Forthcoming Talks
The Centre is hosting an informal research seminar on ‘Revolutions and Empires in the South-West Indian Ocean, 1788-1810’ by Dr Sujit Sivasundaram (University of Cambridge), on Thursday 6 November, at 2pm, 2N8 (History Department Seminar Room) in the Arts Building.
CROCC is also sponsoring a public lecture by Professor A.G. Hopkins, (University of Cambridge) entitled, ‘Is Globalisation Yesterday’s News?’. This will be held on Monday, 10 November 2014 at 5:15pm in the Moot Court, Level 10, Richardson Building. Professor Hopkins is one of the leading economic historians of his generation and he has produced authoritative works on West African economic history (An Economic History of West Africa (1973)), the economics of British imperialism (the landmark two-volume British Imperialism co-authored with Peter Cain) and was one of the first historians to grapple with the analytical possibilities of globalisation (editing both Globalization in World History (2002) and Global History: Interactions between the Universal and the Local (2006)). Professor Hopkins has provided the following abstract, which suggests it should be an engaging lecture:
Globalization envelopes the world – and historians too. The ‘g’ word is now mandatory in titles of books and articles; Ph.D. students follow their leaders in dedicating their dissertations to the subject. Yet, not so long ago postmodern approaches to the past were equally compelling: if you could not tell your trope from your alterity and your Spivak from your Bhaba, your chances of landing a job were minimal. Wise investors buy at the bottom of the market and get out at the top. So, it is worth asking whether shares in globalization have further to run or whether full value is already in the market. One way of answering this question is by considering the reasons why historiographical phases, like empires, rise, flourish, and decline. This approach provides pointers to the current state of globalization studies and offers an estimate of the current value of the shares. The advice comes with a wealth warning: past performance has limited predictive power. As a famous trumpeter remarked when asked which way jazz was going: ‘man, if I knew which way jazz was going, I would be there already!’
Conference Registration Open
Registration for the Migrant Cross-Cultural Encounters Conference (24-26 November) is now open. This multi-disciplinary conference brings together four major research hubs in the Division of Humanities at the University of Otago, including the Centre for Research on Colonial Culture, the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies, the Asian Migration research theme, and the Cross-Cultural Comparative Studies research theme and has attracted four great keynote speakers: Brenda Yeoh (NUS), Ann Curthoys (Sydney), Regina Ganter (Griffith) and Ian Smith (Otago). Clicking on the highlighted text will take you to the conference website where you can view a draft programme and also register. Do note that registration closes at 5pm on November 10th. We do hope that you will join us for what promises to be a fantastic conference!
Elemental Histories Programme
Colonial Worlds, Elemental Histories Symposium Programme,
Hocken Collections Seminar Room, Friday 31 October
To register email Tom Brooking (tom.brooking@otago.ac.nz)
9-10: Associate Professor Grace Karskens, University of New South Wales, ‘Colonial worlds, elemental histories.’
Session 1: 10-11.15
Professor Tom Brooking, University of Otago, “Yeotopia Gained: New Zealand 1840-1914’.
Associate Professor Katie Pickles, University of Canterbury, ‘Elementally United: The Case of Canterbury’s Nor’west Wind’.
Dr Michael Davis, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Sydney, ‘Entangled Knowledges: Indigenous and Environmental Histories across the Tasman’.
11.15-11.30: morning tea
Session 2: 11.30-12.20
Emeritus Professor Holland, University of Otago, ‘Getting to Know You: People and Rabbits in Southern New Zealand’.
Dr. Vaughan Wood, University of Canterbury, ‘Mapping the network of a nineteenth century Canterbury farm’.
12.20-1.20: Lunch
Session 3: 1.20-2.35
Professor Michael Roche, Massey University, ‘The Forest as an Elemental Natural Resource in Colonial New Zealand and the First Failure of Scientific State Forestry 1874 to 1877.’
Dr André Brett, University of Melbourne, ‘Forests and Provincial Abolition: Did Conservation Kill the Provinces?’.
Dr James Beattie, University of Waikato, ‘Expanding the Horizons of Chinese Environmental History: Cantonese gold-miners in colonial New Zealand, 1860s-1920s.’
2.35-3.00 afternoon tea
Session 4: 3.00-4.15
Lucy Mackintosh, PhD candidate, University of Auckland, ‘Shifting Grounds: Narratives of Identity in Auckland Landscapes’.
Dr. Joanna Cobley, University of Canterbury, ‘The Nineteenth Century Landscape: economics, heritage and national identity.’
Professor Eric Pawson, University of Canterbury, ‘Writing environmental history’.
4.15-5.00: Grace Karskens wrap up and general discussion
5.15: Book launch of James Beattie, Matthew Henry and Emily O’Gorman (eds)., Climate, Science, and Colonization: Histories from Australia and New Zealand, Palgrave MacMillan, London, 2014.
Placing the Personal Essay Colloquium
On 2 & 3 December 2014, the Placing the Personal Essay Colloquium will be held at Massey University, Wellington. This event is co-convened by the W.H. Oliver Humanities Research Academy at Massey University, the Centre for Research on Colonial Culture at the University of Otago, and the Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies at Victoria University and brings together writers, historians, literary critics, cultural theorists and interested others for a discussion about new ways of writing about place in contemporary New Zealand. Featured participants include: Sally Blundell, Alex Calder, Tim Corballis, Martin Edmond, Ingrid Horrocks, Lynn Jenner, Cherie Lacey, Tina Makereti, Harry Ricketts, Jack Ross, Alice Te Punga Somerville, Giovanni Tiso, and Lydia Wevers as well as two members of CRoCC, Tony Ballantyne and Annabel Cooper.
If you want to know more about the colloquium and how to register, go to the Placing the Personal Essay website by clicking on the highlighted text.
Marsden Collection Online Soon
Two hundred years ago (in December) Rev Samuel Marsden gave the first Christian service on New Zealand soil at Oihi Bay, in the Bay of Islands, and planted the first group of missionaries before he sailed back to New South Wales. This early missionary activity generated considerable paper records between the missionaries, marsden, and the Church Missionary Society. These comprise the Marsden Papers at the Hocken Library, containing journals as well as hundred of letters. For over 20 years, Gordon Parsonson, a former member of Otago’s History Department – now aged 94, has been transcribing this hand-written material, some of which will soon go online.
Click here to see a recent Otago Daily Times article on Gordon Parsonson.
The digitization project has been led by the University Library and Hocken Library, with considerable input from the Centre for Research on Colonial Culture.
The Marsden project will go live in November, and will become a great resource for historians and other Humanities scholars.
