Newsletter - 14th October 2024 - Centre for Contemporary Histories (CCH)

If you have any information to share in the Newsletter please send it through to Anna, the newsletter will be published every fortnight. You can read all our news here, but don’t forget we regularly put out information by our social media channels including Facebook. We also now have a presence on LinkedIn.

News from Members and Associates

Helen Gardner and Brad Underhill have recently been in Port Moresby doing preliminary work on an upcoming project. They met with representatives from the National Research Institute, UPNG, the National Archives and the Australian High Commission. They also featured on the local news, as they were present at the re-opening of the National Archives.
Kasey Symons has a new book chapter – Reframing Impact Through Sharing Stories: Reflections on Emerging Evaluation Practices in Women’s Football in the Pacific Islands.
Klaus Neumann has two new publications. Anxieties about a Porous Border: Australian Government Responses to Melanesian ‘Boat People’, written with Savitri Taylor, is available open access. He also has a piece in Inside Story – Germany’s new normal.
Congratulations to Ana Rosa Marginson, Anna Wilkinson, Liam Detering, Max Billington and Scott McCarthy – the organising committee for the CCH HDR Conference. The conference was held on Friday 11th October, and was a great success.
Mia Martin Hobbs reviewed Warrior, Soldier, Brigand: Institutional Abuse within the Australian Defence Force for The Conversation.
On Monday 7 October, Deb Lee-Talbot appeared on Future Perfect on 3RRR to talk about her Australian Policy and History about cruise ships in the Australia PNG relationship. (The discussion is at at the 1 hour 48 minute mark of this link.)

Seminar Series

We wrapped up our 2024 Seminar Series with a special Deakin Libraries seminar. Thanks to all those who have presented seminars, asked questions, recommended speakers, came along and enjoyed the seminar series over 2024. We look forward to the 2025 series, kicking off in March 2025.

APH News

This week on APH you can read Jacqui Baker interviewing Rose Butler and Eve Vincent about their book Love Across Class.

Events

Future of Archives
21 October 2024
Deakin Downtown

What is the future of archives? Never before have we been as able to reconstruct a life, conscious or unconscious, as it is logged through its traces. Most of what we have ever done is recorded in our digital maps, text messages, keystrokes, and swipes. We leave an extraordinary ‘data exhaust’, which can be visualized, remixed, and translated into implied subjects. Yet other parts of our digital lives are remarkably ephemeral.

How are we to interpret forms of persistence and this ephemerality in the context of literary meaning, or our cultural lives? To whom do archives belong? How are we managing transitions between lack and excess? How safe is our memory – and with whom is it lodged?

The day will seek to bridge practitioners and theorists, bringing together speakers from library science, literary studies, creative writing, and beyond.

Our keynote speaker, Dr. Benjamin Lee (University of Washington), will be speaking about his work creating search and discovery with the vast archival holdings of the Library of Congress, as well as new developments in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Dr. Lee is also a frequent contributor to discussions of uses of visualization, machine learning, and AI for various ends – including policing, sports and gambling, and the erotics of software products. He also writes personal essays on Jewish themes, including this on watching Jerry Lewis’s Holocaust clown comedy. Sign up via eventbrite here.

History Council Event – Book + Author
31 October 2024, 6pm
The Wheeler Centre

Dr Jordana Silverstein will be in conversation with the HCV’s Dr Yves Rees about her ground breaking book Cruel Care: A History of Children at Our Borders.

‘Remaking Futures: ‘Justice, Equality and Global Flourishing’ – ADI Conference
25-26 November 2024
Deakin Burwood Corporate Centre

We are pleased to advise registrations for the ‘2024 ADI Conference – Remaking Futures: Justice, Equality and Global Flourishing’ are now open via Cvent. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in organising panels or who has submitted an abstract for an individual paper – we are excited about the breadth and depth of contributions we have lined up. All Deakin staff and students are entitled to a complete waiver of the registration fee.

CCH Research Grants

Don’t forget that CCH Research Grants are still available for ECRs and HDRs. If you have plans for research before the end of 2024, get your application in now! Funds are limited.

We have changed the grant guidelines, so it is important that you read the new guidelines before you apply for a grant. Check out the guidelines and the application forms in our hub site.

The University’s Research Development Academy is also running grant writing and grant managing workshops. You can find details and registration details here.

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

ASAA Membership

The Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) is the peak academic body for the study of Asia in Australia. ASAA is an interdisciplinary body that represents scholars and students from across many disciplines and subregions. We promote and support the study of Asia in Australian universities and knowledge of Asia among the broader community. ASAA was established in 1976, and is nearing its 50^th anniversary, which is a major milestone.

We are encouraging all academics and students working in Asian Studies, conducting research or teaching on Asia and/or languages spoken in Asia, to join the ASAA. There are a number of benefits and opportunities that come with ASAA membership including access to Asian Studies Review. You can find out more here.

Journalism History – 2024-25 Essay Competition Call

The Journalism History journal calls for scholarly essays that explore the development of journalism’s norms and practices – those subtle but significant values and beliefs that define journalism within and across national and cultural contexts.

This year’s competition seeks essays that explore the historical construction and development of the mosaic of professional norms and practices across cultural, generational, or national contexts around the globe. This exploration can be done through a significant historical event or individual within a specific national context, or it can be an examination of a norm or practice’s evolution over time or across cultural contexts in a given era.

The winning essay will receive a $100 (US) prize. Top essay(s) will be published in the Journalism History journal; runners-up will be published on the Journalism History website. See this document for more details, and entries (not including an essay) are due 15 December.

International Australian Studies Association (InASA) 2025 Biennial Conference
5-7 February 2025

This InASA conference will revolve around the theme ‘Australian Studies in the 21st Century: Human and More-Than-Human Worlds’. It aims to foster interdisciplinary and cross-cultural dialogues on Critical Indigenous Studies, history, literature, culture, creative arts, politics, media, sociology, anthropology, geography, ecology, and other disciplines that engage with human experiences and/or more-than-human worlds.
The organisers welcome proposals for individual papers, 3 member panels, or 4-5 member roundtables for plenary sessions, that engage with the conference theme from diverse disciplines, perspectives, and methodologies. We particularly encourage submissions that prioritise Indigenous voices.
More details on submission guidelines and topics of interest can be found on the website. The submission deadline has been extended to Monday 4 November 2024.

The Melbourne Colonial and Post-colonial Histories Symposium
20 March 2025
ACU Melbourne Campus

Postgraduate students researching any aspect of colonialism and post-colonial pasts are invited to apply to participate in this one-day symposium hosted by the Australian Catholic University and Victoria University. The workshop aims to provide collegial feedback on doctoral research and build scholarly networks. Student participants will pre-circulate an article manuscript or a thesis chapter. In addition to receiving feedback from the group, each student will be paired with an experienced academic who will provide detailed comments on their work in progress.

We particularly welcome research focused on Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas after 1600. Possible themes include but are not limited to:

Colonial and other archives
Mobilities and connected colonial histories
The invention of race and colonial difference
Feminist theories and methods
Colonial law and (in)justice
Violence in colonial projects
Anti-colonial rebellions and the limits of colonial power
Colonial relics: objects and material culture
More-than-human actors
Colonialism and popular memory

To apply, please send an expression of interest to Dianne.hall@vu.edu.au and kristie.flannery@acu.edu.au by 1 November 2024. Your expression of interest should include your name, contact information, an abstract of the chapter or article you wish to present (200 words), up to 5 key words, and a short note on your thesis progress to date (100 words). Successful applicants will be notified by 1 December 2025.

CCH Hub Site

We 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.