Get your publications, call for papers, announcements and events to me (Anna) by COB Wednesday for publication on Friday.
Seminar
We have two seminars remaining in the 2021 series. Roy Hay will present on the 2oth October, and our final seminar of 2021 will be by Brad Underhill. Zoom links have all been sent, get in touch if you haven’t received one!
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Deb Lee-Talbot who has been awarded a National Library of Australia Summer Scholarship. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, she will spend this summer in Canberra, researching and writing for her project ‘A Unique Copy: The Australian Joint Copying Project’.
Podcasts
You can hear Tiffany Shellam discussing the work of the team behind The Collective Nyungar Heritage of an “Orphan Letter”, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press in the Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History. The podcast is part of the Voices of the Archives series produced by the State Records Office of Western Australia.
Opportunity
Army History Research Grants
The Australian Army History Unit is now accepting applications for the 2022/23 Army History Research Grants Scheme. The Scheme is designed to support and encourage original research into the history of the Australian Army. The AAHU values new or unique research that contributes to a deeper understanding of the history of the Australian Army and can contribute to Army’s current and future development and the professional military education of its members. AAHU encourages applications from a broad field of researchers, either individually or as a team. Grants are available up to a maximum amount of $15, 000 for one year. For significant research projects, multi-year grants are available for up $15, 000 per year for up to three consecutive years (to a maximum of $45, 000). If you have any questions about the grants scheme, how to apply, or whether your research is eligible, please contact AAHU.Grants@defence.gov.au
Applications close 5pm 19 November 2021, and you can find further information here.
Events
Collecting the West Seminar
Another seminar for the Collecting the West series is to be held 21 October, 4pm AWST, when Paola Anselmi will present The Forgotten Pictorialists. Registrations are currently open via Eventbrite.
Australian Social Policy Conference
25 October–5 November 2021
The 2021 Australian Social Policy Conference will be held online with free registration open to everyone. The conference is hosted by the UNSW Social Policy Research Centre, with session convenors from across Australia. Conference sessions will address contemporary issues in the context of ongoing social policy themes, including:
• Poverty, welfare and social inequality
• Communities, families and children
• Digital technologies and social policy
• Environment and social policy
• Disability and rights
• Housing and location
• Human services
• Ageing
• Health and social policy
• Indigenous peoples
• Chinese social policy
Find more information here.
Making Public Histories – Child Labour and Slavery
25 November, 5pm
Jane Lydon (University of Western Australia), Claire Lowrie (University of Wollongong) and Susie Protschky (Deakin University), share their research into histories of slavery. You can find more details and book here.
Event Reminders
Don’t forget Carolyn Holbrook will be giving the History Council of Victoria Annual Lecture next Thursday 21st October. You can book for the event here.
‘I don’t hold a hose, mate’: Power and sentiment in the Australian Federation
If a good portion of Australians did not realise before the COVID-19 pandemic that they were living in a federation, they would be hard-pressed to maintain their ignorance now. While previous national crises have aggrandised the Commonwealth, this pandemic has elevated the states to a prominence they have not enjoyed since the earliest days of the Federation. ‘Gladys’, ‘Dan’ and ‘Annastacia’, in particular, have become national figures and the subjects, variously, of idolatry and derision. The COVID-sponsored resurgence of the states has revealed how little notice we typically take of our federal compact, and how ignorant we are of its history.
Western Australia’s Mark McGowan has enjoyed the most conspicuous political success. The premier-hero has charmed the West Australian public with a mix of humour and competence that even inspired a fan-girling comedian to write a country music song about her ‘knight in shinin’ armour[’s] … hard, hard, hard border’. Despite his success in managing the virus, McGowan’s historic election win in March 2021 can only be explained with reference to WA’s historical relationship to the rest of the Federation.
In this talk, I trace various episodes in federal history, including the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1919, WA’s secessionist bid in the 1930s and the 1951 Commonwealth Jubilee, to understand why Western Australia has often felt like ‘the Cinderella state of the Australian Federation’. I will also reflect on the structures of power and influence in public debate and the historical profession itself, which have worked to mute understanding of the Federation and its ingrained eastern states biases.
APH
International Symposium on Public Health
9 November 2021
Australian Policy and History and the Contemporary Histories Research Group at Deakin University will host leading academics and policy experts from across the world to discuss public health policy from historical and contemporary perspectives. Speakers including Hon Dr Neal Blewett, Bill Bowtell AO and Professor Catherine Bennett talking about the foundation of Medicare and the contemporary state of our public health system. Historians from the US, UK and Canada will offer perspectives on their health systems. You can read more about the event here, and you can register for the free online symposium here.
Opportunity Reminders
Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship
The Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship, valued at $20,000, supports Australian writers working on biography projects. The Fellowship was established by the family and friends of Hazel Rowley, one of the world’s leading biographers, to commemorate her life and writing legacy following her death in 2011.
The Fellowship is open to Australian citizens and permanent residents. Up to $20,000 is awarded for travel and research to further a writing proposal or work in progress. It may not be used to pay for a research assistant or to subsidise a publication. The focus is on biography, but extends to an aspect of cultural or social history compatible with Hazel’s interest areas. Preference is given to projects that are about ‘risk-taking’ and expanding horizons, promote discussion of ideas, and make a significant contribution to public intellectual life. Applications due 16 November 2021. More details here.
Freilich Project Early Career Research Small Grant Scheme
The Freilich Project offers up to three grants of $5000 each to emerging scholars as part of its Early Career Research Small Grants Scheme. The grants assist research into the causes, histories and effects of ethnic, cultural, religious and sexual bigotry and animosity. They also support research that explores how such intolerance can be combatted, and co-existence promoted. Applications due 12 November 2021. More details here.
Allan Martin Award
The Allan Martin Award is a research fellowship intended to assist early-career historians further their research in Australian history. It is available to all early career historians (within five years of the award of their PhD degree), whether academic, professional, or public historians working in museums, war memorials and other institutions. Funding of up to $4500 is awarded every year to assist towards the expenses of a research trip – in Australia or overseas – undertaken in support of a project in Australian history. Intention to submit due 1 October 2021, applications close 1 December 2021. More info here.
Magarey Medal for Biography
This is awarded biennially to the female person who has published the work judged to be the best biographical writing on an Australian subject. The 2020 Medal will be awarded for a book published in 2020 or 2021. For the 2022 round, the Magarey Medal will be administered by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL). Applications close 31 January 2022. More information is here.
The W. K. Hancock Prize
This prize recognises and encourages an Australian scholar who has recently published a first scholarly book in any field of history. 2022 Prizes will be awarded for a work published in 2020 or 2021. Applications close 31 January 2022. Further details here.
Journal of Applied History Seeks Submissions
The Journal of Applied History, published by Brill, welcomes articles on a wide range of subjects using an Applied History approach. Information about the journal and how to submit an article is available here. The journal would be grateful if members of the Contemporary Histories Research Group at Deakin could share this information with other faculty, their networks, and advanced graduate students. Please direct any questions to CHRG affiliate Nathaniel Moir at nmoir@hks.harvard.edu