History Workshop – A New Era in History at Sydney

In March 2018, new undergraduate students at the University of Sydney will be taking part in a bold experiment in history education, where they will begin unravelling the racial dynamics of depression-era La Perouse or the crackdown on communists in 1920s Shanghai.
As part of the University’s reimagined undergraduate curriculum, the Department of History has developed new units of study about world history and a new unit unlike any other taught in an Australian university: HSTY1001 History Workshop.
Read more
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Student Equity Alliance debuts at O-Week

For the first time at O week, a student society which focuses on bringing together students that are First in Family to attend university, or are from a low socioeconomic background, was showcased. The “Student Equity Alliance” (SEA). The society aims to start the conversation about the experience of students who fall into this category, to build a community for these students (who can be very isolated by the prestigious nature of University of Sydney), and to encourage the University to be more systemically supportive of their low ses student population.
The society has been started by students Shayma Taweel and Bridget Neave, the previous and current Project Managers for Social Inclusion in History respectively. Mike Mcdonnell and Frances Clarke have been supporting Bridget and Shayma in their endeavour to set up a student community around this social issue through the Social Inclusion Committee.
The society is off with a bang with 40 members in its first week in action!
Staff are also encouraged to become a part of this community, Bridget and Shayma invite you to like the Facebook page and come to events to be announced in future.
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Pictured above are Bridget Neave (SEA President) and Jordan Watkins (representative of the student-managed affordable housing co-op – STUCCO) at O week.

New Staff and Teachers for 2018

Dear Historians,
This semester we welcome some familiar faces to new roles in the department, and one new colleague who’ll be with us for the academic year.
Dr Aminat Chokobaeva joins us from the ANU. She’ll be teaching HSTY2659 Nationalism in semester 1 and HSTY2613 Russia’s Revolutions in semester 2.
Dr Emma Barron, who earned her PhD in the department in 2016, is returning to teach HSTY2608 European Film and History.
Ben Vine, who has just submitted his PhD thesis, is teaching HSTY2666 American Revolutions.
Dr James Dunk, who has been working in REGS for the last few years, is teaching HSTY2304 Imperialism.
Dr Mick Warren, who will be in Mark McKenna’s office while Mark is away this year, is teaching the Great Barrier Reef OLE and a winter intensive in Australian history.
Minerva Inwald, who is holding a FASS teaching fellowship this year, is teaching a seminar in HSTY1001.
Welcome, everyone. It’s great to have you with us.
Chris
CHRIS HILLIARD | Professor of Modern British History
Chair, Department of History | Main Quadrangle A14
The University of Sydney | NSW 2006 | Australia
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Cecil Hills High School Mentoring 2018

On Tuesday, February 13, seven volunteers from the University of Sydney ranging from undergraduate to postgraduate student visited Cecil Hills High School to kick off our 2018 History Extension Mentoring Program.
This is the second year we have run the program with Cecil Hills and we were delighted to see that the program had grown from three students to eight this year.
In this session, the students gave our mentors a tour of the school, introduced themselves and their chosen topics, and then worked one on one with the volunteers to refine their questions and think about sources. The topics ranged widely, from representations of Cleopatra and Catherine de Medici in history and film, to communist art in China, to genocide in Serbia. The mentors were impressed by the students’ interests, and knowledge.
The program consists of five school and university visits over a six-month period, where the mentors also provide guidance on applying to and studying at university. We are looking forward to hosting the students here at the University of Sydney in March, when they will meet up with their mentors and get a chance to tour the campus before doing some research in the library.

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Department of History Seminar Series, Semester One 2018

Dear colleagues and friends of the History Department, University of Sydney
In 2018 our departmental seminar will be moving to a different day of the week and will be held at intervals across the semester rather than weekly. The venue remains the same. Details of this semester’s program for History on Wednesday can be found below and the full program is on the web here:
Seminar Series for Postgraduates and Faculty
Held at 12.10-1.30
in Woolley Common Room, Woolley Building A22
(Enter Woolley through the entrance on Science Road and climb the stairs in front of you. Turn left down the corridor, and the WCR is the door at the end of the hall)
Coordinators:
Dr Andrés Rodriguez and Professor Kirsten McKenzie
Semester 1 2018
7 March
Marco Duranti (University of Sydney)
French Colonialism and International Human Rights after 1945
21 March
Peter Hobbins (University of Sydney) and Elizabeth Roberts-Pedersen (University of Newcastle)
False horizon: historical data, the psychology of risk and the politics of safety
18 April
Penny Russell (University of Sydney)
Family Business: Love and Money in Colonial Sydney
2 May
Paul Betts (Oxford University)
Red Globalism: Eastern Europe, Decolonization and African Heritage
16 May
Elizabeth Manley (Xavier University of Louisiana)
Created by God for Tourism: Developing Tropical Paradise in the Dominican Republic, 1966 – 1978
23 May
Chris Hilliard (University of Sydney)
Housing, Race and the Remaking of the English Working Class