This blog is a place of conversation and sharing. After I finished history honours at the University of Sydney in 2010 I wanted to pass on what I had learned to others who are interested. However, my learning has not stopped with the end of my university education. Since then I have worked as a research assistant on a project examining the history of teaching reading in Australia as well as some other projects. Currently I am researching the beliefs of Australian soldiers serving in World War I as well as their attitudes to the fledgling Australian nation.
Three elements form the core of my historical work:
- Thorough archival research, the bedrock of an historian’s job;
- The use of technology to gain historical insights and higher productivity in my work, which I discuss in my digital humanities blog, Stumbling Through the Future, and;
- Effective publicity of the work of historians drawing on my previous work in public relations and my professional use of social media.
I am a member of the Professional Historians Association of New South Wales and do contract work in historical research in both New South Wales and Victoria. Currently I look after the administration of the website of the Professional Historians Association of New South Wales and send tweets for the organisation. I have also started conducting Continuing Professional Development sessions for their members sharing how historians use social media effectively for their professional development and publicity of their work.
This blog does not merely focus on my current research. I share the history I encounter in my everday life through reveiws of books that I read for pleasure and work, exhibitions I visit, conferences I attend, history of places I travel to as well as issues currently of interest to the public and profession.
This blog is part of my commitment to share what I have learned with anyone who is interested, but it goes further than that. Web 2.0 is about interaction, not static pages. Yes, there is much learning in the academy but there is also a lot to learn from so many other people. Family history is booming, people love reading biographies and many are engaged in activities ranging from historical re-enactments, local history to histories of organisations such as clubs and places of worship. Everyone has their own life story which includes knowledge of the past. I have much to learn from all this.
Web 2.0 is about listening as well as imparting. It is about collaboration and sharing. I hope that this site will contribute to this ethos. This blog is a place where the general public who is interested in history can mingle with professional and academic historians. Please feel free to share your observations and knowledge through comments on these pages or drop me an e-mail at perkinsy1@gmail.com
Yvonne Perkins
2013
I’ve stumbled across this blog via The Resident Judge, and I look forward to learning more from you. Thanks for using the Web to share that specialised knowledge and your enthusiasm.
Lisa Hill, ANZ LitLovers, Melbourne
Welcome! I hope you continue to enjoy reading this blog.
Great web site! I like how you weave together your interests, both academic and personal. I agree with your statement, “I have noticed how much historical knowledge is generated in the academy but is difficult for the general public to access.” The same is true for my area of the humanities, too, literature. We talk about it, write and publish papers about it, yet the places where we publish are off limits to all but those associated with a university. It’s time to open the doors to the Ivory Tower.
This site was given by LinkedIn as the Australian Historical Association’s site. Is that correct? Your description suggests it’s a personal site rather than an organisation site.
Or have I misinterpreted LinkedIn’s results?
This is a personal blog, not the website of the Australian Historical Association. This link will take you to the AHA website. I have checked LinkedIn and it shows the AHA website address in the group’s profile. I think the confusion lies because I initiated a discussion on the LinkedIn AHA group and the discussion entry includes a link to my blog.
I just found you through Lisa Hill and your bib of Indigenous writings. I am thrilled I did. I am a retired historian in the USA. While in grad school I worked in a variety of jobs designed to do on exactly the kind of sharing you are doing. My own interests focus on US women’s history, particularly that of women of color, but I taught a variety of courses on groups left out traditional histories.
Since retiring I have been exploring women’s versions of their lives globablly. I stumbled into the Australian Women Writers Challenge and have loved reading the writings of women from there, especially those by and about Aborigines women. Having been through the “culture wars” here, I appreciate your references to Australia’a version of them. I think I share your position of them.
Welcome to this blog! It’s great reading beyond one’s own national history. This is something that I should address more in this blog (but not until I have written the pile of posts that are currently in the pipeline!). I’m currently reading a biography of a celebrated female author, Stella Miles Franklin. To my surprise she was heavily involved in the woman’s trade movement in Chicago pre WWI. I’d love to read a review written by you of this book, although you are probably like me and have a large “to be read” pile and many posts in the pipeline!
HI Yvonne, we’re having a conversation about Women Writing History over on my blog, and we need some input from a real live historian. Could you join us if you have time? See http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/09/18/women-and-nonfiction-overland-literary-journal/#comments
I am in process of reviewing My Brilliant Career for Franklin’s birthday. October 14, I think? Are you celebrating it on your blog? Should I sent you a copy? After reading MBC, I did a more thorough search for Roe’s biography and will try again to get a copy on interlibrary loan.
Yes it is October 14. I’m reviewing All That Swagger. I’ve just come back from a busy holiday so I’ve lots of reading to do! I’ll look out for your review. Glad you are going to read the biography!