History Programme, University of Otago

The History Programme warmly congratulates all students who graduated on Saturday 11 May. Students, whānau and staff mingled at the pre-graduation brunch in anticipation of formal ceremonies later that day. We wish you all the best!

Last month ended with great news! Our warmest congratulations to Michelle Walker, who submitted her PhD thesis for examination on 26 April and rung the University's ceremonial bell, cheered on by a large group of supporters - well done! Michelle’s thesis is entitled ‘Aotearoa’s postpartum psychiatric “problem”: exploring New Zealand’s hidden “epidemic of suffering”, 1850-1980’, and supervised by Emeritus Prof Barbara Brookes and Assoc Prof Frances Steel, and Prof Rachael McLean in Preventive Medicine.

Please join us at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum on Thursday, 2nd May at 2pm for a presentation by History's doctoral candidate, Jack Brosnahan. Further detail below.

Kia ora, this talk at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum next Tuesday 9 April by visiting colleagues from Canada may be of interest. They will be speaking about their new book on the sailing ship, the Edwin Fox, a ship that holds much significance in New Zealand maritime history and the history of globalisation.

https://uncpress.org/book/9781469676555/the-edwin-fox/

We had a special gathering recently to celebrate the achievements of History students in 2023. Our afternoon tea awards ceremony was a nice moment to recognise winners of the annual prizes in History, alongside those who were highly commended for their results across 100 to 400 level History papers. Whakamihi nui ki a koutou!

Wishing you all a Happy Easter and a relaxing mid-semester break.

All welcome! We look forward to seeing you, this Friday 2pm, 22 March at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum Auditorium.

The Global Migrations series of talks at Toitū resumes tomorrow with Professor Viv Anderson speaking about migrant youth transitioning to tertiary education in Dunedin.

The History Programme began 2023 by marking the retirement of Professor Brian Moloughney and we end the year by farewelling Associate Professor Alex Trapeznik, who retires after 30 (!!) years at the University of Otago. Alex started at Otago in 1993 and quickly became an important part of the undergraduate curriculum, teaching Russian history, public history, the twentieth century world, the history of war and revolution. He’s been a fantastic supervisor, a great teacher, and a fun colleague. We’ve been lucky to have him as part of the team and will miss his annual Melbourne Cup sweepstakes, as well as his turns as Santa at our end of year staff get-together.

Current staff, tutors and postgraduates, as well as former colleagues, got together last month to pay tribute to Alex and wish him warmest congratulations on his retirement.

All the best for retirement, Alex, from all of us in the History Programme.

Our congratulations to all those who have recently graduated. We wish you all the very best for the future.

Enjoy your Christmas and the holiday break. Safe travels!

We were delighted to celebrate with Dr Steven Talley at the occasion of his graduation on 13 December. Steve’s PhD, passed in October with minor amendments, is titled ‘New Hebridean enterprise in its colonial context: Tongoa 1912, Tanna 1915, Malekula 1939,’ supervised by Emeritus Professor Judy Bennett and Associate Professor Frances Steel.

Steve was also the recent joint-winner of the Journal of Pacific History Gunson Prize for his essay on the history of the Indigenous-run trade ship, the Albatross, in the colonial New Hebrides.

Warmest congratulations on these achievements Steve!

We are looking forward to celebrating the graduation of our History students this week. One group who will be crossing the stage to be capped are our 2023 honours cohort. The Programme is particularly proud of our honours programme, which requires students complete a 20,000 word research dissertation. This year the students worked on a diverse array of topics: anti-nuclear activism in Dunedin; debates about Scottish Independence; responses to the HIV and AIDS epidemic in New Zealand; Māori children and state care; the churches and debates over prohibition and suffrage in Dunedin; and a study of cross-dressing in New Zealand during the first three decades of the twentieth-century. Congratulations on completion of your 490s and enjoy celebrating your achievements at graduation. The Programme is so proud of you all.

Please join us this Friday at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum, for the fifth presentation in the 'Migration to Otago' series, by Jacqueline Leckie.

All welcome!

You are warmly invited to join us tomorrow (Friday, 27 October at 2pm), for our fourth presentation in the series, 'Migration to Otago' by History student, Gabe Turner.

All welcome!

Kia ora koutou,

This year’s Ōtepoti Dunedin Heritage Festival (1 – 29 October) has a substantial programme of events you may be interested in.

https://www.southernheritage.org.nz/heritage-festival and for a quick overview ‘JUMP TO THE CALENDAR OF EVENTS’.

Ōtepoti Dunedin Heritage Festival | Southern Heritage Trust A biennial festival celebrating Otago’s rich social, cultural, architectural and industrial heritage.

