Nathan Stormont, winner of the 2013 Public History Prize, puts the Ukrainian political crisis into historical perspective… On a chilly evening in late November, 2013, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians converged on the Maidan Nezalezhnosti—the Independence Square—in the centre of Kyiv to protest the unpopular regime of Viktor Yanukovych. In the wake of a rejected … Read more
This year the Australian Historical Association (AHA) Conference was held at the University of Queensland’s campus in Brisbane. The theme of the AHA’s 33rd annual get together, held in the week of 7-11 July, was ‘Conflict in History’. The setting of the conference, in rooms within the sandstone buildings that make up the university’s … Read more
Bruce is an independent public historian, who works on small contracts (mainly in the heritage field). He is currently working (on his longest-running contract, that is more than 6 months!) with the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, reviewing and writing conservation plans (with an emphasis on history) for public domain spaces around The Rocks. See … Read more
What is your current position/area of historical interest? I work as a Public Historian in all sorts of places including, as you can see in this photo, Kandos, the gateway to the Wollemi National Park. I am currently employed as Historian and Senior Heritage Consultant for GML Heritage. http://www.gml.com.au/ What made you decide to … Read more
What made you decide to pursue a career in history? My grandmother did our family history when I was really young. She had stories about our family going back to the First Fleet. I became fascinated with how we (me, my family, my community, humanity in general) got to where we are today, and … Read more
What is your area of historical interest? After working as a professional historian and heritage consultant since 1996, I completed my PhD at the University of Sydney in 2012. My thesis was titled ‘On “the Road”: A Cultural History’. It explored how roads beyond the urban and suburban setting have been imagined, experienced and … Read more
Christine Yeats reports on the Royal Australian Historical Society’s June Day Lecture by Dick Whitaker, Chief Meteorologist with Sky News Weather in Australia. In his lecture, ‘Of Droughts and Flooding Rains – rainfall variability in Australia and its effect on our history’, Dick discussed the impact of Australia’s often extreme weather patterns on our history. … Read more
Frank Heimans is an oral historian, filmmaker and managing director of Cinetel Productions What made you decide to pursue a career in history? I started off in documentary filmmaking as a writer, director and editor. Later I became a producer and have made 53 television documentaries. It’s hard to avoid history when you are making … Read more
by Professor Bridget Griffen-Foley, Centre for Media History, Macquarie University. Since Kerry Packer’s death on Boxing Day, 2005, his family, and that of the Murdochs, have been ripe for nostalgic embrace. Three dramatic mini-series focused on the Packer empire: Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo (on the ABC in 2011), Howzat! The Kerry Packer War … Read more
Professional historian, Clare Wright, has won the 2014 Stella Prize for women’s writing. Selected from a strong shortlist which included both fiction and non-fiction, Wright won $50,000 for her history of the Ballarat goldfields, The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka. In her citation, Kerryn Goldsworthy, chair of the 2014 Stella Prize judging panel, said: A rare … Read more