Annual Themes
Each year, the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies explores a special theme, through a series of public facing events, articles, and podcasts.
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Introducing Dr Matthew Champion
Dr Matthew Champion, appointed to a Senior Lectureship in History in 2022, is a historian of medieval and early modern Europe, with a particular focus on the experience of time and temporality during periods of intense change. In this interview for the SHAPS Forum podcast, Dr Henry Reese talks with Matthew about his research, including […]
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Mynas Matter: Towards a Cultural History of ‘Invasive’ Species in Australia
History PhD candidate Simon Farley is investigating settler Australian attitudes towards non-native wildlife from the 1820s to the present. In this article, they reflect on the historical entanglement of ‘invasive’ species with the politics of immigration and indigeneity. How is a myna like Pauline Hanson? No, it’s not a riddle. It is a question a […]
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The 2021 International Summer School in Transnational History, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Since 2018, the Universitas Gadjah Mada has hosted an annual International Summer School in Transnational History, bringing together students from across Southeast Asia to live and study together in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In 2018 and 2019 SHAPS was able to send small groups of students, together with Associate Professor Katharine McGregor, to participate in person in […]
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Control & the Imagery of Power: The Case of Emperor Augustus
Episode 1 in the 2021 SHAPS ‘Control’ Podcast Series: Dr Roslynne Bell (Classics & Archaeology).
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Control 2021–2022
From the Brexit campaign with its call to ‘take back control’, to cultural fashions like the Marie Kondo phenomenon, through to criminological and sociological theories on self-control and socialisation, or political discourses around borders and immigration – everywhere we look, we find evidence of an intense preoccupation with ‘control’. A desire for and a drive […]
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Episode 6 in the SHAPS Podcast Series: Professor Mike Arnold
Professor Mike Arnold discusses his research on the intersections between death, technology and society, in this final episode of the SHAPS 2020 ‘Disaster and Change’ podcast series, hosted by Dr Henry Reese.
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Applied Proof Theory: Holding an International Workshop during the Pandemic
How do you hold an international workshop at a time when travel between continents is at a standstill and countries all over the world are in lockdown? Greg Restall, Professor in Philosophy, explains how this worked at the recent international workshop on Applied Proof Theory.
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Rebuilding Life after Mass Violence: Lessons from the Chilean Truth Commission
History PhD candidate Amy Hodgson was recently awarded a prestigious Yale Fox International Fellowship. This graduate exchange scheme supports students who are committed to harnessing scholarly knowledge to respond to urgent global challenges. The Fellowship will support Amy’s research into the history of Chile’s post-dictatorship truth commissions. For her project, Amy has carried out a […]
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The Uncounted Death Toll of Coronavirus in Aged Care
Associate in History Marama Whyte reflects on the acute crisis in the aged care sector that has been revealed so tragically by the pandemic.
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Restoring and Conserving the Parish Church at Guiuan, Eastern Samar
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 […]
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Other Awful Years in History
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 […]
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WFH as a Textile Conservator
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 […]
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SHAPS Digest (August 2020)
A monthly roundup of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.
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Volcanic Winter and Pandemic Pandemonium
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 […]
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Sport, Community and Everyday Life: World War One and COVID-19 Compared
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 […]
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SHAPS Digest (June 2020)
A monthly round-up of media commentary, publications and projects, and other news from across the School community.