"Would you like ice with that?” might be something you’re asked at your local pub, but it is also the topic of a free University of Queensland public lecture next week.
Dr Christy Collis’ lecture entitled Would you like ice with that? Australia’s Antarctic Empire is part of the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies’ 2002 lecture program and will take place on Thursday, September 19, at 5.30pm in Mayne Hall’s foyer, St Lucia campus.
Dr Collis, a postdoctoral research fellow at UQ’s Australian Studies Centre, will discuss Australia’s sovereignty claim to almost 50 percent of Antarctica as the region becomes more accessible to the human race.
The lecture will examine contemporary Australian perceptions of Antarctica and the need to stop imagining it as an empty continent of peace and science.
Currently working a book called The Spirit of Possession: A Spatial History of Australian Antarctica, Dr Collis’ work focuses on the ways popular representations of Antarctica intersect with the politics of territorial sovereignty.
Australian 4WD culture has been one of Dr Collis’ previous research interests, and her cultural geography research has always focused on spaces considered to be “empty”.
Previously published works include those on the restoration of Sir Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic Hut, Canadian women’s Arctic writing and the 1997 Spirit of Australia South Pole expedition.
The lecture will be chaired by Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies Director Professor Graeme Turner and is supported by The University of Queensland Press.
People interested in attending should contact Andrea Mitchell on telephone 07 3365 7182 or email a.mitchell@uq.edu.au
Media: To arrange an interview contact Dr Christy Collis (telephone 07 3365 7182, mobile 0401 368 592). For further information, contact Andrea Mitchell (telephone 07 3365 7184, mobile 0412 474 978) or UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 3367, email: communications@uq.edu.au).
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