Cultural Histories: Time, Place, and Communities

A Consultative Workshop hosted by the Cultural Research Network: Cultural Histories Node,
University of Technology, Sydney, Broadway, Building 6 (Design and Architecture Building) Room 321,
21st – 22nd June, 2005.

Project Convenor: Prof Kate Darian-Smith

The aim of this workshop is to consult with CRN members about ideas for activities and outcomes within the broad framework of Time, Place and Communities, and to put in place a plan of designated events and research aims for the next year or so. Ideas for discussion include:

the intersections between cultural histories and geographies: how can creative forms of research arise from a reconsideration of disciplinary based conceptual and methodological approaches to time, place and culture?
studies of place and forms of community identification, particularly in relation to both 'established' and 'emerging' non-metropolitan areas: how has rural popular culture, for example, evolved and how is it enacted, and what are the cultural and economic implications of this for tourism, creative industries, government initiatives for 'making communities' etc?
overarching questions of memory, place, emotion and identity informed by historical and spatial locations and subjectivities
ways in which research in cultural histories in Australia can be 'networked' internationally
how is this cultural research positioned in national/regional/transnational frameworks
interactions between historical cultural research and cultural institutions (museums, galleries, heritage bodies etc), and forms of research communication (visual culture, scholarly writing in the public sphere etc)

DAY 1 – TUESDAY 21 JUNE

2.30 – 3.30 Overview and Aims of Workshop
Discussion with node convenors about ideas for planned/possible activities

Liz Jacka: Media Histories
Chris Gibson: Cultural Geographies
Kate Darian-Smith: Cultural Histories
Greg Noble: Cultural Identities

Afternoon Tea

3.30 – 4.30 Network and Nodal Objectives
Chair: Chris Healy

Discussion of issues of methodological approaches; commitment to ECR/postgraduate activities; what kinds of new forms of cultural research and outcomes can arise from our CRN activities?

7.00 DINNER – A restaurant has been booked: venue to be advised

DAY 2 – WEDNESDAY 22 JUNE

A number of participants have sent in proposals they wish to discuss, and this day provides an opportunity to put these forward, share research interests, and see what connections can be found within the group and how this might translate into action.

9.30 – 11.00 Regional Places

Chair: Chris Gibson

Presentation of current work and future ideas from:

Kate Bowles: Researching Regional Histories and Places
Stephanie Donald: Researching ‘Region’
David Carter: Rural Popular Cultures

Discussion to follow

11.15 – 1.00 Histories, Communities
Chair: Greg Noble

Presentation of current work and future ideas from:

Paula Hamilton: Memories, Histories, Places
Mark McLelland: Queer Asian Studies
Rob Dixon: Colonial Modernities

Discussion to follow

1.00-1.45 Lunch

1.45 – 2.30 Media and Communities
Chair: Liz Jacka

Jason Jacobs: Internationalist Perspectives
Frances Bonner: Media and Communities

Discussion to follow

2.30 onwards Afternoon Tea and Summing Up
Chair: Kate Darian-Smith

Discussion of possible activities and reflections on how these may best be supported through the CRN network and the nodes.

Contact: Kate Darian-Smith on k.darian-smith@unimelb.edu.au or 03 8344 7232. My mobile will be turned on during 21 and 22 June: 0418 332 015

Workshop 2 (December 2005)

A second workshop, tentatively to be held in December 2005, has been incorporated in this initial plan. The aim here would be to discuss the outcomes/research questions/methodologies that have arisen from the ‘pilot tasks’ — I am personally keen on a theme that looks at rural popular cultures as a framework for discussing issues of memory and histories within public culture, and the ways that cultural research can be done, but see this as being developed in consultation.

A Consultative Workshop hosted by the Cultural Research Network: Cultural Histories Node, University of Technology, Sydney, Broadway, Building 6 (Design and Architecture Building) Room 321, 21st – 22nd June, 2005.

Project Convenor: Prof Kate Darian-Smith

DAY 1 – TUESDAY 21 JUNE

DAY 2 – WEDNESDAY 22 JUNE

A Consultative Workshop hosted by the Cultural Research Network: Cultural Histories Node,
University of Technology, Sydney, Broadway, Building 6 (Design and Architecture Building) Room 321,
21st – 22nd June, 2005.