You're most welcome to join us this Friday, 29 September at 2pm, Toitū Auditorium.

Tūhura Otago Museum is proud to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week 2023, and have a schedule of events you may be interested in attending. We would like to bring to your attention a presentation by our very own Emeritus Professor Barbara Brookes, entitled 'Caring for the Mentally Ill: Insights from History.'

1pm, Sunday 24 September
Hutton Theatre
Free – Koha appreciated

The link to this week's schedule of events:
https://otagomuseum.nz/whats-on/mental-health-awareness-week

We're hosting the Michael King Memorial Lecture on Thursday 7th September. Come along if you can.

If you can't attend in person join us on the live stream: https://www.otago.ac.nz/its/services/teaching/streaming/otago655246.html

The History Programme has been saddened by the news about Ron Palenski’s passing. Known as one of New Zealand’s greatest sports writers and a leading sports historian, Ron was also a graduate of Otago’s History Programme and one of our biggest champions. His impact on sports writing and journalism was immense but he also made an important contribution to New Zealand historical scholarship through his 2007 MA thesis which explored Malcolm Ross, the New Zealand official war correspondent during World War I.

His PhD, completed in 2010, was a study of national identity in late 19th century New Zealand and was published by Auckland University Press in 2012 as The Making of New Zealanders.

Ron’s passing is a major loss for New Zealand sports writing and historical scholarship. He was also a wonderful human being, a decent and kind person who was always supportive and generous with his time.

Our thoughts are with his whānau.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/132798658/new-zealand-sports-hall-of-fame-mourns-chief-executive-authorjournalist-ron-palenski

The History Programme congratulates all of our students who graduated on Saturday. It was an extra-special day for our Programme as one our doctoral students graduated with his PhD. Warmest congratulations to Dr. Genzhong He! In exciting news, Genzhong will take up a job at Fuzhou University in September where he will teach history papers in an interdisciplinary unit. We wish you well for the future, Genzhong, and hope to see you back at Otago sometime soon.

You are warmly invited to join us for our next History Seminar, being presented by Dr Diana Morrow, Historian and Editor.

Wednesday, 16 August, 3.30-5pm
Burns 5 (Arts Building)

Save the Date. This year the History Programme’s Michael King Lecture will be delivered by investigative journalist and writer, Nicky Hager, on 7 September. He will reflect on the debates around New Zealand becoming nuclear free and the creation of an independent foreign policy.

Please join us at 5.30 on 7 September at the College of Education Auditorium for what promises to be a fantastic and illuminating talk.

The History Programme wishes to acknowledge the passing of Associate Professor Gordon Parsonson on 22 July 2023 in his 104th year. Gordon was a former member of staff having joined History as a tutor in 1949 and retiring in 1984 after 35 years of service. Colleagues were privileged to work him. Gordon was a dedicated teacher, always student-centred and, from the stories we’ve heard, an amazing lecturer and supervisor. He was also a kind and generous colleague, continuing to offer support and advice into his retirement. Gordon’s scholarly legacy is immense, reflected in the work of his students and in his contributions to rethinking Pacific history. Just as significantly, the University’s Marden Online Archive would not have been possible without Gordon’s decades-long dedication to crafting transcripts of early 19th century missionary letters and journals.

Gordon loved life, loved the environment, Dunedin and his family. We know he will be sorely missed by all who have had the luck and privilege to know him.

If you would like to send the family a message, share a story about Gordon, or pay tribute to him please do so in the online tribute book at www.tributes.co.nz

Staff and students from the History Programme are among those presenting talks as part of the joint Toitū/Centre for Global Migrations series ‘Migration to Otago’. The first talk this Friday from Professor Angela McCarthy and Professor Angela Wanhalla discusses Otago’s connections to transatlantic slavery.

Friday, 28 July starting at 2pm at Toitū.

There was a special buzz around the History Programme stand at the pre-graduation brunch held on 20 May. Paulien Martens graduated with a PhD for her thesis, titled 'Founding Fathers: Fatherhood, family and aspiration in colonial Dunedin'. It was a delight to welcome her entire family to the event. The picture shows Paulien with some of the friends she acquired during her time at Otago, many of whom turned up to congratulate her. Even before she submitted her thesis, Paulien scored an excellent job as Curator of Human History at Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, where she now thoroughly enjoys putting her well-honed research skills to use on a daily basis.

Also attending the brunch was Lisa Carlin, who graduated with a BA Honours in History. Lisa was feeling particularly festive as she had just been admitted to Otago's PhD programme to research Scottish patriotism in the age of Enlightenment, with a full PhD scholarship.

Staff, friends, students, and whānau all shared their delight over these and the many other successes showcased on the day.