News & Events around the School
History Council Forum
Dr Gareth Pritchard; THE Legendary Lecturer
Australian Political Studies Association
The History of History@adelaide
Grants
The Indo-Pacific Governance Research Centre Workshop
2012 Summer School Courses
2012 Winter School Courses
History Council Forum
What is the Future of History in South Australia?
Thursday 2.30-4pm, 24 May 2012 at the State Library of SA
A lively panel of speakers will identify major challenges and opportunities facing South Australia’s history and heritage communities before responding to questions and comments from the audience. This forum is for anyone interested in the future of history in this state.
Discussion may include:
• Creating a love of history in students-will the national curriculum help or hinder?
• Does the past matter to young people?
• Is social media the answer?
• Generational change and succession planning for volunteer organisations?
• Is the government allocating enough resources?
Who’s on this lively Panel?
Margaret Anderson, Chief Executive Officer, History SA
Peter Goers, presenter 891 Evenings, ABC Adelaide
Heidi Ing, Liaison Librarian Flinders University
Paul Sendziuk, Associate Professor History Discipline, University of Adelaide
Listen to the experts!
Voice your questions!
Contribute to the conversation!
• Thursday 24 May 2.30-4pm at the Basil Hetzel Lecture Theatre, Institute Building, State Library of SA (corner of Kintore Ave & North Terrace)
• Free event
• Limited places, bookings essential : Tel 8207 7626 or online at www.slsa.sa.gov.au/calendar
• For Enquiries : Contact Wilf Prest on 0403 660 308 or email hcsasecretary@internode.on.net
Dr Gareth Pritchard: THE Legendary Lecturer
What the students said -
Gareth Pritchard’s lectures are like having an awesome BBC documentary shouted at you in a Welsh accent. Only more awesome. From the moment the lecture starts you can’t do anything but listen in awe as this short, portly ball of energy jumps up and down with furious enthusiasm for his subject matter. More than any other History Lecturer I’ve encountered he’s also extremely concerned with pushing you as an individual to be a better thinker and writer, and to teach history as a craft, not just a set of information. Cannot recommend him highly enough. Last year he taught Russia through War and Revolution (which I took) and Twentieth Century: A World in Turmoil (which I did not take). This year he’s taking Social Protest and Revolution in Modern Europe which should be the cat’s pyjamas.
He’s an incredibly good lecturer, and he cares a lot about his students. He’s quick to respond to emails, and absolutely phenomenal at lecturing, some of his lectures on World War I and II were easily the best lectures I’ve ever been part of. I would possibly even listen to them for leisure, they’re so wlivered. It’s not just the subject matter that’s interesting though, but the way that it’s being delivered that he does so well.
He’s just a completely fantastic lecturer. Passionate, interesting, funny, and even inspiring. Brilliantly engaging, and the only lecturer I’ve seen a class genuinely applaud – more than once. Completely brilliant, approachable, and extremely helpful in replying to individual student queries via email.
A knowledgeable and extremely passionate lecturer. he has a strong knowledge of a wide range of 20th century history, and has taught the only class i have seen to recieve ovation at the end of multiple lectures.
He is a short, grizzled Welshman. Shining example of a fine lecturer. Clearly he is legitimately passionate about not only the content of his courses, but the delivery of that content to students. Never have I seen a history class with such little absenteeism, no doubt due to the spectacle of Gareth’s lectures and the quality of oration. His SELT results left more than one comrade lecturer in fits of furious jealousy with good reason. If you are a student who can elect to take a history course, do not miss the chance to take his Russian history course.
Australian Political Studies Association - Women and Politics Prize 2012
The prize is presented for the best essay on the topic of women and politics broadly defined.
The criteria used in judging entries are:
- Originality of argument and/or material
- Usefulness to women involved in political practice or in relation to teaching
- Quality of presentation
Conditions of entry:
- Competition is open to undergraduate or postgraduate students who are Australian or New Zealand residents
- Essay should be approximately 5,000 words (7,000 words absolute maximum)
- Work should be unpublished, although entries which have been accepted for publication are eligible
- One (1) copy of the manuscript to be submitted electronically as a single MS Word
- Entries must be sent to Greta Larsen (School Manager, History & Politics) at the email address provided below, no later than 02 July 2012
- The winner will be announced at the annual conference dinner, where the prize of $1,000 and a trophy will be awarded
For further information please contact:
Prof. Lisa Hill
School of History & Politics T
he University of Adelaide
North Terrace Campus Adelaide SA 5000
Email: lisa.hill@adelaide.edu.au
Phone: 08 8313 4608
Entries to be emailed to Greta Larsen: greta.larsen@adelaide.edu.au
The History of History@adelaide
Podcasts of the Symposium
On Friday 2 December 2011 the Discipline of History presented a one-day Symposium addressing the history of History at The University of Adelaide, convened by Norman Etherington and Wilfrid Prest. The program included broad overviews of history students, staff, subjects and teaching from early days to the present, together with personal memoirs and recollections from former students, and past and current staff members.
Grants
The School of History and Politics would like to congratulate the following staff members for their success in the recent round of faculty ARC grants
Discovery
Professor Tim Doyle and Professor Kanishka Jayasuriya et al.
Title: ‘Building an Indian Ocean region.’
Funding; $378.000 (over 3 years)
Professor Lisa Hill
Title: ‘The science of welfare: Adam Smith’s political thought’
Funding; $115.000 (over 3 years)
Professor David Lemmings and Emeritus Professor Wilf Prest et al
Title: ‘A new history of law in eighteenth-century England.’
