You can read all about our news here, but don’t forget we regularly put out information by our social media channels – Twitter and Facebook.

Don’t forget to send Anna your publications, seminars, conferences, calls for papers and other news and celebrations for publication in the newsletter (now published fortnightly on a Monday).

Seminar Series

Thanks to all of our seminar presenters in Trimester 1. We have started lining up presenters for the seminar series in Trimester 2. If you have some new research you’d like to talk about with the CCH community please get in touch. We are especially keen to hear from our HDR students!

First up next Trimester will be Tiffany Shellam on the 12th July.

CCH Grants

Congratulations to Helen Young who has been awarded funding the the new CCH Grant program.

Helen’s project explores how both historical and contemporary far-right fictions, including by violent extremists, are circulated and received, both
before and after the advent of digital media.

Publications and Media

Bec Cairns and Kerri Garrard have a new article in Policy Futures in Education – ‘Learning from history is something that is important for the future’: Why Australian students think history matters.

Events

State Library of New South Wales Scholar Talk (online)
6 June, 11 am to 12 pm

Deborah Lee-Talbot is giving an online talk as part of the State Library of New South Wales Scholar Talk series. Join her on 6 June, 11 am to 12 pm AEST, when she shares findings from her recent manuscript research concerning the discerning polymath, Phyllis Mander-Jones. Mander-Jones (1896–1984) was employed by the NSW Library from 1925–60. During this time, she surveyed historical documents and established the foundations of Australia’s archival profession. Mander-Jones travelled the Pacific searching for relative materials during the 1930s and 1950s; yet her personal contributions from this time, and the records she created about these journeys, are underexamined. Register here.

End of Empire Workshop: Threats, Security, and Stress in the Australia-UK relationship
26 June 2023, Deakin Downtown
Co-hosted by the History Council of Victoria and the Centre for Contemporary Histories, this workshop draws together visiting scholars from ‘Threatened Orders – Societies Under Stress’ with the National Security team at Deakin University to examine the ways in which stress, broadly applied, has manifested in the Australian-British relationship with the end of empire. You can find more information here.

Guglielmo Giannini: Showman and Politician (exhibition) 
CoAsIt (until June 30)
The exhibition Guglielmo Giannini: showman and politician (11 May – 30 June 2023) sheds light on one of the protagonists of Italian politics after World War II: Guglielmo Giannini, the founder of the ‘qualunquismo’ movement. Employing a historical-biographical approach, the exhibition showcases the many professional activities carried out by Giannini (from journalism to dramaturgy, from criticism to film direction). What these activities highlight are the depth and breadth of Giannini’s creative talents, as well as a period of incubation of political activity. The ‘showman’ Giannini, who subsequently emerged as a politician, was adept at intuiting and grasping the needs (and desires) of postwar Italian audiences. Today, Giannini’s story serves not only as a historical window onto the past, but sheds significant light on the ‘qualunquismi’ present in contemporary politics.
The exhibition is supported by Deakin University (which holds the Guglielmo Giannini Digital Archive) in collaboration with the Centro Studi del Teatro Stabile di Torino (Teatro Nazionale), the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Rodrigo Pais Fund), the University of Pavia, and the Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione (CSAC) of the University of Parma, and by COASIT, that hosts it.

Event Reminders

The Wilson History Oration
Inundated: Floods, History and High Water – Dr Margaret Cook
9 June, online
At the second annual Wilson History Oration, environmental historian, Dr Margaret Cook will explore the ways history can engage with the public, the media, other professions and policy makers. In discussing her work on floods, she will highlight how her role and training as a public historian shapes her scholarship and historical practice. Join us as we consider these themes during one of our greatest crises in history: the climate emergency. Registration and information here. 

AHA 2023 Conference
Registrations are now open for the AHA 2023 50^th anniversary conference at ACU, Melbourne, 3-6 July 2023. You can register by following this link (AHA 50th anniversary conference page), clicking the “Register Now” button and following the prompts.

Ugo Tognazzi: Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man
April 28 to June 30
Ugo Tognazzi: Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man initiative is a film retrospective and exhibition that celebrates the 100th (and one) birthday of Ugo Tognazzi, the famous protagonist of Italian cinema. Curated and realised by Victoria Duckett (Deakin University) and Elena Mosconi (University of Pavia), it runs from April 28 to June 30. It includes the screening of three films that have been recently restored by the Cineteca Nazionale at the Cinema Nova. These works represent milestones in Tognazzi’s career: The Fascist (Il federale, Luciano Salce, 1961), Crazy Desire (La voglia matta, Luciano Salce, 1962) and  The Terrace (La terrazza, Ettore Scola, 1980). At the same time that a retrospective of film showcases Tognazzi’s cinematic virtuosity, the exhibition traces the actor’s career through a range of original materials. This includes posters and memorabilia on loan from the Tognazzi Archive in Cremona. Collectively, the Tognazzi works demonstrate a peculiarly ‘Italian style’ of comedy: this is a comedy in which an entire country is reflected, albeit through a critical, caricatured, and even tragicomic filter. Ugo Tognazzi: Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man is the result of a collaboration between Deakin University, the Italian Cultural Institute, Co.As.It, the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia – Cineteca Nazionale, and the University of Pavia, where the Tognazzi Archive is based (with the Cremona City Council).

Please see this TOGNAZZI Melbourne – interactive flyer, or click on the individual links: Exhibition Opening, The Fascist Screening, Crazy Desire Screening and The Terrace Screening.

Cover Photo

Three women sitting on deck chairs possibly on board SS ORMISTON, 1927-1939. National Maritime Museum.