History is always on the move, with new ideas and fresh perspectives challenging what we thought we knew and where we think we’re headed. Join winners of the 2022 NSW Premier’s History Awards as they cast light on their thought-provoking works that explore the stories of Australian communities that have been shaped by colonisation and what these reveal about our present and future. Alexis Bergantz, Mina Roces, Katherine Biber and Leroy Parsons The Last Outlaws, and Yandara sit down with Emeritus Professor Grace Karskens.
Presented in partnership with the History Council of NSW.
Alexis Bergantz (Australian)
Alexis Bergantz is a historian of Australia’s entanglements with France and the French Pacific. His first book, French Connection: Australia’s Cosmopolitan Ambitions was published by NewSouth in 2021. He is the author of several journal articles and has contributed to many cultural outlets such as Inside Story, Meanjin, the Canberra Times, the ABC and SBS. He is a Senior Lecturer at RMIT in the Global and Language Studies program.
Mina Roces (Australian)
Mina Roces is a PhD graduate from The University of Michigan and Professor of History at The University of New South Wales. She is the author of five books: Women, Power and Kinship Politics in Post-War Philippines (1998), Kinship Politics in Post-War Philippines: The Lopez Family, 1946-2000 (2001), Women’s Movements and the Filipina, 1986-2008 (2012), The Filipino Migration Experience: Global Agents of Change (2021), and Gender in Southeast Asia (2022).
Katherine Biber (Australian)
Katherine Biber and Leroy Parsons (The Last Outlaws) - Winners of the Digital History Prize 2022. The Last Outlaws is a collaboration between Professor Katherine Biber (UTS), and the descendants of Jimmy Governor, represented by family historian Aunty Loretta Parsley, and narrator and co-author Leroy Parsons. Created by a team of audio makers, researchers and First Nations cultural consultants, with web design and digital animation. The Last Outlaws also won Gold in Best History and Podcast of the Year at the Australian Podcast Awards.
Leroy Parsons (Australian)
Katherine Biber and Leroy Parsons (The Last Outlaws) - Winners of the Digital History Prize 2022. The Last Outlaws is a collaboration between Professor Katherine Biber (UTS), and the descendants of Jimmy Governor, represented by family historian Aunty Loretta Parsley, and narrator and co-author Leroy Parsons. Created by a team of audio makers, researchers and First Nations cultural consultants, with web design and digital animation. The Last Outlaws also won Gold in Best History and Podcast of the Year at the Australian Podcast Awards.
Yandaarra (Australian)
Yandaarra is a collaboration led by Gumbaynggirr Jagun co-founder, Aunty Shaa Smith under the guidance of the Old Fellas and Gumbaynggirr Country with her daughter Neeyan Smith. Yandaarra includes non-Gumbaynggirr academics Sarah Wright, Paul Hodge and Lara Daley from the University of Newcastle and the Jaliigirr Biodiversity Alliance as partners.
Grace Karskens (Australian)
Grace Karskens is an Emeritus Professor of History in the School of Humanities and Languages at the University of New South Wales. Her research areas include Australian colonial and cross-cultural history, Aboriginal history and environmental history. Grace is interested in promoting historical understanding and awareness to wide audiences. She began her career as a public historian, served as a Trustee of the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales and is a founding member of the online Dictionary of Sydney. Her books include Inside The Rocks: The Archaeology of a Neighbourhood, the multi-award-winning The Rocks: Life in Early Sydney and The Colony: A History of Early Sydney, which won the 2010 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for non-fiction. Grace's latest book People of the River: Lost Worlds of Early Australia was published by Allen & Unwin in 2020. She was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2010 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales in 2019. At present she is working with Darug people on the collaborative Dyarubbin: The Real Secret River project, funded by the State Library of New South Wales' Coral Thomas Fellowship.