Funding; $153.000 (over 3 years)
Linkage
Associate Professor Rachel Ankeny et al.
Title: ‘Hostel stories: toward a richer narrative of the lived experiences of migrants.’
Funding; $90.000 (over 3 years)
Associate Professor Catherine Speck et al.
Title: 'Redefining the paradigm: exhibitions as creators of Australian art history.'
Funding; $117.000 (over 3 years) – Led by UNSW
LIEF
Associate Professor Robert Foster et al.
Title: ‘The Australasian Legal History Library: Creating historical depth in legal data on AustLll, to improve all legal research.’
Funding; $330.000 (over 1 year) - Led by University of Technology, Sydney
Associate Professor Catherine Speck et al.
Title: ‘Design and Art Australia Online: Sustainable data sharing for Australian researchers and collections.’
Funding; $240.000 (over 1 year) – Led by UNSW
The Indo-Pacific Governance Research Centre Workshop
Politics and the Two-Speed /Patchwork Economy: Transformation, Participation and Equality
This workshop will explore the political dimensions of Australia’s uneven economic development - the so-called two-speed or patchwork economy.
Keynote Speech - Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Finance and Deregulation
Date - Thursday 1 December 2011
Time - 5pm - 6pm
Venue - Flentje Lecture Theatre, Plaza Building Level 2
Workshop - Friday 2nd December 2011
Time - please see attached program
Venue - The Stretton Room, Napier Building Level 4, Room 420
2012 Summer School Courses
Human Rights and Postcolonial Issues
The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights embodies an ideal based on a recognition of the 'inalienable rights of all members of the human family'. That ideal is one which emerges from the profoundly important mission of imagining and realising a global human dignity. It's an ideal which is couched in a language and an imagination of global goals and aspirations and a universal human family. But that language does not exist in a political vacuum. It does not exist above or outside of ideology. There are many contentious issues related to the issue of universal human rights, and many ideological battlegrounds. This course will engage with some of these issues, primarily through a postcolonial theoretical lens. The course will explore some postcolonial critiques of dominant human rights discourses, and other related critiques too. Broadly, questions of whether absolutist frameworks are adequate to ethical and rights based issues will be addressed with the aim of critically examining what constitutes an appropriate imagination for the aspirations of the human family.
2012 Winter School Courses
Bioethics Policy
Bioethical issues are often extremely morally contentious. Considerable societal conflict exists regarding fundamental clinical issues such as defining the beginning and end of life as well as appropriate standards of care, but also with broader environmental issues with potential social and health impacts, such as growth of genetically-modified organisms and their use in the food supply. This course examines these issues in the context of the development of formal policy, regulation, and law as well as more informal mechanisms of governance for bioethical issues in contemporary Australia. We explore various methods for involving the community in policy-making processes associated with controversial bioethical issues with particular attention to theories associated with deliberative democracy and methods relating to public engagement over such policy issues.
Incredible India: Dynamics of a Rising World Power
This course will briefly examine India's emergence as a potential superpower in the 21st century. After a brief survey of the geography, anthropology and history of south Asia, the course will trace major changes in India since 1947. The major focus in this part of the course will be on contemporary issues arising from rapid economic transformation. Topics will include the decline of the Congress Party and the emergence of the Hindu-nationalist BJP, the impact of economic reforms, social and environmental consequences of the Green Revolution in agriculture, the growing political power of India's Backward Castes and ex-Untouchables, the emergence of India's middle class, the changing role of women, and the growth and international influence of Indian films and music.
The course will compare developments in India with those occurring in its south Asian neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. It will also look briefly at the south Asian diaspora. The course will also examine India's relations with its neighbours, focusing especially on relations with Pakistan and the global significance of both nations as nuclear weapons states.
Indigenous Culture & History
This course will introduce students to Indigenous culture and history. It will consider traditional Aboriginal Society practices and structures, including Indigenous religion and beliefs (kinships, lore and the Dreaming), and relationships to the land and environment. It will then introduce policies and events that have affected Aboriginal society since colonisation, including policies that led to the Stolen Generation, welfare and church practices, Protector practices, social policies of segregation, and policies of self determination. Students will undertake a number of local field trips which will provide a range of experiences of traditional Aboriginal Dreaming Stories, Aboriginal Art/Artefacts, and Aboriginal Political Activism.
The Practice of Australian Politics
This course will enable students to work on a selected number of policy case studies under the guidance of two former federal members of parliament. The focus will be on the factors that shape policy initiatives in Australia: how and why governments develop policy in the way that they do as well as on the ways that oppositions and minor parties react to these. Students will study the national and institutional context within which Australian governments operate. The course will enable students to work closely with former MPs and to utilise their unique insights into the practice of contemporary Australian politics.
The Rise of China's Economic Power
This course examines the process of China’s developmental experience since the imperial times until the present. Its goal is to help students develop an informed perspective on the historical evolution of China’s economic policies, their political and social context and their effectiveness in stimulating economic growth and institutional change in China. Another objective of this course is to study Chinese economic development in order to think critically about the linkages between economy and politics in general, as well as the role of an individual in the process of the articulation and implementation of economic policies. China’s experiment with socialism and its continuous efforts to find the Chinese path to modernization make it a fascinating case study for understanding how economic change is taking place in a society that experiences leadership struggles, legitimacy crises, drastic institutional changes and historically-conditioned wealth inequalities. Finally, the course will encourage students to challenge the conventional notion of China’s ‘economic miracle’ and China’s allegedly novel model of economic development.
