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History Council SA
  • About Us
    • Who We Are
    • Our History
    • Advocacy
      • Juukan caves enquiry: submission from History Councils Australia
      • Protest against hike in student fees
    • National History Statement
    • Constitution
  • Awards
    • HCSA Fellowship
    • HCSA Historian Awards
    • Wakefield Press Essay Prize
  • Events
    • Annual Regional Lecture
    • AGM
  • Our Members
    • Overview
    • Executive Committee
    • General Committee
    • Governance
  • Membership
  • Resources
    • Podcasts
    • eNewsletter
    • HCSA Webinars
  • Contact Us

eNewsletter

Newsletter 19 May 2020

Members News

Updates from State Records South Australia
With restrictions starting to ease, State Records will monitor the situation and reopen in accordance with government advice. During this closure, staff have continued to offer public reference services and have undertaken projects to improve access to the archival collection.

State Records has had to cancel their face-to-face freedom of information Accredited and non-Accredited Officer training, but a measure to enable agencies with an urgent need for the training has been approved by the Attourney General. They are additionally aiming to have a new accreditation course available online later this year.  

Making and keeping records during the COVID-19 pandemic

In the future, we will want to look back and know how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted our state and community. Making and keeping records, and documenting decisions made during this time is as important as ever. This includes documenting policies and decisions communicated over social media, and recording work undertaken using new online collaborative platforms. These records will allow us to look back at the impact of COVID-19 in the following years.

Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation starts historical program
(Susan Marsden, Founder. 6 May)

As History Council members will know, the Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation Ltd was co-founded by Susan Marsden and Michael Szwarcbord to address a significant cultural and funding gap in Australia by establishing the first philanthropic organisation to directly fund the production of historical literature. The Foundation with its specific focus on supporting works of ‘historic merit’, was entered on Australia’s Register of Cultural Organisations in November 2019. Donations to the foundation are now tax-deductible.

Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation grant programs aim to support history writers of all ages in producing works a variety of forms and media. We’re pleased to announce that the Foundation has now employed Sandra Kearney in the first funded program, as an ‘intern’ historian. Sandra is familiar to you as Secretary of the History Council, a member of the Professional Historians Association, and a PhD student. Under Susan’s mentorship, Sandra is carrying out research and writing that will include co-presenting ‘Make history at home’ sessions online to advise audiences confined to home during the coronavirus pandemic.

For queries about the Foundation or to ask about making a donation, please contact Dr Susan Marsden, email: [email protected]

Protect Our Heritage Alliance: The Planning and Design Code and E-Planning.
(Professor Warren Jones AO, Convenor - Protect our Heritage Alliance. 7 May)

No clarity – no credibility – no cash…..what next? It is becoming difficult to see how the Government can contemplate implementing Phases 2 and 3, even on the revised deferred timeline. An In Daily article (5/5/20) has exposed the chaos in DPTI surrounding the Code and its essential electronic implementation tool, the e-planning system. The recently appointed State Planning Reform Director, Ray Partridge, flies in and out from Sydney with dispensation to circumvent the COVID 19 restrictions. He is currently under Departmental investigation for forcing staff to flaunt social distancing measures and work in the office rather than at home, because of the panic attending the construction and validation of the e-planning system. This follows the recent resignations of five members of the IT planning team and of other key DPTI staff.

It is clear that that the Code and its support systems are in chaos. And yet no-one in authority will admit this. A DPTI official has insisted that e-planning was on track with ‘final technical testing underway in partnership with Councils”. This is untrue…...apart from a very few rural areas (Phase 2), the majority of Councils are yet to have briefings on the program, let alone being involved in ‘technical
testing’.

Planning Minister Knoll consistently denies any problems, and is afflicted with the ‘nothing to see here’ syndrome. He continues to assert that the Code will be implemented as currently planned. It is hard to see how this can happen. Even if and when the e-planning platform is functional, the policy components of the Code are in no fit state to be implemented; they are still incomplete, inadequate and confusing.

Another confounding unknown is funding. DPTI has no budgetary provision for the Code beyond June 30th, and, indeed, the exigencies of post- COVID 19 and its consequences for the economy and the functioning of State and Local Governments will be considerable. It is unlikely that the Government’s newfound Planning Emergency Powers to fast track development will overcome these problems. If the Code goes ahead in its current state, the confusion and uncertainty it will unleash will be disastrous for Councils, the community and the building and development industries. Unfortunately, the political imperative is to rush out the Code in the forlorn hope that the backlash it will create will have abated before the 2020 Election.

