Societies have always used statues and other monuments as ways of both recognising and contesting power and eminence. In Australia, as everywhere else, there is public debate over whether and which statues should be removed, who should make the decision, and what should be the fate of the statues themselves. Should new monuments be commissioned alongside or to replace them? Recent actions in Australia to remove, replace or protect statues and other public markers have historical precedents which have much to tell us. Speakers at this webinar will present insights and case studies from Australia, Europe, and elsewhere.

The topics and their presenters are:

Revolutions and ‘patrimonial panics’ in France
Peter McPhee AM is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Melbourne and Chair of the History Council of Victoria.

Contextualising relocated monuments: lessons from three post-Soviet statue parks
Claire Baxter holds a Master of Conflict Archaeology & Heritage from the University of Glasgow.

First Peoples’ perspectives in contextualising contested histories
John Patten is a Bundjalung-Yorta Yorta man on his father’s side, and a descendant of First Fleet convicts, Irish rebels and the Saami people of Lapland via his mother. He is Manager, Diversity and Belonging, Museums Victoria, and a Board member of the History Council of Victoria.

Missing monuments: imagining the future of Australian public memorialisation
Dr Yves Rees is a lecturer in History at La Trobe University, a regular contributor to ABC Radio Melbourne and a Board member of the History Council of Victoria.

Professor Al Thomson, Monash University, will facilitate the discussion.

To register and receive the Zoom link a few days before the event, please click the Send RSVP button at the foot of this page. 

Statues of Captain Cook and Lachlan Macquarie were covered in graffiti in 2017. Image courtesy ABC News - Lily Mayers.

This webinar is part of an ongoing seminar series, Making Public Histories, that is offered jointly by the Monash University History Program, the History Council of Victoria and the Old Treasury Building. Each seminar aims to explore issues and approaches in making public histories. The seminars are open, free of charge, to anyone interested in the creation and impact of history in contemporary society. Click HERE to learn about other events in the series.

We thank the series sponsors, Monash University Publishing, the Monash University History Program and the Old Treasury Building:

and the organising partners:

All who RSVP for a Making Public Histories event will automatically be added to the mailing list for the History Council of Victoria's free E-news bulletin. Explore past editions here.

If you have suggestions for future seminar topics in the Making Public Histories series, please email us.

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Twitter:   #MakingPublicHistories   @History_Vic   @Monash_Arts   @OldTreasuryMelb      

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Here are some additional ways to stay involved with the organisations behind the seminars: 

History Council of Victoria

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• Donations are always welcome. Amounts over $2 are tax-deductible for Australian tax-payers.

Monash University

• Search News and Events in the School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies

• Join the community of supporters who donate or leave a bequest to Monash. 

Old Treasury Building

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2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945. In this webinar, three speakers will consider new findings about the Japanese experience and memory of the Atomic bombings, how Australia and Australians have been caught up in this atomic history, and the social and political legacies of the bomb in the Asia-Pacific region.

Professor Robin Gerster (Monash University) is the author of Travels in Atomic Sunshine: Australia and the Occupation of Japan (2009) and Hiroshima and Here: Reflections on Australian Atomic Culture to be published by Lexington Books / Rowman & Littlefield in the US later this year.

Dr Gwyn McClelland (University of New England) has worked closely with Nagasaki survivors and is the author of Dangerous Memory in Nagasaki: Prayers, Protests and Catholic Survivor Narratives (Routledge, 2019).

Dimity Hawkins AM is completing her PhD in history at Swinburne University examining resistance to nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific, particularly around independence in Fiji. She is also one of the co-founders of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

The discussion will be chaired by Professor Alistair Thomson of Monash University.

To register and receive the Zoom link a few days before the event, please click the Send RSVP button at the foot of this page. 

Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki courtesy Gwyn McClelland.
Image of Setsuko Thurlow accepting the Nobel Peace Prize courtesy ICAN.
Image of Hiroshima and Here book cover courtesy Lexington Books.

This webinar is part of an ongoing seminar series, Making Public Histories, that is offered jointly by the Monash University History Program, the History Council of Victoria and the Old Treasury Building. Each seminar aims to explore issues and approaches in making public histories. The seminars are open, free of charge, to anyone interested in the creation and impact of history in contemporary society. Click HERE to learn about other events in the series.

