Welcome to our fortnightly newsletter. If you have things you’d like to share with the CCH community, please email Anna before the next fortnightly newsletter. We will also share news and updates on LinkedIn. Please tag us in the news that you are posting on Linkedin so we can share it!
PNG Independence Day
Papua New Guinea celebrates 50 years of independence from Australia tomorrow – 16th September. To mark this milestone, today we are featuring a poem written by PNG poet Wardley Barry.
Why I Chose This Poem: “downtown | PORT MORESBY”
Downtown, Port Moresby, is the first economic and political capital of Papua New Guinea. Today, with modern skyscrapers, relentless traffic and breathtaking views from the hills, this part of the city still thrives, a testament to the aspirations and determination of the nation. It is also a witness, a witness that sees contradiction. The towers callously dwarf the remaining vegetation, casting a breezeless, breathless shadow over their surroundings. Millions of kina change hands inside glass walls, oblivious to the vendor peddling buai (betel nut) and smoke outside, searching for their next meal.
“downtown | PORT MORESBY” is a poem that emerged from my own unease with the city’s transformation, a transformation that pays little regard to local heritage, rituals and beliefs. From a landscape of shared customs and earth-based knowledge, we’ve transitioned into one of gated access and economic symbols often foreign to local values. It also comes from a place of wonderment and admiration. Our fathers and mothers could scarcely imagine such incredible feats of engineering.
The poem’s shape, taking the form of two skyscrapers, mirrors the country’s vertical rise and its infrastructural and economic ambitions. While I admire the city’s stride toward becoming a modern metropolis, I also mourn the emotional and cultural distance that such development creates. Through it, I question who we are becoming, what we might be losing, and whether our dreams can still live beneath the steel. I write not as an observer from outside, but as a participant, perhaps an unwitting one, in both the making modern Papua New Guinea and the gradual erosion of traditional values.
As we mark 50 years of independence, I believe we need not only to celebrate how far we’ve come, but also to ask difficult questions about what kind of nation we are still becoming. This poem is both a lament and a mirror, perhaps even a call to remember that progress should never cost us our sense of place, story, or soul.
Wardley Barry
You can follow Wardley on Facebook here.
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To mark the 50th Anniversary of Independence in PNG, CCH has been supporting the publication of policy briefs in the APH from students who completed the Australia Awards PNG course earlier this year. Jon Ritchie, Brad Underhill and colleagues from PNG are working on a project marking the occasion.
Brad Underhill was invited to Canberra for the Celebrating 50 Years of Papua New Guinea Independence Community Day, co-hosted by the National Gallery of Australia and the National Archives of Australia. Sponsored by DFAT, he spoke about and signed copies of Debating the Nation. The event brought together former officials, kiaps, those who experienced independence as children, and members of the PNG diaspora, and featured cultural performances including a moving choral performance. As an added bonus he got to spend an afternoon with Bill Gammage!
News from Members and Associates
News from Members and Associates- Huge congratulations to current PhD student Alex Barilaro who has been awarded the 2025 CEW Bean Prize for Military History in the Honours thesis division. His 2023 thesis, titled ‘The Esteemed of the Western Front: The Making of the Story of the Australians in 1918’, examines the making and sustaining of a popular narrative of Australian battlefield superiority in the final year of the Great War. Judges of the prize described Alex’s thesis as ‘a highly original and well-argued thesis, and a worthy recipient of the CEW Bean Prize for Military History in the Honours category.’ The prize is administered by the Australian Army History Unit.
- Congratulations to Klaus Neumann who has a new publication – “Looking for improbable histories.“ In Here Comes the Sun: A Selection of Fine Historical Essays in Honour of Professor Pertti Ahonen, eds. Tuomas Laine-Frigren, Ville Häkkinen, Andrew G. Newby, Tuija Parvikko and Antero Holmila, 141-153. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä (2025). The publication is open access.
- Tony Joel featured in the Geelong Advertiser discussing the Geelong Sports Museum project a few weeks ago.
Seminar Series
| 17th September, 11am | Sam Dalgarno – Irreconcilable differences or a lasting marriage of convenience?: Some thoughts on the relationship between neoliberalism and self-determination in New South Wales Aboriginal affairs policy since the 1980s |
| 24th September, 11am | Scott McCarthy – The Catholic Elite and the Construction of Irishness in Victoria and New South Wales, 1878–1923 |
Call for Papers
2025 Labour History Conference
The Spirit of 1975: Transformations in Australian Labour HistoryIn 2025, the Melbourne Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History (ASSLH) will host the Society’s 19th Biennial Conference. The venue is the beautifully renovated Trades Hall Council building.
