PhD Scholarship: Literary and Book History after Colonialism
University of Queensland’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities has a number of doctoral scholarships available. These are attached to specific projects, and you can find out more about them here. Of particular relevance to Centre followers is Project 3: Literary and Book History after Colonialism, led by Associate Professor Anna Johnston and attached to her ARC Future Fellowship.
Australian settler modernity was shaped by distinct orders of knowledge that can be traced through book history and studies of print culture. The key aim of Associate Professor Anna Johnston’s ARC Future Fellowship project is to provide fresh and challenging readings of Australia’s literary and cultural history, and to map the aftermath of colonialism in contemporary culture.
Successful applicants will be supervised by Associate Professor Anna Johnston, and will be enrolled in the School of Communication and Arts. While all relevant dissertation projects will be considered, proposals that articulate with Fellowship themes and approach are encouraged. Indicative projects could include:
- Settler colonialism and Australian literature, past and present
- Colonial science and natural history publications
- Missionary writing
- Archival or book history projects, particularly using UQ’s Fryer Library and / or AustLit
- Non-fictional prose and literary studies
Students in literary studies, cultural and intellectual history, and postcolonial cultural studies are encouraged to apply and to refine their proposal in consultation with the project leader.
Successful symposium on Indigenous Textual Cultures
Isabel Hofmeyr
The Centre was pleased to hold the Indigenous Textual Cultures symposium this week, an event that attracted a number of scholars from around the world interested in the history of indigenous peoples’ engagement with texts, and textual culture. Mark Brunton, Research Manager Māori gave a mihi whakatau (welcome) to open the event, which was held at the wonderful Hocken Collections, one of New Zealand’s premier research libraries and archives. A full hour was assigned for each presentation, allowing for depth of discussion within a focused event.
Keith Thor Carlson
Bruno Saura
Focusing on the content…
Presenters from left: Michael Reilly (Otago); Isabel Hofmeyr (Witswaterand); Tony Ballantyne (Otago); Keith Thor Carlson (Saskatchewan); Ārini Loader (VUW); ; Anna Johnston (Tasmania); Laura Rademaker (ANU); Bruno Saura (Polynésie Française); Emma Hunter (Cambridge); Lachy Paterson (Otago). Absent: Noelani Arista (Hawai’i)
See programme for full details and abstracts.
Laura Rademaker responding to a question from Tony Ballantyne.
Although there are of course specific differences in how indigenous peoples of various localities and time periods engaged with literacy and texts, the symposium was extremely valuable in generating conversation, and a publication is planned from research presented. We would like to thank the locals who came along to listen, as well as several from the North Island. In particular we would like to thank Julie Gough for the amazing poster image, and the Hocken Collections for all their support.
Moving Texts
Mark your diaries! Prof. Tony Ballantyne, Director of the Centre for Research on Culture, is giving a research talk titled “Moving Texts: Humanitarian Narratives and the British Empire in the 1820s and 1830s” as part of the Department of History and Art History’s Research Seminar Series. Tony’s talk will take place on March 26th in Burns 5 (Arts Building, University of Otago) and begins at 3.30.
James Cowan Symposium
A reminder that abstracts for the James Cowan Symposium (to be held in early 2014), co-hosted by the Centre for Research on Colonial Culture and the Alexander Turnbull Library, are due by 30 September. More details about the event can be accessed here: Cowan Symposium ePoster
