Professional Historians Association Victoria & Tasmania

Close Encounters: Intimacies and Asian Australian Cinema
Tuesday, 27 Oct 2026, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
The Capitol Theatre, 113 Swanston St, Melbourne
FREE

The RMIT Australian Screen Research Collection Salon is hosting an exclusive in-conversation event with pioneers of Asian Australian filmmaking: Professor Olivia Khoo and director/producer Tony Ayres. The guests will discuss stories we tell about Asian migration to Australia and the accompanying racial fissures of a multicultural society.

The evening will conclude with a special screening of Ayres’ 1999 documentary, Sadness: A Monologue by William Yang. This adaptation of Yang’s acclaimed stage performance intertwines the photographer’s journey to understand his Chinese heritage and his experiences during the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

https://www.rmit.edu.au/library/events/2026/oct/close-encounters

Close Encounters: Intimacies and Asian Australian Cinema The RMIT Australian Screen Research Collection Salon celebrates milestones in Asian Australian filmmaking through an exclusive in-conversation event.

Sam Wallman: Why comics and graphic storytelling pack a punch for tricky truth-telling

Award-winning illustrator and journalist Sam Wallman turns comics into a tool for confronting hard truths. Join Sam in conversation as he unpacks how research into historic archives becomes a comic. He'll talk about why that form can reach people in ways photographs and news articles sometimes can't.

Date: Thursday 24 September
Time: Doors open at 5:30pm for the exhibition, talk 6pm - 7pm
Where: Victorian Archives Centre, 99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne + Online via Zoom
Cost: $6 entry fee

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/sam-wallman-why-comics-pack-a-punch-for-tricky-truth-telling-tickets-1997424093232

An excellent article from our colleague Dr Lorinda Cramer.
'Hoodies are a potential flashpoint for power and politics ... What do you see when you look at this garment'

From sportswear to protest attire: the surprisingly political history of the hoodie Hooded garments are nothing new – we’ve even got hoodies that date back to the Iron Age. But how did the modern garment come to be everywhere?

Read Deb Lee-Talbot's piece in Australian Policy and History on the long and challenging history of protecting data sovereignty in Australia.

Australians need more than rhetorical assertions about sovereignty | Australian Policy and History The Office of AI is a template, not a plan

Interested in undertaking a history PhD? This PhD scholarship is part of a new project: Australia’s first history of disability: Making a more inclusive Australia, based at Monash University.

The project aims to uncover the lived experience of disability in Australian families between 1945 and the Disability Royal Commission of 2019–23, using innovative methods to co-produce data with people with disability and their families.

You will need a history-focused academic track record to apply.
https://careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/job/697008/phd-scholarship-in-disability-history

Image courtesy of Australian Human Rights Commission.

👋 Meet the 2026 State Library Victoria fellows.

From rare Australian children's fantasy literature to the secrets of magic, our newest fellows are set to uncover fresh stories, surprising histories and bold ideas in the State Collection.

13 creatives and scholars have been awarded a share of $180,000, dedicated workspace and expert support to bring our collection to life in new and interesting ways – from prototypes and performance to a participatory sound and sculpture work.

These projects will open new chapters in how we understand our shared history, identity and culture. Stay tuned as their ideas take shape.

📷 2026 State Library Victoria Fellows in La Trobe Reading Room. Credit: Eugene Hyland

There is still time to register for this year's Wilson History Oration tomorrow!

Join Karen George as she reflects on being a social justice historian: connecting kin, locating the lost and advocating for change.

Thursday, 16 July at 6 pm (SA, NT), 6.30 pm (Vic/NSW/Qld), 4 pm (WA)

Register for the Zoom link.: https://phavic.wildapricot.org/event-6726318