The conference will be held from 26 to 28 November 2025 and commemorates the 50th anniversary of the International Women’s Year, the dismissal of the Whitlam Government, and the end of the American War in Vietnam.The Spirit of 1975: Transformations in Australian Labour History invites historians and activists to take up this theme, as well as addressing wider issues and developments epitomised by that year. We welcome a wide range of papers considering the significance of the events of the 1970s in politics, protests, ideas, and cultural and social movements in Australia and abroad. For abstract submissions and panel proposals, go to this link. Abstracts are due by 1 September 2025 (TODAY!). For keynote speakers and registration go to this link.Hosted by the Victorian Trades Hall, The Spirit of 1975: Transformations in Australian Labour History is held under the general auspices of the Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Events
25 September 2025, 1pm – 2pm
Online via zoom
We are delighted to announce the online launch of our new special issue, Memory Politics of Colonial Heritage in Asia and the Pacific: Conflict, Remembrance, and Peacebuilding, co-edited by Yujie Zhu and Lia Kent (ANU), published in the International Journal of Cultural Policy. This special issue grew out of a workshop hosted at the ANU as part of an ARC-funded project on memory politics and heritage. It brings together critical reflections on how colonial legacies continue to shape governance, identity, and struggles for justice. Rather than treating colonial heritage as a relic of the past, the collection examines it as a contested and strategic resource, embedded in public policy, urban space, cultural memory, and transnational activism. Joan Beaumont contributed an article to this special issue. You can register for the event here.
You are invited to a special interdisciplinary workshop that showcases the findings from the History, Archives and Ethics (HAE) project. This workshop is the result of Dr Deborah Lee-Talbot (Centre for Contemporary Histories), Associate Professor Patrick Stokes (Philosophy), and Tasrif Noor (School of Information Technology) exploring the real-world process of ethically using publicly available historical personal data in the development of generative Artificial Intelligence models. RSVP for light catering by 5 October. More details here.
ANZASA 2025
26-28 November 2025
University of Melbourne
ANZASA is pleased to announce its biennial conference to be held November 26 – 28, 2025, on the campus of the University of Melbourne, as part of the 2025 Congress of the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS). The theme of the conference is ‘Democracy and Resilience’. It will bring together scholars researching and teaching all aspects of the history, politics and culture of the United States of America. There is a rich diversity of accepted papers. If you missed out on the CFP, there may be a few places left if people get in touch as soon as possible – email ANZASA2025@gmail.com with the subject heading ‘Late abstract and bio.’ Registration for the conference is now open.
CCH Research Grants and other opportunities
CCH Research Grants and other opportunitiesIf you have plans for research in 2025, apply for a research grant now!It is important that you read the guidelines before you apply for a grant. Check out the guidelines and the application forms in our hub site.CCH Shut Up and Write every Monday, 9am-1.30pm, via Zoom. Start the week strong with a Shut Up and Write! We will run 4 x 50 minute blocks of writing/focus, with breaks in between to chat, grab coffees, etc. All CCH colleagues welcome, especially ECRs, HDRs, and those who work remotely. Feel free to join at any time – it doesn’t matter if you can’t make it to every session, or every block in a session, just come when you can.The zoom link is here. (Meeting ID: 822 0730 8335, Password: 65182364)
If you would like a recurring invite in your calendar, or you have any trouble joining, email Mia at mia.martinhobbs@deakin.edu.au
Opportunities
Australian War Memorial Summer Vacation Scholarship Scheme
The Summer Vacation Scholarship Scheme provides an exciting opportunity for students hoping to make history their career. Summer Scholars will:
- Acquire skills in public history by working with staff in the Memorial’s Military History Section
- Learn about the range and significance of the Memorial’s collections
- Gain an understanding of a historian’s work in a cultural institution
To apply, applicants must be history students undertaking postgraduate studies or entering their Honours (fourth) year of an undergraduate course. The scholarships are also open to students enrolled in museum or public history courses. Applications close at 5 pm (AEST) on Sunday 21 September 2025. For more information see the website.
Journal of Pacific History Publication Incentive Grant
The Journal of Pacific History Inc. invites qualified persons to apply for a Publication Incentive grant. These competitive grants are offered to help support early career Pacific historians to prepare manuscripts for submission to the Journal of Pacific History for peer review. Anyone who has completed a PhD or MA since 2019 in a field relevant to Pacific history, or who is currently enrolled for a doctorate in such a field, can apply for a grant of $3,000 to prepare a manuscript for submission to peer review. Applications are due by the 30 September 2025, and more details and instructions are available in this link.
The Pacific History Association Teresia Teaiwa Prize 2025
The Pacific History Association (PHA) established the Teresia Teaiwa Prize in 2018 to honour the profound legacy of Teresia Teaiwa, former President and Secretary of PHA. The inaugural prize was awarded at the PHA’s 2021 conference. The 2025 winner will be decided and announced at the PHA’s biennial conference to be held on 2-5 December 2025 at the National University of Samoa. The prize is for a conference presentation. Finalists will be shortlisted on the basis of an essay submitted prior to the conference. The 2025 winner will receive a prize of $1000. You can find further information and eligibility requirements here.
Gunson Essay Prize
A prize of AUD $1,000 will be awarded at the 2025 Pacific History Association Conference, for the winner of the Gunson Essay Prize Competition. Postgraduate or senior students from any country are invited to submit an essay in English between 5,000 and 8,000 words on any topic relating to the pasts of the Island Pacific and its peoples by 1 November 2025. For further details and eligibility requirements see this link.
CCH Hub SiteWe now have a Sharepoint site (for Deakin staff and students only). This is where you can find CCH templates and logos, and importantly – new grant application forms. CCH members should have access, but you will need to use your Deakin login.
Cover Photo
Papua New Guinea Independence Day Celebrations, from the National Archives Collection – NAA: A6180, 22/9/75/13
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