolar era, it eclipsed all other ideologies in shaping US China policy. As both a political project and a free-market creed, neoliberalism animated and rationalized America’s “”engagement”” policy in the aftermath of Tiananmen. The result was clear: the long-term trajectory of Sino-American relations was one of deeper integration and interdependence.||This project also investigates how economic tripolarity-centered on the US, Japan, and a German-led Western Europe-and the free flow of global capital constrained Washington’s options toward China. Tracing two decades of vicissitudes in the relationship, the project aims to identify the driving forces that helped the two giants, despite their conflicting values and interests, weather many storms.
Advisory Committee: Dr Pete Millwood, Dr Julia Bowes, Prof. David Goodman; A/Prof. Kristian Camilleri (Chair)
Poornima Sardana, ‘After-Surviving: Life Post Cancer Treatment for Women in Delhi-NCR’ (PhD confirmation talk, HPS)
My research aims at understanding the impact of cancer treatment on the lives of women residing in the National Capital Region of India. Navigating the binaries of caregiver and recipient, cure and chronicity, sickness and normality, profit and rest, I embark on my attempt at listening when the supposed caregiver has been ill. Drawing on the diverse subjectivity of lives post a critical illness, are there particularities in women’s experiences that require attention? I thus approach this study of the sociology of illness through the lens of gender studies, feminist care ethics, social justice and sociology of emotions. My intent is to understand, do women receive the care they need and desire? What are the barriers they might face in receiving this care, what support systems can facilitate their care? I shall be conducting this research across caste and economic backgrounds. I question the oppression of women from vulnerable communities in the name of care. My research thus begins with an assumption that care is in solidarity.Having experienced the ambivalence of life post cancer myself, I include some strands that I have become familiar with- post-truth expertise, alternative treatments, grief, pain, stigma, identity, financial implications, as well as the possible role of arts in recovery, expression or acceptance. I therefore design this research to also question whether the social turn in museums, and the advent of social and cultural prescriptions could be of relevance in the lives of women who navigate illness and its impact in Delhi-NCR?
Advisory Committee: Dr James Bradley, Dr Jacinthe Flore, A/Prof. Jenny Spinks (Chair)
Victoria van Bavel, ‘Did Nobility Ennoble? Was Aristocratic Lineage a Determining Factor in the Moral Actions of Senators in the Middle and Late Republic (201–49 BCE)?’ (PhD confirmation talk, Ancient World studies)
Elite Roman society was one defined by hierarchy, and the strict adherence to traditional values that served to prevent significant change in any aspect of life. However, the considerable military advances in the middle to late Republic, and the riches that flowed as a result, meant change was inevitable, even within the senate itself. This eventually included the admission of men who did not have the prestigious heritage previously required. ||This thesis will consider the behaviour of the Roman senators when they held provincial command (and therefore somewhat removed from the purview of their peers) in the late Republic (when wealth and opportunity were abundant), and to identify those whose behaviour could be considered either “”good”” or “”bad”” (noting the importance of a clear definition for these complex terms). It is then necessary to identify which of those men were considered ‘nobiles’ (the traditional elite, and those with paternal consular ancestry) as compared to the ‘homines novi’ (the new men). The aim is then to directly compare the actions of these two ‘classes’ of men to consider the impact one’s lineage had, not only in relation to prosecution and consequences, but more broadly. In particular, whether we can question the long held Roman belief that those with aristocratic lineage were, in fact, the more noble (and moral) of the elite.
Advisory Committee: Prof. Frederik Vervaet; Prof. Tim Parkin; Dr Sarah Corrigan (Chair)
Other happenings
The History Postgraduate Association has elected a new committee:
- President: Jesse Seeberg-Gordon
- Treasurer: Patrick Gigacz
- Secretary: Isabelle Moss
The undergraduate History Society hosted its semesterly Student-led Lecture Night. Pictured are the former Education Officer Paris Cabouret (left) and new President Luke Atkinson (right), dressed for the occasion. Paris co-hosted the event with his successor Isobel Orford, passing the torch mid-way through the evening. The six students who presented all gave fascinating lectures, with plenty of humour and intrigue. Luke gave a lecture on the history of the hermit in Europe, particularly the ornamental hermit of Georgean England. Audrey spoke about the women of the Black Panther party and their unique role and contribution to the movement. Isobel presented some interesting snapshots of Boris Yeltsin and his career in post-Soviet Russian politics. After a break and change of host, Paris presented his history capstone project, on Napoleon’s use of history as a political tool. Liam offered a condensed account of pre-modern Czech history and spoke to the benefits to studying overseas, both inspired by a recent exchange to the Czech Republic. The presentations concluded with James’ lecture on the impact of the Risorgimento and unification of Italy on the rest of Europe. Many thanks go to those who spoke, but also to those who came to listen – the attentive audience and insightful questions are always appreciated. It was truly a lively and entertaining night for all — report on this event by Paris Cabouret.
SHAPS staff, fellows, students, alumni: if you have news items for the monthly SHAPS digest, email us the details.
Feature image: L-R: History Society Education Officer Paris Cabouret and the newly elected History Society President, Luke Atkinson, at the recent History Society Student-Led Lecture Night.