We thank the series sponsors, Monash University Publishing, the Monash University History Program and the Old Treasury Building:

and the organising partners:

In recognition of 2020 as the UN International Year of Plant Health, this webinar will illuminate the challenging and contested past, present and future of Victoria’s native vegetation.

Professional historian Dr Gary Presland, author of many books about Victoria’s natural and human heritage (including Understanding our natural world: the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria 1880-2015) will speak about the importance of native vegetation in understanding past human activity.

Professor Mike Clarke from the Centre for Future Landscapes at La Trobe University will consider the place of fire in the history of Victoria’s vegetation: 'The Bush will be OK, it’s evolved to cope with fire…hasn’t it?'.

The discussion will be chaired by Professor Alistair Thomson of Monash University.

To register and receive the Zoom link a few days before the event, please click the Send RSVP button at the foot of this page. 

This webinar is part of an ongoing seminar series, Making Public Histories, that is offered jointly by the Monash University History Program, the History Council of Victoria and the Old Treasury Building. Each seminar aims to explore issues and approaches in making public histories. The seminars are open, free of charge, to anyone interested in the creation and impact of history in contemporary society. Click HERE to learn about other events in the series.

We thank the series sponsors, Monash University Publishing, the Monash University History Program and the Old Treasury Building:

and the organising partners:

25 June 2020: E-news 45

28 May 2020: E-news 44

May 2020: Welcome to Alicia Cerreto as the HCV Deputy Executive Officer

21 April 2020: E-news 43

23 March 2020: E-news 42

March 2020: Welcome to Professor Peter McPhee as the HCV Chair

3 March 2020: E-news 41 

4 February 2020: E-news 40

As a 21st-century organisation, the History Council uses digital communication technologies whenever possible and appropriate.

News about the History Council of Victoria is communicated via this website, via our social media accounts (Twitter and Facebook) and also by email to those who subscribe to our free and occasional E-news bulletin.

Advocacy: click HERE to read our published submissions and correspondence.

Annual Reports: click HERE to read our reports on HCV activities.

Archive of the E-news bulletin and selected web pages:

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

Please note that web-links in older documents may no longer be active.

To download and print PDF documents, you need to install a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat or CutePDF on your computer.

Sarah Morris joined the History Council of Victoria in March 2020, representing the Australian Museums and Galleries Association, Victoria.

Sarah brings over 20 years of experience in the Australian museums and galleries sector, across performing arts, visual arts, and social history institutions. She has worked with state collections, local government, and international cultural programs; and has extensive curatorial, programming and exhibition development experience. Prior to her role of Executive Director at AMaGA Victoria, she was a member of the leadership team for the Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne.

Professor David Lowe FASSA joined the History Council of Victoria in May 2020, representing Deakin University.

David is Chair of Contemporary History in the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University, and a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge. He has published widely on the history of Australia in the world and on international history and memory, including Menzies and the Great World Struggle (1999), Australian between Empires: The Life of Percy Spender (2010), Remembering the Cold War (with Tony Joel, 2013), and Remembering Independence (with Carola Lentz, 2018). In 2015 he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

David is co-founder of the Australian Policy and History network (https://aph.org.au) and was Visiting Professor in Australian Studies at the University of Tokyo, 2019-20.

Dr Yves Rees joined the History Council of Victoria in May 2020, representing La Trobe University.

Yves is a Lecturer in History at La Trobe and co-host of the history podcast Archive Fever. Yves has published widely across Australian gender, transnational and economic history, and also writes on transgender identity and politics. Yves is a regular contributor to ABC radio and The Conversation, and their work has appeared in the Australian Book Review, Overland, Guardian Australia, Inside Story and Archer.

Dr Annette Shiell joined the History Council of Victoria (HCV) in February 2020, representing the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), where she is the Executive Manager Collections & Cultural Projects.

Annette is a curator and historian with a background in art and craft, Australian history and popular culture. Her personal and professional interests include ephemera, textiles and domestic material culture. She is the author/editor of several publications including Bonzer: Australian Comics 1900 - 1990s and Fundraising Flirtation and Fancywork: Charity Bazaars in Nineteenth Century Australia.