History and Culture of the Murray-Darling Basin

with Professor Katie Holmes, Chair of Australia Studies at Harvard University

The History Council of Victoria presents Professor Katie Holmes, Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser Visiting Chair in Australian Studies at Harvard University, 2023-24 on Thursday November 14th at 6pm at the State Library of Victoria. In the History Council of Victoria's 2024 Annual Lecture, Professor Holmes will discuss her recent research on the history and culture of the Murray Darling Basin. This in-person and online event requires booking on the History Council of Victoria's website.

History and Culture of the Murray-Darling Basin

The cycle of drought and flooding rains provides a dramatic stage for the history of environmental change in the Murray Darling Basin. It is also the backdrop for much of the social, cultural and political history of the Basin. And it is around such histories that storytellers gather, shaping narratives that tell of nature and place, love of Country, conflict, climate, community, family history and survival, technological change, and the contentious topic of water.

This talk draws on recently conducted oral history interviews in the Murray Darling Basin to explore the kinds of stories people tell about environmental change and environmental justice; marginalised narratives of resistance and empowerment; and the ways experiences of the past and present shape imaginings of the future. And Professor Holmes asks: what are the stories historians might tell that can move us forward and frame our futures with imagination, compassion and hope?

About The Speaker
Professor Katie Holmes is Professor of History and Director of the Centre for the Study of the Inland at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. She lives on unceded Wurundjeri country. Her work integrates environmental, gender, oral and cultural history and she has a particular interest in the interplay between an individual, their culture and environment. Her recent research is on the cultures of drought in regional Victoria, and water cultures and conflicts in Australia’s Murray Darling Basin. Her books include Spaces in Her Day: Women’s diaries of the 1920s-1930s (1995), Between the Leaves: Stories of women, writing and gardens (2011), and the co-authored Reading the Garden: the Settlement of Australia (2008), Mallee Country: land, people, history (2020) and Failed Ambitions: Kew Cottages and Changing Ideas of Intellectual Disability (2023). Katie is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Science Australia, and was the Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser Visiting Chair in Australian Studies, Harvard, 2023-24.

 

Event Details

Date: Thursday, 14th November 2024
Venue: State Library of Victoria, State Library Theatrette, 328 Swanston Street
Time: 6:00pm
Bookings: https://www.historycouncilvic.org.au/2024_annual_lecture