CROCC Successes
The Centre would like to congratulate recent successes of our members.
Dr Jane McCabe
Earlier this month the Royal Society of New Zealand announced the successful applicants for its prestigious Marsden Fund. Centre member, Dr Jane McCabe won a three-year Marsden Fast-Start research grant, valued at $300,000 for her new project “Splitting up the farm? A cross-cultural history of land and inheritance in Aotearoa”.
Jane will be investigating two rural districts at different ends of the country, the Taieri in Otago and the Hokianga in Northland, looking at how people of various ethnic backgrounds owned and inherited land. This project marks a shift in focus from Jane’s previous research around her PhD topic on the “Kalimpong Kids” on teenage Indian migrants sent to New Zealand in the early twentieth century.
Last week Centre director, Professor Tony Ballantyne was awarded the Humanities Aronui Medal by the Royal Society of New Zealand. This medal recognises his work over time in reshaping scholarly thought on British imperial history. In particular Tony has advanced the metaphor of “webs of empire” to explain the nature of the British Empire, that it was less a wagon wheel, with London as the hub, and more like a spider web with multiple interconnections between nodes.
Professor Tony Ballantyne
Humanities Aronui Medal: For innovative work of outstanding merit in the humanities. Citation: To Anthony John Ballantyne for reshaping the scholarly interpretation of British imperial history by demonstrating the importance of networks, cultural difference and mobility, and reconstructing the centrality of colonialism and empires in the making of the modern world.
We are also very pleased to note that Professor Hamish Spencer of Genetics Otago, who co-organized the CROCC symposium ““Eugenics in British Colonial Contexts: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa” in February 2015 was the recipient of the Callaghan Medal “for an outstanding contribution to science communication and raising public awareness of the value of science to human progress” for his work with with Ngai Tāmanuhiri, and the people of Tolaga Bay/Uawa.
Last but not least, it is wonderful news that Professor Barbara Brookes’, A History of New Zealand Women, has been long-listed for the Illustrated Non-Fiction Award for the 2017 Ockham NZ Books Awards. The judges will announce their shortlist on March 7 next year, and the winner will be announced on May 16 at the Auckland Writers Festival. Her book provides a wide-ranging and comprehensive history of New Zealand as seen from a female perspective. Barbara has long been a leader in the field of New Zealand women’s history, with CROCC honouring her and her work at the “Making Women Visible” conference in February this year.
Making Women Visible Conference
A highly successful conference on women’s history was held this week at the University of Otago. It began with a keynote address and public lecture from Professor Barbara Brookes at Otago Museum’s Hutton Theatre, which was filled to capacity, followed by the launch of Barbara’s new book, A History of New Zealand Women (Bridget Williams Books) in the museum’s Atrium. A large and excited crowd gathered to celebrate this achievement.
The publication of Barbara’s landmark survey history of New Zealand women was marked by a conference, Making Women Visible, which had over 70 papers on the programme and attracted 150 delegates from across New Zealand, Australia, Canada and South Africa. Organised by Centre member Angela Wanhalla, and Jane McCabe, Katie Cooper, Sarah Christie and Jane Adams, with help from Emma Gattey, Violeta Gilabert and Radhika Raghav, the conference was made possible with financial support from CRoCC, the University of Otago’s Continuing Education Fund, and the Women’s Studies Association of New Zealand. This funding support enabled the organisers to put together a diverse programme, host a special forum on women’s history in the public sphere, as well as bring outstanding scholars to Dunedin as keynote speakers.
You can find out more about the conference at Storify, where the organisers have collated social media comment, photos and video of the proceedings. Also see the Making Women Visible Album on the University of Otago’s Department of History and Art History Facebook page to view images of the book launch and the conference. A much fuller description of the conference will appear on the New Zealand Women’s History Caucus Blog soon.
Here are a few images from the launch and conference. Click pictures to enlarge.
Dorothy Page and Philippa Mein Smith
Marian Quartly and Diane Kirkby
Katherine Milburn, Judy Bennett and Jacqui Leckie
A large crowd awaits Barbara’s keynote lecture at the Hutton Theatre, Otago Museum
Barbara addressed the audience on the topic of caring and care work
Crowds gather for the launch of A History of New Zealand Women
A brisk trade ensued
Heather Devere and Kelli Te Maihāroa both presented at the conference
Paerau Warbrick and Pamela Gerrish Nunn
Melissa Matutina Williams gave a keynote address on the intersections between Māori and Pākehā women’s histories
Frances Steel’s keynote explored women’s mobility, modernity and maritime history
Friends and collaborators: Margaret Tennant, Charlotte Macdonald and Barbara Brookes
