In this History Now/Wood Memorial Lecture event, Dr. Sophie Loy-Wilson from the discipline of History at the University of Sydney sits down with three extraordinary scholars who have drawn on lived experiences and diverse methodologies to produce creative histories that have made an impact on how we think about and do history.

Shauna Bostock, André Dao, and Katerina Teaiwa discuss their past and future projects, challenging us to imagine new ways of approaching, practicing, and presenting history in Australia today.

The Wood Memorial Lecture is funded by a generous endowment to the discipline of History in the School of Humanities at the University of Sydney to facilitate a public Lecture in Australian History.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Dr Shauna Bostock is currently the Indigenous Australian Research Editor at the National Centre of Biography at ANU. A former primary school teacher, Shauna Bostock's curiosity about her ancestors took her all the way to a PhD in Aboriginal history, which turned into a book entitled Reaching Through Time: Finding my family’s stories(Allen & Unwin). The book was awarded the NSW Community and Regional History Prize in 2024, and praised as a 'compelling blend of Indigenous history, community history and the history of colonial settlement.'

André Dao is an author and researcher from Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. His debut novel, Anam, won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction, the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for New Writing, and was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Voss Literary Award. In 2024, he was named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist. André was awarded the 2024 Pascall Prize for Cultural Criticism for essays published in The Saturday Paper, Meanjin and Liminal. He is a postdoctoral fellow with the ARC Laureate Program in Global Corporations and International Law at Melbourne Law School, where is working on a history of how the computing company, IBM, travelled to the Global South.

Katerina Teaiwa is Professor of Pacific Studies in the School of Culture, History and Language at the Australian National University. She is a scholar, artist, activist and nationally award-winning teacher of Banaban, I-Kiribati (Tabiteuean) and African American heritage born and raised in Fiji. Her exhibition "Dance Protest" is currently showing at the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney.

This event is in the 2025 History Now series. History Now is presented by the History Council of NSW in conjunction with the Chau Chak Wing Museum and the Vere Gordon Childe Centre.

History Now 2025 has been supported by Create NSW.

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In this conversation led by two leading history educators, we will examine the challenges and complexities of history teaching in the 21st century and explore the important role history teachers play in engaging, informing and shaping the future of history and history adjacent fields.

How can we help nurture the next generation of historians? Two leading history educators, Jonathon Dallimore (HTANSW and University of New South Wales) and Professor Tim Allender (University of Sydney), will take us through some of the current issues in contemporary history education.

This presentation is part of the History Council of New South Wales’ 2025 History Now series, and presented by the History Council of New South Wales, the Chau Chak Wing Museum, and the Vere Gordon Childe Centre at the University of Sydney.

The History Council of New South Wales has been supported by the NSW Government through a grant from Create NSW.

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This discussion will feature contemporary case studies of cultural heritage destruction from abroad and locally, including recent damage to the National Museum of Sudan. However, it is not just conflict scenarios, the conversation will cover case studies of damage due to earthquake and natural damage and wilful damage. We will also consider how sites of historical trauma become historical sites themselves, and how they are reflected in contemporary perspectives.

With presentations by Dr Julien Cooper (Macquarie University), Professor Richard Mackay (Australia ICOMOS and Deakin University) and Dr Charlotte Feakins (University of Sydney), this wide-ranging talk will take us around the world and examine a range of issues around the fight to preserve the past, international obligations to protect historic sites and traditions and what we may be able to contribute from Australia.

The History Council of NSW and the Chau Chak Wing Museum, and the Vere Gordon Childe Centre at the University of Sydney are pleased to present the 2025 History Now series.

The History Council of NSW has been supported in 2025 by the NSW Government through a grant from Create NSW.

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In this episode of History Now 2025, the rising genre of History Podcasts is explored in a discussion between Geraldine Fela and Leigh Boucher from Macquarie University, chaired by Craig Barker from the University of Sydney.

In the ever-expanding podcast media universe, history is a significant player. Podcasts led by historians regularly feature in ‘top-ten’ download lists, and there is clearly an appetite amongst podcast listeners to hear experts interpret and make meaning from the past. The contrast with declining trends in book sales by academic historians could not be sharper. Many within the discipline are understandably excited about the potential of podcasts to reach new audiences. However, podcasting-the-past also poses big challenges.

Geraldine Fela and Leigh Boucher discuss what possibilities working in this form have opened up for historical interpretation, and how they've reached new audiences with their work. What, if anything, did they have to ‘give up’ in the move from written history to aural storytelling, and has this been a comfortable transition?

The History Now 2025 podcast series is brought to you by the History Council of NSW in partnership with the Chau Chak Wing Museum and the Vere Gordon Childe Centre at the University of Sydney.

This series has been supported in 2025 by the NSW Government through a grant from Create NSW.

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This conversation is part of the HCNSW podcast series "First Nations Conversations" that looks at First Nations histories of resilience, survival, and resistance.

This episode of "First Nations Conversations" is the recording of the 2025 History Week panel “Living Histories: First Nations Creatives and Researchers in Conversation” which was presented at the Vere Gordon Childe Centre at the University of Sydney, in partnership with the History Council of NSW and the Powerful Stories Network. The panel, chaired by Jadzia Stronell, was in conversation with Lily-Thomas McKnight, Samantha Snedden, and Amy Davidson.

In this session, they reflect on how cultural, family, and community histories are woven into their work as creatives and researchers. Together, they ask: How can history live beyond the archive? And what does it mean to research and create in ways that honour intergenerational memory?

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Dr Aunty Rhonda Radley joins Jadzia Stronell to share her journey in language revitalisation, community work, education, and healing. She reflects on truth-telling around the Blackmans Point massacre, the responsibilities of academic engagement with Aboriginal histories, and speaks on her own stories of resilience.

Known in the community as Dr Aunty Rhonda Radley (Anjilkurri), a proud Birrbay/Dhanggati woman. She has 40 years’ experience working with Aboriginal people in education, land rights, cultural and heritage, caring for Country, women’s business and government and community organisations. As an active Aboriginal Elder, Aunty Rhonda promotes the revival of culture through language and practices. She advocates for Aboriginal languages to be learnt, spoken, taught and integrated into every-day life. Aunty Rhonda values the sharing of stories to teach cultural expressions, learn from others and connect to other people’s life journey. She uses poetry as a medium for truth telling, sharing culture and to highlight the impact of colonisation.

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Australian migration stories have tended to represent specific experiences of coming to Australia over our relatively short national history. But what does rethinking stories about mobility to, from, and within Australia offer historians and fellow story tellers? Leading historians Dr Sophie Loy-Wilson, Dr Yves Rees, and Dr Peter Hobbins will discuss overlooked narratives to challenge traditional views of what migration means for Australian history. By connecting past and present, the diversity of migration stories and their implications for understanding identities, place, and belonging will offer fresh perspectives for nuanced research and storying of our collective past.

The History Council of New South Wales is supported by the NSW Government via a grant from Create NSW.

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Music credit: 'The Path to Innovation' by Airae, licensed through Canva.

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Now, more than ever before, we seem more willing to acknowledge difficult histories in our family trees. At the same time, historians are increasingly writing about colonial violence and challenging long-held myths.

What impact is this having on how we see Australia’s past, as well as our own?

John Maynard, Mark Dunn, Stephen Gapps, and Kate Grenville speak with Julie McIntyre about their experiences of encountering dark moments in their research and how they've dealt with them in their work.

The History Council of New South Wales is supported by the NSW Government via a grant from Create NSW.

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Music credit: 'Only Ashes Remain' by Blackout Memories (Epidemic Sound), licensed through Canva.

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