The biennial New Zealand Historical Association conference is being held in Dunedin from Wednesday 20 November until Friday 22 November. The conference organizing committee is looking forward to welcoming a large and energetic group of historians, archivists and librarians, teachers, curators, and heritage professionals as well as the historically curious.
The call for papers has closed and the conference programme has been finalised, but the registration portal is still open: https://secure-www.otago.ac.nz/conferences/nzha/
We have an excellent line-up of keynote speakers: Professor Elizabeth Elbourne (McGill University), author of Blood Ground: Colonialism, Missions and the Contest for Christianity in the Cape Colony and Britain, 1799-1853; Professor Maya Jasanoff (Harvard University), the author of Edge of Empire: Lives, Culture, and Conquest in the East, 1750-1850 and Liberty’s Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World; and Professor Henry Yu (University of British Columbia), author of Thinking Orientals: Migration, Contact and Exoticism in Modern America. Associate Professor Damon Salesa (University of Auckland), whose Racial Crossings won the 2012 Ernest Scott Prize, will be the Beaglehole Memorial Lecturer for 2013. Professor Atholl Anderson, noted archaeologist and expert on the history of Ngāi Tahu Whānui, will deliver the Wiremu Maihi Te Rangikaheke Memorial Lecture.
There are going to be a range of events either side of the main conference.
– PHANZA (Professional Historians’ Association of New Zealand/Aotearoa) had planned to hold a one-day workshop on Tuesday 19 November on the theory and practice of public history in New Zealand but has unfortunately had to cancel this event.
– The Religious History Association of Aotearoa New Zealand (RHAANZ) will hold a conference beginning on the evening of Monday 18 and running all day Tuesday 19 November. Those interested in participating should contact Laurie Guy.
– On Tuesday 19 the University of Otago’s Centre for Research on Colonial Culture (CROCC) will also be running a workshop for postgraduate students working on empire and colonialism. Initial enquiries about that event can be directed to Centre for Research on Colonial Culture. All three of these workshops will be hosted by St Margaret’s College on the Otago campus.
– On Saturday 23 November, the day after the main conference, Frances Steel of the University of Wollongong is running a day-long workshop on New Zealand maritime history entitled ‘New historical perspectives on New Zealand and the sea’. Those interested in presenting research which speaks directly to this theme should email titles and 100-word abstracts to Frances Steel by 14 June.
We have provided these details now so that participants can make their travel plans. But please think about making this a real history carnival and stay a little longer in Dunedin! Have a fun weekend in the city, in the Catlins, or in Central Otago and then attend the Australian and New Zealand Law and History Society conference. Its theme is “People, Power and Place” and it will run from 25 to 27 November at the University of Otago.
Conference accommodation will be available at St Margaret’s College at a rate of $82.50 per night for bed and breakfast. Conference rates are also available at Allan Court Motel or 755 Regal Court.
We are looking forward to seeing you in Dunedin!
Any queries can be directed to the NZHA conference committee
Tony Ballantyne
John Stenhouse
Michael Stevens
Angela Wanhalla
The New Zealand Historical Association 