Professor Warren Jones AO is the Convenor of the Protect our Heritage Alliance, a coalition of concerned organisations and individuals, working to protect our built and natural environment.
Phone: 0419 852 622 Email: [email protected]

Wakefield Press: Jill Roe’s resurrected classic on theosophy
Wakefield Press has recently published a revised version of Jill Roe's second book, Searching for the Spirit: Theosophy in Australia 1879-1939.

Published in small numbers in 1986, the book is now recognised as a landmark work of religious history. It has been resurrected with the aid of historians and supporters across Australia, via the History Trust of South Australia Wakefield Press History Initiative, which facilitates tax-deductible donations towards publication of worthy history works. The book originally grew out of an entry for the Australian Dictionary of Biography on George Arundale, the third president of the world Theosophical Society.

Theosophy ‘might easily be seen as an early version of do-it-yourself religion’, and drew on the mystical and the occult. It peaked in popularity during the 1920s and 30s in Australia, declining considerably after World War II. Since the 1890s, the aims of the movement have been to establish a core of universal brotherhood on the basis of truths said to be common to all religions.
View the full press release here.

COVID-19 News

Roadmap for Easing COVID-19 Restrictions: arts and culture sector
The South Australian government has recently released a roadmap for easing COVID-19 restrictions. For many in the arts and culture sector, restrictions will begin to ease from 8 June under Step 2, with cinemas, theatres, galleries, and museums opening with a max of twenty people. Further information on easing of restrictions under Step 2 will be available at sa.gov.au in the coming weeks. Social distancing requirements and limits on audience numbers will be challenging to the sector, but it is a step in the right direction. Larger gatherings will be considered in future stages, as health experts and the National Cabinet work out the best route in easing restrictions.

Art Gallery of South Australia to reopen
The Art Gallery is reopening its doors on Monday 8 June following its temporary closure due to COVID-19 restrictions. Adherence to physical distancing, capacity limits, and hygiene requirements will be observed as outlined by the Government's reopening strategy. The Art Gallery has altered their programming in response to the closure. The 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Monster Theatres exhibition season is extended until 2 August 2020.

State Library of South Australia: Remember my story - COVID-19
Capturing how we adapted to life during COVID-19 and how it changed society is important for future learning, and for future generations to understand how we adapted to such a significant event. The State Library wants your voice to be a part of their archive. How are you adapting? How are you keeping in touch with friends, family, and colleagues? What are you feeling and seeing as important during this unusual time?

The State Library of South Australia has just launched this initiative to allow the South Australian public to submit their stories through two online platforms:
The Remember my story - COVID-19 Facebook page, a social platform where you can share some of the changes to your life during the crisis.
The Digital Collections Platform where you can upload examples of changes to your home, workplace and leisure, through video, audio, photos, or written documents to be considered as part of a COVID-19 collection in the future.

Virtual escapes while social distancing

South Australian Museum
In 2016 the Google Cultural Institute used Street View technology to produce interactive panoramas of various parts of the South Australian Museum. Click here to visit the museum in Street View.

You can also view some of the museum's online collections via the Google Cultural Institute here.

Around the country

Australian, Canadian and New Zealand Studies Network (ACNZSN)
This is a new network, bringing together scholars working in Australian, Canadian, or Aotearoa New Zealand studies. The network will share resources, news, and opportunities via a blog and social media.
Further information here

Upcoming book releases

The Kangaroo Islanders: A story of South Australia before colonisation 1823
(By W.A. Cawthorne. Edited and introduced by Rick Hosking)
Written in the 1850s before any official history of the South Australian colony had appeared, The Kangaroo Islanders represents life on Kangaroo Island between 1802–1836. While a work of historical fiction, Rick Hosking has annotated the book extensively with historical information and details, making this new edition of The Kangaroo Islanders a treat for history buffs.
Further information here

 

Pride in Defence
To be released in November 2020, Pride in Defence is a work that draws on over 140 interviews and previously unexamined documents to depict the ways LGBTI members of the Australian Defence Force navigated a challenging social environment. At its centre are the brave members who served their country in the face of systemic prejudice.
Further information and preorders here

