SESSION 10

The State of History’ presented by Professor Matthew Fitzpatrick, Flinders University & the History Council of SA

Tickets

A recent report by the Australian Historical Association presents a picture of history as a field in crisis. University history departments are shrinking, their topic options are contracting and student numbers are stagnating. At the same time, South Australia’s landmark cultural institutions continue to be the source of ongoing concern. Public campaigns aimed at rescuing our North Terrace institutions, most recently the South Australian Museum, rumble on. Meanwhile, at the grassroots, history has never been more alive. Community history groups, genealogists, professional and non-professional historians are busy in their work of recording, preserving and interpreting the past and are doing so in consistently large numbers. Each year South Australia’s History Festival goes from strength to strength. Surveying this paradox of a discipline thriving during a period of crisis, this presentation looks to what might account for the disparity between the two faces of history and offers some tentative ideas that might help the groundswell of community support for history translate into a stronger institutional presence.

Presentation time: Tuesday, 27 May 2025, 7:30 pm
Presentation duration: 20-25 minutes

Please note: tickets include x3 presentations by Dale Johns, Robert Martin, and Professor Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Image: Academics at a governor’s levee, 1923, SLSA PRG 280/1/36/330