Over the last few weeks I have returned to my research roots. I have been exploring the history of Brisbane from the turn of the twentieth century to the beginning of the Depression. My client is interested in the life story of a man who was born in Brisbane in the early twentieth century who moved to Sydney as an adult. He went on to work in East Asia during World War II and … [Read more...] about Researching in Brisbane Again
climate
Design 29: Creating a Capital
This is the year of Canberra. The celebrations of the centenary of its founding mark a point where Canberra can reflect on its past. The one hundredth anniversary which coincided with one of my daughters moving to Canberra has caused me to rethink my attitude to the city and recognise that as a place I should take it more seriously. A couple of months ago I wrote a review of … [Read more...] about Design 29: Creating a Capital
Book Review: Flood Country by Emily O’Gorman
I would never have read this book if it wasn’t for twitter. Last year I came across the twitter stream of the University of Wollongong’s, Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Research (@AUSCCER) and those of researchers who work at the Centre. I have enjoyed these tweets about geography and the environment . One day I noticed their tweets about the Sydney launch of a … [Read more...] about Book Review: Flood Country by Emily O’Gorman
Disasters at the 2012 Australian Historical Association Conference
Day three of sessions at the Australian Historical Association conference started with disasters. No, nothing awful befell the historians ensconced at the University of Adelaide. Rather, the subject of the plenary panel in the morning was ‘Disasters in Social and Cultural Perspective: Impact, Response, Memory’. Archives, museums and libraries around Australia have done … [Read more...] about Disasters at the 2012 Australian Historical Association Conference
Mapping Australia’s Natural Disasters: Space and Time
Yet another natural disaster is unfolding in Queensland with tropical cyclone Yasi crossing the coast of Far North Queensland. There was not much sleep in our household on Wednesday night as we have family members who live right at the heart of the destructive forces of the cyclone. I resumed this post at around 1 am Thursday morning. Blogging while keeping an eye on Twitter … [Read more...] about Mapping Australia’s Natural Disasters: Space and Time