 

In her own name: A history of women in South Australia from 1836
(By Helen Jones, with foreword by SA Premier Steven Marshall)
In Her Own Name is a political and legal history which gives a comprehensive view and analysis of women's changing status and role in a pioneering Australian state during its first 150 years. It documents how South Australian women moved from subordination towards equality, including the achievement of women's suffrage in 1894, which was central to their emancipation.
Further information here

Calls for Papers

‘The Historical Dimension’: Association of Academic Historians in Australian and New Zealand Business Schools Conference. 9-10 November 2020, University of Sydney. Abstracts due 12 June 2020.
Full details here

 

Reinventing Australia: International Australian Studies Association 2020 Biennial Conference. 30 November -2 December 2020, Australian Catholic University. Abstracts due 31 May 2020.
Full details here

 

Crossroads: Intersectionality in Critical Feminist Research, Practice and Policy. 3-4 November 2020, Gender Institute, Australian National University. Expressions of Interest due 30 May 2020.
Full details here

 

History of Education Review Special Issue: the history of knowledge and the history of education. Abstracts due 1 October 2020.
Full details here

 

Reinventing Australia: International Australian Studies Association 2020 Biennial Conference. 30 November - 2 December 2020, Australian Catholic University. Abstracts due 31 May 2020.
Full details here

 

‘The Historical Dimension’: Association of Academic Historians in Australian and New Zealand Business Schools Conference. 9-10 November 2020, University of Sydney. Abstracts due 12 June 2020.
Full details here

International News

International Federation for Public History (IFPH) online events
20 May: "Sharing is Caring!" The German Coronarchiv project: A discussion with the leaders of the project on why and how public history can help documenting lives and experiences during COVID-19.
25 May: Crowd-sourcing Power for Public History. COVID-19 via Short-Form Stories: A discussion with Michael Frisch about new tools to practice public history.

You can also see recorded videos by the IFPH on their Vimeo channel here.

Calls for papers

‘In Their Own Words’: 2020 Pacific History Association Biennial Conference. 1-4 December 2020, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji. Abstracts due 31 May 2020.
Full details here

 

‘One Empire, Many Colonies, Similar or Different Histories?’: Australian and New Zealand Law and History Society Annual Conference. 9-12 December 2020, Auckland. Abstracts due 15 July 2020.
Full details here

Opportunities

Bernadette Bean SA Records Management Service Excellence Award is for South Australian individuals, teams / groups, researchers, students, new professionals and volunteers whose outstanding records management service deserves recognition.
Full details here.

International Australian Studies Association ECR Publication Subsidy Scheme is designed to help early-career researchers working in Australian Studies. Applications due 30 June 2020.
Full details here

Australian Women's History Network Mary Bennett Prize for Women’s History is awarded every two years to an early career historian for a piece of work in any field of women's history. Applications due 1 June 2020.
Full details here

National Library of Australia 2021 Fellowships application due date extended to 5.00pm, 29 May 2020.
Full details here

Australian Academy of the Humanities David Phillips Humanities Travelling Fellowship is awarded biennially, with preference given to proposals that contribute to knowledge of racial, ethnic, or religious prejudice. Applications due 5 June 2020.
Full details here

Australian Academy of the Humanities Publication Subsidies support quality scholarly publication in the humanities. Subsidies of up to $3000 are available to help early career researchers with the costs associated with publication. Applications due 5 June 2020.
Full details here

2020 International Australian Studies Association ECR Publication Subsidy Scheme. Applications are open for the scheme which is designed to assist early career researchers in Australian Studies. Applications due 30 June 2020.
Full details here

Australian Academy of the Humanities John Mulvaney Fellowship is awarded to early career Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers and PhD students working in the humanities. Applications due 5 June 2020.
Full details here

Australian Historical Studies Editor(s) Expression of Interest for the positions of editors of the journal for a three-year term, 2021–2023. EOIs due 31 July 2020.
Full details here (Word docx download)

17 March 2023

2 March 2023

17 February 2023

2 February 2023

28 December 2022

16 December 2022

29 November 2022

10 November 2022

27 October 2022

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The History Council of South Australia (HCSA) speaks for history in this state.  We are the peak body in South Australia, providing a representative voice on historical issues, celebrating and raising the profile of history in South Australia.

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