News from the Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Melbourne Australia
The Modern Language Association’s 2010 Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for a Translation of a Scholarly Study of Literature has been awarded to three Monash academics:
The prize was received for their work on The Book of Peace by Christine de Pizan.
Lisa Curtis-Wendlandt, who recently completed her PhD in History in the School of Historical Studies, is a joint winner of the Australian Historical Association-Copyright Agency Limited Postgraduate Essay Prize for 2009. Lisa’s essay, ‘Beating Around (In) the Bush: Corporal Punishment and Moral Reform at Hermannsburg Mission in Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Century Australia’, will be published in History Australia.
The citation for Lisa’s essay reads, “This article provides a subtle, astute analysis of the relationship between corporal punishment and the practices of Lutheran missionaries in Australia, most particularly those of Carl and Freida Strehlow’s Hermannsburg Mission in Central Australia. Conceptually rich and making careful, probing use of archival sources, the author traces the interdependence between Lutheran proselytisation, an ostensibly benevolent patriarchal mode of missionary authority, and the mutually reinforcing tendency of this ‘protectionist agenda’ and practices of ‘indigenous male violence’ among the Aranda and Loritja people. In insisting that ‘the image of the missionary and his whip deserves a closer look’, and mining mission records for the gendered impact and legitimacy accorded to abuse within cultures fostered by the missions, the author has brought a powerful new dimension to themes in Australian Indigenous history, and a offered a perspective with considerable resonances in contemporary debates.”
Professor Mark Peel, Head of School of Historical Studies is delighted to announce that last week Constant Mews was elected as the next President of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies.
In an election contest that spanned the continent, Bass Strait and the Tasman Sea, Constant was the clear choice of his scholarly community, a clear sign of the esteem in which he is held and of the very great strength of medieval and early modern studies in our School.
Professor Constant Mews is the Director of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Theology in the School of Historical Studies.
Professor Joanna Bourke
A research workshop for all Monash staff and students working on the topic of sexual violence was held Wednesday 1 April. Our guest speaker, Professor Joanna Bourke (Birkbeck, University of London), gave a stirring talk on the challenges and necessity of sexual violence research. All participants shared their work, and addressed a range of topics including: violence against women in conflict; the intersection of women, sexual violence and the law; genocidal sexual violence in Rwanda and the Holocaust; the ‘use’ of sexual violence by the media; and more. We thank the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation and the Faculty of Arts for making Professor Bourke’s visit possible. We are looking forward to the continuation of these workshops, which will bring together expertise on sexual violence across at least three Faculties of Monash University (Law, Arts and Medicine).
Dr Anna-Mart van Wyk (Monash South Africa) and Dr Sue Onslow (LSE IDEAS)
Date: 30-31 January 2009
Venue: Monash South Africa, 144 Peter Road, Ruimsig, Johannesburg, South Africa
Organizers and hosts: Dr Sue Onslow, LSE IDEAS and Dr Anna-Mart van Wyk, Monash South Africa
A small oral history conference co-hosted by The Southern Africa Initiative at LSE IDEAS and the International Studies Section at Monash South Africa, took place from 30-31 January 2009 on the Monash South Africa campus.
The conference, entitled Southern Africa in the Cold War, Post-1974, was a unique combination of a small group of select international academics and active participants in the domestic and regional conflict between the various African liberation movements in Southern Africa (i.e. Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa), the white minority governments of South Africa and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, and former Soviet and Cuban representatives.
Mark Peel
History lecturer Mark Peel believes teachers have the capacity to transform people’s lives.
He has been recognised by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council for his use of imaginative problem-solving tasks to engage students.
Toby Handfield and Mark Peel
The Faculty would like to congratulate Mark Peel and Toby Handfield for winning the Vice-Chancellors Award for Teaching Excellence.
The Faculty of Arts was well represented in this Award in 2008, having received two of the three awarded university-wide this year.
The Centre for Archaeology and Ancient History in the School of Historical Studies, Faculty of Arts, has taken Year 12 students from Newstead College in Launceston, Tasmania, on a virtual tour of Egypt via a new IBM kiosk.
The initiative, supported by IBM and the Egyptian Government, is part of a new program to educate secondary school students about the ancient culture.
INT3140/INT4140/ITM4140 After Atrocity: the Holocaust, South Africa, Rwanda
This unit brings together students from Monash campuses in Australia and South Africa to study the contemporary histories of post-genocide and post-conflict societies through three specific cases: European Jews after the Holocaust; the South African approach after apartheid; and local and global responses to the Rwandan genocide. Held in the mid-semester break as a 2 week intensive course, students will spend a week in Johannesburg and a week in Rwanda exploring public debates on memory and justice through visits to memorial sites and museums. This unit is a LEVEL 3 and 4 Intensive for undergraduate students of International Studies, History, Jewish Studies and Graduate Students of Global Studies, History, and Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
Monash Teachers
Seven Monash staff members have been awarded a 2008 Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning — Monash University’s most successful year ever..
Professor Mark Peel said his citation highlighted the strength of a shared commitment and dedication to teaching and student welfare in the School of Historical Studies and Faculty of Arts.
“I have contributed to, and learned from, a wonderful community of teachers and administrators over my 13 years at Monash,” Professor Peel said.
